The role of communities in creating new business

Following on from my recent article where the words of a trusted senior sales professional proclaimed "lead generation" are becoming dirty words in sales land, it‘s obvious there are much broader and more significant strategic considerations needed when planning marketing and sales budgets.

Whether net new or renewals, community-led marketing is the glue that holds both strategic and tactical approaches together.

I’d now like you to consider how a community-based marketing approach supports Consensus and Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies to create demand and sales action, whilst also retaining the ability to manage more tactical ambitions. For now, go with it and don’t think about all the complexities in getting it all right.

Recognising buyer behaviour has evolved

Understanding the evolution of buyer behaviour is fundamental. It’s widely recognised that today's IT & Security buying process usually involves multiple stakeholders who have different priorities, preferences and decision-making criteria. It acknowledges that a successful sale is not solely dependent on convincing a single decision-maker, but on aligning the perspectives and requirements of the entire buying group.

Getting the PO

It makes sense that you know who’s likely to be involved in a purchase decision early on and warm them all up together, particularly as it’s likely a deal will be delayed or halted entirely by the addition of new influencers just as you think you’re getting close to that elusive PO.

Talking the talk

Many marketing and sales professionals talk the Account Based Marketing (ABM) talk, but it’s often applied way too late in the process or as an entirely separate, sales-focused initiative. Now, there’s also the increasingly popular term ‘Consensus Selling’ that’s appearing in strategic vocabulary that’s very similar to ABM.

Firstly, here’s a couple of brief definitions to clarify these terms.

1. Consensus Selling

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review the consensus sale is built on three pillars:

1) understanding the buying process,
2) mapping the buying committee,
3) tailoring the sales approach and messaging for the different personas.

Only by fully understanding the dynamics of the buying process and identifying the key decision makers and influencers involved can marketing customise their strategies to appeal to individual interests, whilst also addressing collective concerns. This is 100% the role of marketing.

2. ABM

ABM is a strategic B2B marketing approach that involves the targeting and engagement of specific accounts or companies, rather than focusing on broad market segments. It focuses on personalised marketing strategies and sales tactics directed towards specific target accounts.

Arguably, this is also a marketing job that makes Consensus Selling and ABM similar in actions. However, most ABM activity is only implemented at the sales stage when a contact in an organisation is showing interest and the sales team tries to find out who else they can influence.

This is too late. Planning ABM strategies should be part of the marketing process, rather than leaving it to the point of sales engagement.

Communities - the glue that makes it all possible

By building a community around a particular product, service or industry, community-based marketing provides a platform for decision-makers and influencers to interact with highly targeted content which they share in common with their peers.

Establishing communities tailored to individual target accounts can create a dedicated space, allowing sellers to nurture relationships and provide specific content that will resonate with those specific accounts.

Content-driven engagement techniques:  Communities use content ‘with purpose’, designed to build relationships and trust, and drive audience interaction and engagement. They allow sellers to see how buyers are engaging with their products and services over time so they know when the time is right to engage directly.

Managed interactions:  Communities manage interactions between buyers and sellers which progress through a structured, intent-based funnel informed by pre-defined intent markers based on the individual buyer stakeholder’s interest.

Combining visibility and intelligence:  Information is gathered on individual buyer journeys and compiled in Account-Based structures, so sales have a full picture of engagement for them to start a meaningful conversation.

Active B2B buyer communities:  More than 70K senior IT and security professionals in the UK and EMEA currently engage regularly in our communities, looking for all sorts of products and services. Depending on where they are in their decision-making journey, we provide them with the information that matters to them.

Partners come too:  Because channel partners help many vendors with scaling to market, we have a thriving channel partner community sitting in both environments.   This is the perfect way to engage with them if recruitment is part of your strategy.

See them here

www.myredfort.com                        www.thecloudcommunity.net

Sounds interesting, but also a lot of work?

Budgeting and resourcing community-based programmes in-house can be prohibitive if you want to commit to this approach.  Often, it’s a complete shift in traditional ways of doing things, making it difficult to justify to the leadership team or budget holders.

The good news is, we’re already doing it so you don’t have to!

Whether you need to

• Communicate to all the buyer stakeholders involved in a purchase decision
• Satisfy your internal sales team’s need for actionable high-intent leads
• Equip and light up your channel to be more prolific dealmakers
• Recruit channel partners 

this plug-and-play solution is a great way to complement your existing marketing and sales activities. It’s backed by SLAs with results guaranteed up-front. Most of all, there are no surprises.

Book some time for a live demonstration of how a Community-led demand creation or partner recruitment programme can deliver the guaranteed results you deserve for your investment.

Author: Shelley Hirst, The Amigos Network

Email:  shelley.hirst@theamigosnetwork.com