3 ‘Must-Have’ Marketing Moves That Address Rising Customer Demands

After the rollercoaster ride of this decade, B2B marketers are settling in, maybe even feeling like they have everything figured out when it comes to winning over new buyers. This is especially true for brands that have built a solid omni-channel strategy and think they are delivering on everything buyers want.

These brands need to think again because today’s customers are more likely than ever to take their business elsewhere if their needs aren’t being met. A global study by Qualtrics XM states that in 2025, 53% of customers worldwide will walk away from a brand or reduce their spend after a single bad experience. This is up 2.7% from earlier in 2024.

The upside is that those B2B companies that meet and exceed expectations are seeing big returns—including market share growth.

Here are my thoughts on three “must-have” B2B moves marketers must make to level up their omni-channel strategies to win customers’ trust and their business:

1. Listen and Learn: Simply put, building a trusted relationship with your audience leads to more sales, according to recent Dentsu research. What is the best way to earn that trust? Like any relationship, listening is everything. Marketers need to listen intently and learn quickly about customers’ changing priorities, interests and channel preferences. Unfortunately, many are falling short.

 

MediaPost recently shared that a company isn’t expected to fix everything, but to show they are listening and caring about what they hear: “It is how the customer feels heard, and they are far more likely to continue providing feedback when they feel like the company listens.” Our recent blog covers how to collect customer insights and perform effective listening, from social channel monitoring to surveys, telemetry data, intent monitoring insights, and more. If you can’t do all of these, choose one or two. The key is to just get started because what you learn will lay the groundwork for more impactful, relevant marketing.

2. Know Your Audience, Know Their Channels: Most brands today only maintain a one-dimensional view of customers and prospects, whether it’s a personal view or a professional view. This is a mistake because if you’re not connecting with buyers in a more complete way—a way that cultivates trust and provides greater convenience to the buyer across channels—your campaigns will see reduced ROI.

 

OMI’s B2B2C data linkage service addresses this challenge, enabling marketers to identify and connect with prospects and customers on their personal and professional channels at work and at home. Our new data service lets you link and overlay consumer audience demographics -- such as marital status, children, income, gender, age, residential address, and LinkedIn profile – on top of B2B attributes, such as email, firmographics, and job title.

This more complete view gives you increased clarity about your prospects, allowing you to target and engage them more effectively and provide greater relevance across B2B and B2C omni-channel points, including direct mail, email, social, and programmatic. For example, if a prospect views ads for a new product or service at work, then completes the purchase later at home on another device after seeing a retargeted ad, you have simplified the purchase process and their overall experience by extending your reach beyond the office.

3. Be Present: Marketers who aren’t yet thinking in terms of omni-channel for every stage of the buying journey from the educational phase to purchase are risking lost business. A McKinsey report says buyers want all three of the general buying methods—traditional in-person, remote (such as video conference or phone calls), and self-service e-commerce in “equal measure throughout the purchasing journey.” When considering various options for B2B buying, it shouldn’t be an “either/or” situation but an all-inclusive blend – unless the customer indicates otherwise.

 

According to the McKinsey research, 72% of B2B companies that sell via seven or more channels grew their market share. That’s huge and, from my perspective, it leaves no question as to the value of omni-channel and B2B2C. Check out this case study on an omni-channel B2B2C strategy that drove successful outcomes for an OMI client.

 

Thanks for reading. Reach out to our team for more insights and best practices on planning and implementing a successful omni-channel strategy.