The Importance of ‘Digital Experience’ for B2B Companies

Introduction

For newcomers to the phrase, the “digital experience” is essentially a company’s ability to tell a cohesive story of its solutions or products across all of its online channels and products.

It’s something consumer-facing B2C companies like Amazon have successfully done for years. This cross-channel consistency of messaging, branding and narrative results in more customer interest and sales.

But many B2B companies have been slow to adopt this best practice, mostly because it’s never been a part of their marketing repertoire. For decades, B2B sales and marketing relied almost exclusively on face-to-face (or phone-to-phone) conversations with sales reps.

But these days, B2B buyers are behaving more like traditional consumers. They're increasingly researching products online. They're getting information from social media. Traditional B2B marketing and sales approaches don't work the way they used to.

If B2B companies want to stay relevant and reach new buyers, they must leverage the digital experience.

If B2B companies want to stay relevant and reach new buyers, they must leverage the digital experience.

What is Digital Experience?

Digital experience provides a seamless narrative or customer experience across all the online channels your customers encounter. It also keeps them on the right journey if they switch from one digital channel to another: from a website to social media, for instance.

Rather than thinking of these channels as siloed experiences, every touchpoint with your customer—across all digital channels—should be taken into consideration.

Why Your Company Needs a Full Digital Experience

The value your company provides through digital experience will push opportunities faster through the sales funnel, and help you tap into—and better understand—your buyers’ behaviors.

This important intelligence can inform your marketing narrative and presentation. Knowing your buyers helps ensure you don't appear tone deaf, or alienate them.

There are two key benefits to this approach:

You Don’t Want To Be In the Dark

If your prospective customer researches your product or service, you don’t want to risk pushing them away by not providing them with the customized digital experience they’re expecting.

Further, if they’re international customers, they need in-language experiences—such as localized websites and mobile apps—that are customized to their needs and preferences.

You Want to Create Positive Online Interactions

If a customer is on your website or any other digital channel, you must give them the ability to understand your offerings and a way to communicate with you. They can't be left confused as to their next step in the customer journey.

You want to make sure your potential global customers can find you, too. This means offering content in their preferred languages. It's a common misconception that English remains the lingua franca of the Internet. These days, international customers search the web in their language, not yours.

These days, international customers search the web in their language, not yours.

Conclusion

The B2B market is adapting their ways and tapping into what B2C companies have known for years: B2B buyers are behaving more like consumers than ever before. They prefer to use the Internet to conduct research, and even make their B2B purchases via digital platforms.

This has huge implications for B2B businesses. Strategize your company's digital experience to meet these expected attributes of every single online interaction your customers have with your brand, no matter where they live, or what language they speak.