A guide for marketing leaders

B2B MARKETING IN THE

NEW REALITY

Reimagining the next normal by reinventing your marketing plan

www.purplepatchservices.com

Introduction

Covid-19 Upending Lives and How We Do Business

1

2 Assembling a Marketing Strategy Under Uncertainty

4 Conclusion

Inside the Plan3

Digital Marketing

Content Marketing

Content Atomization

Content Personalization

Empathetic Marketing

Creating Digital Dialogue with the Customer

Think from the Customer’s Perspective

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The intercontinental spread of the

new coronavirus in recent weeks

has left many offices inaccessible

and companies are rushing to find

ways to keep operations humming.

Organizations worldwide are fac-

ing new realities, five months on

from the first identified Covid-19

case in China. Companies are faced

with new responsibilities, includ-

ing making work-at-home setups a

requirement rather than an option.

As consumers spend more time at

home, businesses are seeing a shift

to online shopping.

US consumer optimism in the economy is

declining as the effects of the pandemic

escalate, according to McKinsey. As of April

1, 45% of US consumers reportedly expect

Covid-19 to hit the economy for 6-12 months

or longer and some 75% believe their finances

will be impacted for more than two months,

and this uncertainty is preventing them from

spending. This eroding confidence, alongside

the lack of spending in some categories like

travel and hospitality and spending decline in

other segments like brick and mortar, retail

and real estate, has put marketers under

greater pressure to do more with less and pull

back on their marketing budgets.

Beyond more obvious effects, Covid-19 is

leading us to the “next normal.” As the world

progresses with containing the virus, now is

the ideal time for marketing leaders to help

CEOs and businesses in reimagining the

future of B2B marketing.

In this whitepaper, Purplepatch takes to

the frontline of the impact of Covid-19 on

marketing, and shares ideas and tactics

to guide marketers in the coming months

and over into the future. As well as giving

practical advice, the intent is to identify

B2B marketing best practices that will help

mobilize your teams and drive success for

your brands.

Case in point: 55% of Chinese

consumers are believed to

likely permanently buy more

groceries online. This is the

new reality for everyone –

including marketers.

55%

3

The exponential spread of the virus has led to profound disruptions in the lives of many. Schools and universities have been forced to close, classes are being transferred to online platforms, businesses are shutting their doors, and people are being asked to limit their movement and engage in “social distancing” to flatten the curve and contain the virus.

The new coronavirus is upending lives

around the world, and this is the new reality.

Companies have started to radically think

about how to react. Marketers are no

exception – there are certainly gray areas

to navigate. Brands, products and services

deemed “non-essential” are bound to

experience significant drop in interest as

consumers start to shift priorities during this

time.

Covid-19 Upending Lives and How We Do Business

At the time of writing,

Covid-19 cases across

the globe have exceeded

2 million, and the

numbers continue to

rapidly increase by the day.

4

The marketing world is faced with new realities:

What Now?

How should we be reaching out to our customers?

Where should we invest our resources?

Should we change our focus and where we spend our marketing dollars?

How should we be working with our teams and our colleagues across the business?

How are we going to stay in the business?

Should we change our strategy? How exactly?

How can we support our family, friends, communities and planet?

Where to cut spending, and where to hold it steady?

5

ASSEMBLING A MARKETING STRATEGY UNDER UNCERTAINTY

New circumstances call for new plans

Study the current situation.

Review your marketing strategy – for short- and long-term.

Execute.

As businesses and their teams

adjust to remote working,

marketers should also learn

how to navigate this new way of

working. This could mean moving

away from areas that are no

longer an option.

Without planning a strategy,

marketers risk not breaking

through the game. To be effective

during this time, marketing teams

need to look beyond tried-and-

tested approaches of the past and

towards new options available

today.

Adhering to social distancing

means in-person meetings,

face-to-face interaction with

colleagues, and even client lunches

may not work today for marketing

teams.

6

The constraints imposed on people’s movements add

to the struggle experienced by marketing and sales

teams when reaching out to customers.

