Tailor Your Strategy to the Buyer’s Journey

Understanding the buyer's journey is crucial for developing an effective B2B marketing strategy. Channels must be evaluated based on how buyers engage with them. For instance, Google Search acts as an intent channel where buyers actively seek solutions, making it essential to capture this demand with optimized budget strategies focused on high-intent keywords. Businesses often overspend on search advertising, missing out on a better ROI; thus, fine-tuning the budget and targeting is vital. Conversely, paid social platforms like LinkedIn serve as awareness channels. Users are typically not in an active purchasing mindset, making awareness-building campaigns more appropriate. These should highlight brand and product use cases to educate potential customers over time. It's common for companies to misjudge LinkedIn as an intent channel and push for immediate lead generation, which is counterproductive. Ultimately, a successful media mix is determined by identifying the target audience, their habits, and where they engage, ensuring that strategies align with their journey through the buying process.