In a world where change is the only constant, all roles undergo a constant churn, and the marketers’ role is no different.
In the past, the main job of the marketer was to disseminate information regarding the product. Then, the marketers’ role transformed to teach customers how to buy. While these two roles remain relevant, it does so only in a limited sense and in certain context.
Today’s customers are highly informed and prefer to make their own journey through the buying cycle. A study by Forrester research reveals that for every one piece of content that a marketing or sale professional delivers, the B2B buyer matches it with three additional pieces of relevant content.
The main role of the marketer in this changed scenario is to guide such customers through the buying process, almost a match making process of sorts, to where prospective customers are being led to the solutions that match their needs.
The marketer still needs to engage and nurture the buyer, but rather than to try to dictate terms, they need to instead engage on the customer’s terms. In such a scenario, product-centric campaigns face irrelevance and marketers taste success with customer-centric behavioral campaigns.
The new paradigm mandates marketers to understand the customer’s journey across the various touch points and channels. Marketers need to know the specific content that buyers consume and identify the channels from where the buyers get such content. The marketer can then engage better by delivering targeted content through such channels. Marketers also need to evolve their programs on a constant basis, depending on how customers react to their interventions. Marketing automation tools allow the marketer to do this, but success depends on how the marketer utilizes such tools.
Such behavioral marketing was an option in the past. Today it has become more or less indispensable.