Businesses that work to genuinely address customer needs can

strengthen relationships.

Create new client persona

Identify their current needs sustenance, belonging, safety, health, wellbeing

Understand their new needs productivity, connectivity, learning

Recognize new consumer sentiment increased online shopping, staying home more often, canceled travel plans

Develop marketing plans addressing all of the above

digital, content, empathetic marketing

Find new ways to connect

Client Meetings Online Calls

Marketing Conferences Online Conferences

Social Fridays Skype Calls

In-Person Presentations Zoom Meetings

Industry Events Webinars

Seminars Virtual Lunch and Learns

Team Lunches Local Food Deliveries

7

INSIDE THE PLAN

Determining which marketing

strategy is best for your business

can be a challenge. We share with

you some ideas and marketing

tactics that can help you re-

strategize and stay afloat during

these challenging times.

Empathetic Marketing

Should you be marketing during a pandemic? Yes, but do it right.

Increased sales are not driven by clever

advertising and appealing products alone.

At times such this, it is imperative for brands

not to appear unethical and opportunistic.

In a bigger picture, nations, economies, and

supply chains are being tested. Marketers

have the power to help – both their brands

and the public.

8

According to McKinsey, companies that lead with empathy can build a foundation of goodwill and long-

lasting emotional connections with communities they serve.

Brands Can Adjust Customer Experience

At a time when consumers are feeling afraid,

nervous or anxious about the coronavirus, Ford

Motor Company launched Built to Lend a Hand

program, which we think is a brilliant move

in showing compassion for its customers and

enhancing their experience.

Human-centered marketing offers three things to customers:

Don’t sell, help people with their problems.VALUE

Shift from products or services to what your audience cares about.

Deliver sincere, authentic messages that customers feel.

RELEVANCE

AUTHENTIC

Worried customers view familiar brands

as a comforting choice in trying times.

Marketers should look to reinforce trust

by reminding customers that buying the

product or services is a sound decision.

But how do marketers find the right tone

during this confounding time?

Comforting messages that encourage an emotional connection with the brand and express empathy are vital.

9

Brands Can Balance Concern of All Stakeholders

Tech giants and other tech companies, including

Zoom, Microsoft and Google came to the rescue

of companies and schools by supporting work-

at-home setups. Google, for example, was

successful in showing customers (both existing

and potential) that it’s less about profit and more

about taking care of customers.

Brands Can Let Their Actions Do the Talking

World leader in luxury, LVMH Group and its

#LVMHJoinsForces are another smart examples,

where customers feel the brand is on their side

in battling the Covid-19 virus.

10

Another way to highlight the human touch in your marketing strategy is to have actual conversation with your buyers.

Focus on enhancing customer experience to

sustain the brand not only though the downturn

but also into the recovery.

67% of consumers feel content

personalization is very important

marketers struggle to employ

emotional marketing as they

turn to automation to improve

customer engagement65%

Source: Forrester Consulting

Creating Digital Dialogue with the Customer

Rebuild brand and customer satisfaction – Discover and do what customers love.

Reinforce core value proposition – Focus on helping solve your customer needs.

Stabilize the brand – Be relevant, consistent, and build relationships.Stabilize the brand – Be relevant, consistent, and build relationships.

When communicating with a customer, use your marketing technology and database to:

11

There are no written rules on how brands should communicate with customers but the most human

company will win. To successfully convey a message, brands and marketers will need to be flexible to

adapt to the current situation and adjust strategies as needed. Acting towards this new normal will

better position businesses to keep customers they have, both old and new.

You know your customers, and they would

want to know you. Be authentic to existing

customers and this will grow to include

new clients as a result of how you maintain

relationships, operate your business and,

ultimately, respond during this time.

According to Klaviyo, cashmere clothing

company Naadam – and of course, its

marketing people – did this well in their

recent newsletter.

Glossier was one of the first brick-and-

mortars to inform its customers it will

be closing its retail locations, as well as

answering questions about company

plans. This announcement on Glossier’s

official page followed an Instagram post

by its CEO, Emily Weiss, who told her

followers: “It’s time to connect with us and

with each other online.”

