10 tools you need for a successful B2B online strategy
By: Jessica Clarke
Tags: Tools, Strategy, B2B, Ecommerce, Sales

Modern eCommerce is filled with digital marketing tools and there are many tools to choose from. But it is easy to get lost in the maze of various tools and dashboards on offer today and lose sight of the business goal, which is to drive sales and higher revenue.

Our selection of digital marketing tools will help you to harness the power of Digital and also drive important business goals.

1. Platform toolbox:

The simplest way to understand a platform is to think about companies like Amazon and Apple. Amazon, for instance, helps start-ups and even big organizations to build their applications on its Amazon Webs Services (AWS) platform.

This gives unimaginable computing power to cash-strapped start-ups and in turn, gives Amazon a steady flow of innovative ideas.

Even in the B2B eCommerce space, a platform-based approach can help you to reap rich rewards in the long term. Your customers can carry on their new business models on your platform and even incubate new ideas.

They can easily integrate their ERP, PIM, and CRM tools. Further, your customers can even develop and deploy quick apps without heavy spending. And, they can even open up new channels of business for their customers.

In the B2B space, ewiz offers a powerful suite of platforms that can integrate all your important business functions and offer an engaging customer experience.

2. Storefront/eCommerce tools:

Nowadays, 80% of B2B buying decisions are based on a buyer’s direct or indirect customer experience, and only 20% is based on the price or the actual offering.

(Source: https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/b2b-marketing-statistics/)

Customers are very serious about their experience now. They want an emotional connection with your site or store. Customers can leave your site even for even minor issues like the placement of a button. And never come back. How do you keep your customers engaged when their attention span is even shorter than a flickering matchstick?

A good idea is to follow a human-centric approach for developing eCommerce stores. It is a design thinking system that solves problems from a human perspective. When applied to store development, a human-centric approach ensures a simple user interface and easy navigation. The only purpose of the website is to help users complete their desired actions smoothly.

But most websites fail to achieve this level of simplicity. According to Forrester's latest evaluation of 60 B2B websites across 12 industries, almost all of them scored poorly because they failed to engage and produce content that buyers find compelling.

(Source: https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/b2b-sites-suck-forrester-says-heres-how-marketers-can-make-them-better/)

A/B Testing can help you to know which option works best on your site. Tools like Adobe Analytics can help you to set up A/B and multivariate tests.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM):

Companies with robust CRM can harness their customer data intelligently. This data can then be used to chart personalized customer journeys and also stitch together the journeys across different digital channels.

For a B2B business, CRM is especially important as it helps to increase the Customer Life Time Value (CLTV). Research has shown that the chances of selling to existing customers are 60 -70% and existing customers spend 31% more than new ones.

CRM can help you to identify the valuable customers in your company and personalize your catalogs and other digital assets based on the specific interest of your customers.

4. Digital Catalog Creator:

First used by Sears in the 1890s, catalogs have been the mainstay of B2B marketing. Busy business executives love a catalog as it provides quick product display and ample description of products. This facilitates quick decisions and faster sales.

Of course, the Sears catalogs won’t work now. Today you need digital catalogs that can be accessed by your customers anywhere and across any device. And you also need a deep level of personalization to make your catalogs relevant.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can help you to achieve a high level of personalization in your catalogs. There are very few companies right now that offer Practical AI solutions for personalizing catalogs.

ewiz is a platform that harnesses transactional data of your customers to determine their purchasing behavior. It also consolidates product information to help you share accurate information with your customers.

5. Product Information Management (PIM) tools:

With companies sourcing products from across the globe, it is important to track the supply chain of products. From the origin of the product to the time it leaves the shelf. But most companies face the daunting task of integrating the product information across all the digital touchpoints. As a result, the product data is scattered in silos and companies struggle to get a single source of truth.

With a PIM tool, you can consolidate all your product information in one place. It will make you fast-to-market as you can gather relevant product information and roll-out catalogs quickly. A good PIM tool can also drive a meteoric rise in conversion rates and revenues.

Akeneo ( https://www.akeneo.com/) offers many tools for companies to help them streamline their PIM. ewiz also offers specialized B2B PIM tools to help customers research products in detail.

6. Social Media Tools:

B2B buyer journeys are getting complex by the day. Customers now rely on research and advice from their peers on social media platforms. This makes social selling an important business tool. But how good are B2B companies at using social media?

Although, most B2B companies trail B2C counterparts in social media adoption but surprisingly B2B companies love LinkedIn as it helps them to generate relevant leads. As a professional networking site, LinkedIn is the best place to harvest leads.

Social listening tools also present an untapped opportunity. Listening to your customer chatter on social media platforms will give you a firsthand account of what your customers think about your brand. This is quick feedback and can help you to take action without wasting any time.

Awario is a powerful social listening tool that can help you to monitor the mention of your brand across the social media universe. The conversation data can also become rich fodder for analytical engines, which are making eCommerce companies more responsive.

7. Google Analytics:

The organic route is now the best route to bring customers to your website. The study shows that almost three-quarters — 73% — of global traffic to business services companies came from organic search. (Source: https://www.brightedge.com/resources/research-reports/content-optimization ) With Google Analytics, B2B marketers can analyze the source of traffic coming to their websites. They can even drill down further to analyze the digital touch-points from where the visitors are coming and also the keywords which drive traffic to their website.

Google Analytics is also connected to an entire ecosystem of Google products (like Google Ads) to help you understand your customers better on both websites and mobile.

8. Mobile Apps:

According to Forbes, “Worldwide B2B e-commerce will reach $6.7 trillion by 2020 and the majority of these transactions will happen on Mobile.”

With 52% of Internet traffic now coming from mobile devices (according to Stat Counter), it is equally important to invest in tools that provide a good mobile experience. Further, 75% of B2B buyers want to skip the customary interaction with the sales rep and instead prefer self-service.

B2B customers now want the flexibility to complete a transaction on their mobile device itself. They want order management apps to place an order, complete the payment, and track their shipment.

They also want their mobile phone to handle standard B2B transactions like barcode scanning and even customer service. AutoZone and Zendesk offer digital mobile commerce solutions for B2B companies.

9. Customer Support Tools:

Customer support is a passion and it pays rich dividends. Research shows that 70% of customers in B2B businesses are ready to spend more with companies that provide great customer support. But customer supports pans out a bit differently in the B2B space.

In B2B, customer support is mostly about predictive analytics. You have to cover the slippery areas and ensure a fast response in case of escalations. Further, make sure that all the stipulated obligations in the contract are met on time or before time. This may include license renewals, software updates, and so on.

Zendesk tools can help you to ensure quick customer response across different channels. Their portfolio includes chatbots and ticketing tools to create more touchpoints for customers.

10. Payment Gateways:

B2B payment cycle is complex and credit forms the major chunk of transactions. The standard industry practice is allowing credit terms to customers and offering them discounts for early payments too. Purchase Order is also common in the B2B industry.

It is clear that the preferred payment modes in the B2B industry are different from B2C. Along with regular payment gateways like Paypal you also need some specialized tools to manage your payments.

B2B credit management platforms like Apruve will help your customers to pay as per their convenience and also help you to manage your Accounts Receivable.

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