Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey with CMO at PwC, Antonia Wade
May 30, 2023
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Antonia Wade, the Global Chief Marketing Officer at PwC, brings her expertise in B2B marketing to the discussion, focusing on transforming the buyer journey. She critiques the outdated marketing funnel and proposes a new framework with five phases that account for multiple buyer roles. Antonia emphasizes brand building's importance in engaging clients and nurturing loyalty through thought leadership. Additionally, she shares insights on successfully implementing marketing strategies in large organizations and the necessity of a curious mindset to navigate changes in the marketing landscape.
Antonia Wade highlights the need for a new framework for B2B buyer journeys, recognizing the complexity of modern decision-making with multiple stakeholders involved.
The podcast emphasizes the transformation of marketing's role from sales support to an experience setter through data-driven insights and tailored strategies.
Deep dives
Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey
The podcast delves into the changing landscape of B2B marketing, emphasizing the transformation of the buyer journey. Traditionally focused on linear sales enablement, the current perspective acknowledges that the buying process now involves multiple stakeholders, often resulting in buying groups consisting of 11 to 15 decision-makers. This complexity necessitates a departure from the traditional marketing funnel, which fails to accommodate the nuanced realities of B2B purchasing behavior. The discussion highlights the importance of recognizing how marketing can better support this multifaceted decision-making process while generating meaningful insights.
A New Framework for B2B Marketing
A new framework is proposed to replace the outdated funnel model, consisting of five key phases: horizon scanning, exploring, hunting, active buying, and client loyalty. Each phase represents a unique stage in the buyer's journey with distinct content and measurement metrics applicable to both prospects and existing clients. This framework is adaptable and recognizes that not every buyer will navigate through it linearly; rather, buyers may enter at different stages depending on their familiarity with the brand and their specific needs. By adopting this framework, marketers can better tailor their strategies to address the unique requirements of buyers at various stages.
Measuring Marketing Success
The discussion highlights the importance of measuring success across the various phases of the buyer journey using a mix of output, outcome, and indicator metrics. Output metrics track productivity, such as the number of webinars conducted, while outcome metrics relate to long-term sales pipeline conversion. Indicator metrics serve a crucial role in maintaining organizational support by demonstrating the ongoing impact of marketing efforts, even when immediate sales results may be lagging. This holistic approach ensures that marketers can adapt their strategies effectively while justifying their contributions to the overall business objectives.
Evolving the Role of Marketing
The podcast argues for a shift in how marketing is perceived within B2B organizations, positioning marketing as an experience setter rather than merely supporting the sales function. This transition involves creating campaigns centered on generating insights that inform product development and enhance customer experiences. The conversation underscores the necessity for marketers to leverage digital channels and data-driven insights, portraying themselves as integral to understanding buyer behaviors and preferences. Emphasizing this proactive role allows marketing to contribute more significantly to the overall success of the organization by aligning closely with sales and other departments.
Alice de Courcy is joined by CMO at PwC, Antonia Wade to discuss how the added complexities of the modern B2B buyer journey have rendered the marketing 'funnel' pretty useless. Instead, Antonia proposes a new way to look at the B2B buyer journey.
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