COVID-19 has greatly changed the way that B2B buyers and sellers cooperate nowadays. The main tendency of all spheres of businesses going online will change the face of B2B marketing. And those changes might be permanent. But now, when the dust starts to settle and the market seems to slowly revive, a new question arises. Economy restoration will require some serious adjustment from the B2B segment. Let`s take an overview of what is happening on the market right now and what steps might be taken in the future.
It is quite obvious that customer habits have changed during the lockdown. They got more used to online operations and this tendency is more likely to stay. Therefore the reality sales market faces the main dilemma – to adjust to the ongoing tendency immediately or to slow down waiting for the return to “normal” operating style. Both of the solutions are quite risky, but they both might seem reasonable enough under certain circumstances.
Not only customers react to the crisis, but, of course, sellers go through an uneasy period of adjustment. After some consideration, we might notice 3 main tendencies in the B2B market that might look like possible ways to attract businesses and restart business activity.
There are 3 main reasons that attract business
∙ Remote
It is impossible to freeze the market. B2B marketing is based on communication and the modern solution for remote communication and conferences have allowed moving at least 90% of all the activity online and, therefore, save the market from collapse. Many B2B marketers have already admitted that remote communication also provides wider marketing opportunities and therefore will stay after the COVID-19 period.
∙ Spend
It might seem quite logical for companies to reduce their spending now. But the reality shows that the B2B market did not freeze and the spending stays on almost the same level.
∙ Digital
Though they might have seemed quite innovative sometime before, digital interactions simply had to take over during the lockdown. Nowadays markets claim that digital interactions appear to be at least twice as appealing and comfortable for their customers as the traditional ones.
There is no universal recipe for immediate restoration of the market and attracting businesses back into the B2B game. But the main tendency of going digital and going online appeared like a perfect solution during the crisis. The period of restoration is usually even more complicated.
Therefore the tendencies that have proven their effectiveness during the COVID-19 period might be a perfect tool to revive the market afterward. General quietness of the market combined with a significant reduction of cost for the main marketing tools is already an opportunity for experienced players on the B2B market.
At the same time digital solutions provider with possibilities to widen the horizons. As before the Covid-19 period, those solutions might have been quite inconvenient, now the marketing world has simply got used to it, and therefore it is a perfect time to use its full potential for restoration of the marker and attracting businesses.