Print 
PDFMost people don’t think BtoB Complex Sales when they think of social media, but social’s ability to target with laser-like precision, enable buyers to self-educate, and allow for a variety of different buying paths; BtoB complex sales may become easier, in the long run, to demonstrate social media’s ROI in terms of marketing and lead generation.
We pulled together the common challenges and opportunities that we have seen for BtoB customers specifically. Many of these overlap for BtoC, but given these tend to be more transactional; BtoB or complex channel sales processes have more specific pains associated with the need to build multiple relationships with much greater strategic impact within a sale. The number of moving pieces can be much more visible and more easily managed via a social lead generation programs. We thought this list might help a sales & marketing executive realize they are not alone in their challenges and begin to help them build the foundation for a business case for social marketing.
Difficulty Getting a Decision Maker’s Attention
- Too much noise in the market; diminishing returns from traditional marketing channels
- Decision-makers hard to reach; too busy
- Influencers as gatekeepers
- Niche offering is lost in larger purchase cycle
- Bigger competitors influencing the market
Tight Marketing Budgets
- Limited budget dollars (due to current marketplace?)
- Need to justify return on all marketing channels
- Limited staff or using outside agency resources
- Doing something in social media today; but getting ad hoc or anecdotal results
Challenging Sales Impacts
- Sales organization keeps asking for more leads; complaining they want more qualified
- Sales cycles are too long; difficult to maintain momentum throughout cycle
- Churning sales guys who can’t grow their relationship networks
- Partners are hard to ramp; hard to get channel to sell product; inconsistent results
Evident Opportunities
- Better technology, launching new product, or specialized solution versus competitors
- Good references and referrals; just not enough of them
- Good market presence; hard to figure out who we don’t know, or who we could reach through our relationships
Matthew is a Social Marketing Executive and is co-founder of Social Gastronomy, LLC and the Social Executive Council. Prior to founding Social Gastronomy, Matthew has over 18 years’ experience as an executive in marketing, product management, and sales. Matthew has an extensive background in the SaaS Software, Social Media, Mobile, IT Services, and Telecom industries. He has prior entrepreneurial experience as a founder and executive in several early-stage venture-backed technology companies, as well as, holds several US patents for a mobile marketing technology. Matthew is a prominent blogger and regular industry speaker on social marketing and strategy topics. Matthew’s blog can be found at www.socialgastronomy.com/blog. For more information on Matthew, you can check out his LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/rosenhaft or contact him directly at mrosenhaft@socialgastronomy.com.