No communication is too much

Articulate tough decisions concisely and accurately

12

Everyone is adapting to this new normal. Consumer behavior is shifting. Their budget is tight, and the majority of them are not ready to buy. Now is a good time to upend sales inertia by building meaningful customer relationships rather than selling them products in the same old way. How do marketers leverage the psychology of purchase decisions to secure more market share?

Think from the Customer’s Perspective

Ask prospects open-ended questions

Rather than marketing your offerings to move

products, reach out to customers and seek

product feedback. As well as opening a dialogue

with clients, this stimulates your customers’

brain to beat sales “inertia.” By asking customers

for their opinions, you develop a relationship

and acquire valuable customer feedback, which

your team can use to package your offering so it

would be relevant and valuable to clients.

13

Give content assets away for free

Do not send emails offering the features of the same product – now for free. Do not sell them your

products. Tell them your WHY. Provide customers with information and insight for their consumption.

Now is a good time to share educational webinars, best practices tips, and any type of thought

leadership without a hint of self-promotion. This is how prospects will get emotionally attached to the

brand, and then become interested with your products and services. In the following pages, we talk

about how to produce these key content pieces.

These practices not only help marketers build a sense of trust but are also a good way to reinforce brand

credibility. In the post lockdown world where the buying capacity is back on the table, marketing leaders

who are successful in thinking from the perspective of the buyer will reap the benefits of shortened

sales cycles.

Throughout this uncertain period, marketing

leaders should maintain an ongoing dialogue,

establish trust and subsequently, focus on

acknowledging consumer sentiment to create

true and lasting collaboration.

14

Tactics such as emails, social media, SEO, and paid media should be employed to continue to engage customers. The coronavirus has forced the cancellation of events across industries. Marketers can take advantage of digital marketing efforts that maintain communication with customers without the risk of travel.

Digital Marketing

In the following pages, we discusss some digital

marketing efforts you should add to your

strategy. These include:

Revisit Your Website

Invest in Chatbots

Ramp up SEO Efforts

Experiment with Advertising

Tap into Social Media

Get to Customers via Email

15

Revisit Your Website

Existing websites serve as lead nurturing engines, and it makes perfect sense that you continuously

work to finesse your website.

Hubspot recently revealed industry-specific impacts from Covid-19, highlighting decline in sales and

increase in website traffic.

From collecting high-level leads from campaigns, events and its digital content platform, your website

is where your audience needs to convert. If you want better conversion rates, review your website so it

offers opportunities to convert and offers opportunities that are actually relevant to the page.

Top things to consider to improve website

The number of closed-won deals and new

deals created declined.

Weekly average of deals created:

down by 17% globally on March 16

fell by 23% in March 30

Customers are initiating more interactions

with businessesAverage website traffic in March:

Up by 13% from February

Communicate core brand offering

Add value to audience

Support purchase intent

16

Invest in chatbots

There will always be customers who prefer to drive their buying journey on their own, and chatbots are

one way to support such an opportunity while the world is keeping its social distance.

Incorporate chat into your digital marketing

strategy to:

Let the customer lead the conversation

Allow real-time way to answer customer inquiries

Automate lead qualification and booking

The same Hubspot research shows

weekly onsite chat volume and Face-

book Messenger engagement in-

creased 5% from March 16, compared

to previous global figures before

Covid-19.

Customer-initiated cenversations have increased each week since March 9

Source: Hubspot

17

According to a 2018 MarTechAdvisor report, a personalized web experience can increase

sales by 19%. Marketers can leverage chatbots into their personalization strategy by

making them engage with customers in a more human way. Streamlining bots Marketers

can be a force for good.

How to personalize and humanize chatbots

Give them human traits through names, personalities, and character descriptions.

Use emoticons, GIFs or videos to make conversations with customers feel more genuine.

Program bots to ask questions and naturally move the conversation. This will also allow your marketing team to test their hypothesis.

Train your bots with information and tools so they understand context in conversations.

If successful in creating this natural two-way dialogue,

marketers will be able to move customers through

their sales funnel.

18

Experiment with Advertising

Historically, ad spend declines during

recessions. With competitors cut back on

their ad spend, pushing paid digital media

investments gives you the opportunity to

enjoy less noise in the market and stand out as

a brand. Look to promote thought leadership

more and the buy-now call to action less. You

should also pay attention to PPC, PPV, CPV,

CPA, PPAs.

Ramp up SEO efforts

Readers stumble upon your website content,

so want to make sure they are search engine

optimized. A recent report by Junto revealed

57% of B2B marketers experienced SEO to

generate more leads than any other marketing

initiative.

In the short term, marketing channels should

react in real-time due to the impact of

Covid-10. In the longer run, evaluate paid and

organic coverage to balance both strategies.

How to make SEO cover the right bases of

your marketing initiative

Examine your industry

Find out what’s important to the audience

Create an SEO strategy that puts the right content in the front of the right audience

When times are good you should advertise, when times are bad you MUST advertise.

19

Marketing successes and failures since the “great depression”

Source: Forbes

Tap into Social Media

HubSpot says 75% of B2B buyers use social media to support their purchase decision.

Marketers can turn to social media to outline the value and demonstrate the impact of an offering to

their business, by using strong CTAs. Facebook, for example, is the most used social media channel by

B2B marketers, according to MarTechAdvisor. It is a perfect tool for retargeting.

Placing ads in front of high-intent customers will lead them to book or buy your offering.

Its profits grew by 30% replacing the category leader, Post, which cut back on its ad budget.

Kellogg’s doubled its ad spend

Dry Cereal: (1920 Great Depression)

On top of previous strong sales, Toyota surpassed Volkswagen as the top carmaker in the U.S. by 1976.

Toyota maintained their ad budget

Imported Automobiles: (17th month recession of 1973-75)

The fast-food giants saw increased sales by 61% and 40% respectively, compared to McDonald’s -28%.

Pizza Hut and Taco Bell took advantage of McDonald’s decision to drop its ad spend budget

Quick Service Restaurants: (1990-91 recession)

Amazon decided to innovate with new Kindle products

Technology: (2009 Great Recession)

By introducing low cost alternatives to printed books, the tech company saw 28% increase in sales.

20

Provide relate content customer might enjoy

Engage them by offering referral marketing

Other things marketer can use social media for

Deploy retargeting ads to reach out to past purchasers

Engage website visitors that did not convert

of B2B leads generated through social

media come from LinkedIn

(Source:Oktopost)

80%

people use Instagram every month (and

half of them use it everyday)

(Source:Hootsuite)

1Billion33% of companies are on InstagramSource: Social Media Examiner

20x more engagement in Instagram than LinkedIn Source: TrackMaven

High Instagram click-through rates seen at 2:00 to 1:00 PM, 5:00 to 6:00 PM, and 8:00 to 9:00 pm Source: CoSchedule

Instagram has power in the B2B setting:

21

Get to customers via email

No, email is not a thing of the past. Email marketing is still effective for targeted communications.

Whether you are promoting a new product, checking up on your clients, or sending direct emails to high-

level executive customers about a new content asset on Covid-19, email advertising allows you to put

your content in front of prospects and effectively grab their attention.

What kind of engagement do you get with a certain type of newsletter?

How many people click through on a certain email?

What direct mail topics or products drive high open rates?

What customer responds to which messaging?

What kind of offers do your target clients respond to?

Some ways to identify new growth opportunities via email marketing

78% of executives say an unsolicited email has led to an in-person meeting or event attendance at some point. (Source : ITSMA)

22

Content Marketing

Under the wider umbrella that is digital marketing, content marketing is the driver of profitable customer action. Think of differentiating content as the fuel to develop an on-going relationship with customers.

According to a study by Content Marketing

Institute, 88% of B2B marketers use content

marketing as a lead generation tactic. To be

successful, brands should shift the goal of

content marketing to become storytellers

and produce content that provides value at

every touch point.

Create Landing Pages

According to a recent Marketo study,

strategic landing pages are used by 68% of

B2B businesses to acquire leads.

A dedicated Coronavirus landing page would

be useful in capturing the traffic searching

for coronavirus today. For businesses

significantly impacted by Covid-19, this is

an important piece to add to their marketing

puzzle as it provides the opportunity to

redirect audiences to key areas of your

website.

23

Lay out blogs well

Produce videos

Blogs are what create the magic – trust with your

buyers. According to Hubspot, marketers who

prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see

positive ROI.

While people maintain social distancing, videos are your best bet. This is especially true with 85%

of businesses using video as a marketing tool and 83% of video marketers saying videos have

helped them generate leads, according to animated explainer video company Wyzowl.

of current video

marketers will continue

using video in 2020

plan to increase or

maintain their spend

Source: Wyzowl

99%

95%

of customers say video

helps them make buying

decisions

say that seeing videos

make them more likely to

buy

Source: Forbes

of B2B marketers are

considering incorporating

videos in their marketing

and sales strategies in 2020

Source: Sagefrog Marketing Group

41%

of marketers worldwide

name video as the type of

content with the best ROI

Source: Syndacast

52%

One of Microsoft’s early responses to Covid-19, for

example, came out as a blog that expressed support to

work from home setups.

90%

64%

24

Record Podcasts

Publish eBooks

Turn your podcast into an effective lead-generating

tool by inviting customers onto your show. This

demonstrates your openness as a brand and opens a

great opportunity for relationship-building.

eBooks are great for building authority and thought leadership; gaining customer trust and attention;

and, ultimately, covering in-depth topics while demonstrating your brand’s expertise.

According to Edison Research, 49% of podcast

listeners do so while at home. Yes, social distancing

and home quarantine. Leverage this tool to learn more

about your customers’ pain points and how to help

them address such challenges.

Yes, eBooks remain great lead

magnets, with 95% of B2B buyers

willing to hand over their name,

company and email address in return

for an eBook or whitepaper, according

to Demand Gen Report. Additionally,

85% are willing to share their job title

or industry.

25

Write white papers

As Forbes would put it, white

papers are tried and tested. In

fact, its recent study revealed 79%

of B2B buyers share white paper

with colleagues, which extends the

opportunity to generate leads.

Webinars are an integral part of most B2B marketing strategies

Source: Demand Gen Report

of B2B marketers

use webinars

as part of their

marketing mix

77%

believe webinars

provide better

quality leads

based on

engagement

48%

acquire higher

quality of leads

from webinars

38%

said webinars

provide an

ability to gather

customer insight

37%

experience

better

conversion

of leads to

opportunities

from webinars

33%

Run webinars

Attendees, who give you their undivided attention while on livestream, throw

comments and suggestions as the webinar progresses.

Online conferencing calls feel familiar and

friendly, making webinars a powerful tool to

incorporate in marketing strategies. Webinars

have grown into a popular format for marketers

as they are designed to produce quick results.

26

Pivot B2B lead generation

According to Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B marketers consider lead generation as their most

important content marketing goal.

With social distancing and community quarantine in place, chances are your target market is more

receptive to online conversations now, and in the coming months.

Align with industry

Use job titles to influence decision makers

Target people based on their interest

Find leads based on their business size

Basic targeting options that lend themselves well to B2B marketing:

27

Content Atomization

We have established that content is the fuel that guides leads throughout their buying journey. In this section, we highlight the value of content atomization for B2B marketing.

We think atomizing content provides

marketers greater opportunity for deepening

customer engagement and positioning the

brand to have a meaningful, engaging buying

journey.

We all are overflooded with information. A

study by software provider Showpad shows

86% of buyers get overwhelmed anytime

there is more than 10 pieces of content to

read. Experimenting with content formats

will effectively drive engagement with

prospects.

Marketers can break rich, detailed

content into smaller pieces to efficiently

communicate big ideas.

Atomize content strategically so it surfaces whenever, wherever, and however customers want.April Henderson, @CMIContent

28

But how do you atomize content?

Repurpose assets to draw attention with infographics. Hubspot reports that blog articles with

infographics generated an average of 178% more links than standard articles. Marketers can repurpose

assets to fuel customer journeys – in this case the discovery stage by hooking their attention and then

connecting them with a bigger picture.

Reuse assets to create content for partners. Marketers can capture leads exploring products and

services with dedicated content for partners. Reusing thought leadership pieces as content to deepen

focus on value on campaigns and initiatives is one way to drive customer explorations.

Source: Business2Community

of B2B buyers use more information sources for research and

evaluation before making a purchase decision75%

Recombine assets to fuel sales teams with brand-supported content. Marketers can leverage ROI case

studies to create self-serving sales tools that provide critical guidance when leads are ready to buy.

By doing this, marketing teams empower salespeople to shift from a presentation to conversational

approach that serves customers better.

Source: Demand Gen Report

Source: Showpad

of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry

thought leaders96%

B2B buyers spend up to 20 hours researching before they contact a sales rep 20hrs

29

Maximizes investment in content marketing

Fuels customer buying journey

Delivers consistent communication across channels and customer lifecycle stages

When you effectively atomize content, the brand:

30

Content Personalization

Marketers should work to prioritize personalization strategies, with 59% of consumers feeling that companies have lost the touch with customers, according to PwC.

Take blog campaigns for example. The blog

article, even if well written and personalized in

a few places, still often doesn’t feel right. Why?

Because the content is scaled.

67% of consumers feel content

personalization is very important

get annoyed when content

isn’t personalized42%Source: Gartner

of consumers feel content

personalization is very

important67%Source: Gartner

31

Focus on the customer journey

Marketers should pay attention and help

customers achieve their goals – by providing a

better customer experience at each step of the

journey. Tools like Uberflip empower marketers to

offer buyers custom content experience directly

on site, ultimately improving response rates.

According to SiriusDecisions, 80% of B2B buying decisions

are based on a buyer’s direct or indirect customer

experience. Only 20% is based on the price or the actual

offering.

Website features must have for B2B buyers:

How do you create a more human-centered B2B marketing?

want easy access to

personalized portal

content

45%

want access to an ROI

calculator for buying

decisions

44%

wants onsite video

chat features

33%

want instant

messaging with sales

rep

22%

Source: Showpad

32

Address specific buyer pain points and interests

Combine personalization with AI

Advocate for your customers, especially their

needs and wants. This way you can connect and

work in their best interest while becoming their

business partner rather than a seller. Vidyard is a

popular tool used by marketing and sales teams

to integrate personalized video messages into

email.

Drift is known to be a valuable sales

enablement tool used by marketers for AI-

driven site personalization. This is helpful

in addressing B2B customer preference for

relevant, consistent and valuable content at

each stage of their buying process.

You are not your customer. Marketers should focus their

energy on learning customer challenges and interests.

67% of consumers feel content

personalization is very important

of B2B buyers say they want

a personalized, B2C-like

customer experience73%Source: Accenture

Marketing leaders can micro-personalize content by

leveraging artificial intelligence (e.g. Pathfactory) to

create Netflix- and Amazon-like customer experience.

33

CONCLUSION

This novel coronavirus is the one

of the most challenging times

the world has faced in decades.

It is wreaking havoc on many

businesses – including marketing.

There is no one size fits all

marketing, and no two downturns

are alike. However, with the right

plan, marketers can weather any

storm and come out stronger on

the other side.

The disruption caused to businesses by

Covid-19 drives home the reality that

empathy creates and builds trusting

relationships. Companies that put

customer interests under the microscope,

take a scalpel rather than a cleaver to

marketing budgets, and adjust their plans

of action in response to change in demand

are more likely to flourish both during and

after a business slowdown.

Of course, execution is everything, and

the marketing world will see how all these

play out in the upturn when it comes.

Looking to plan ahead for this new reality? Purplepatch is happy to

set up a quick call with you to discuss your current marketing plan.

Book a meeting!

ask@purplepatchservices.com

34