Hi How to Craft Content for the Three Types of Industrial Buyers.

Hi How to Craft Content for the Three Types of Industrial Buyers.

The industrial buy cycle can be long and complex, and can involve any number of recommenders, influencers, gatekeepers and decision makers who all have a say in the final purchase decision. It’s a daunting task for a marketer to create content and design communications that are relevant and that resonate with these various audience types.

To make your job easier, you can segment all of those involved on the customer side into one of three buyer types: the analytical buyer, the economic buyer and the technical buyer. Speak to the needs and interests of these three types of buyers and you can simplify your communication efforts while increasing your opportunities for winning the deal.

The Analytical Buyer: Will it Solve My Problem?

The analytical buyer is the technical professional who has a problem to solve. They need, for example, an oscillating pump or a diode laser or a circuit board to perform a specific function. The analytical buyer is often the first point of contact your company has with a potential customer. They’re the person who has performed initial research to identify the suppliers, products or components that could meet their needs.

The biggest question on the analytical buyer’s mind is whether your product or service will solve their problem. They’re asking: What functions does the product perform? What are its specifications? Why is your product better than another product? Or: How does your service meet my needs?

Analytical buyers want facts and solutions. They respond to content such as demos, how-to videos, problem-solving webinars, and white papers.

The Economic Buyer: Will We Earn ROI?

The economic buyer’s greatest concern is return on investment. They often have significant sway in any large or long-term purchase. Economic buyers asking that if their company buys your product or service, will the return they earn in terms of economic benefit be higher than the price they pay?

The benefits to economic buyers might be measured in terms of expected time savings, increased efficiency, uptime, product lifespan, reliability, warranties, opportunity cost (if they purchase your product over a competitive one, how do they gain or lose) or other factors.

Effective content for the economic buyer might be interactive ROI calculators, case studies showing demonstrated success and benefits other customers have achieved, analyst reports, depreciation schedules, and executive briefs. The content should be numbers oriented and benefit focused.

The Technical Buyer: Is it the Right Fit for Our Company?

The technical buyer is often behind the scenes and may not come into play early in the buy cycle. They are concerned with the bigger picture of whether your product, component or service will fit into the larger technical infrastructure, environment or policies at their company. For example: Are your products compatible with other products the customer uses? Do your products integrate well or will modifications elsewhere be necessary? How is support provided? These questions are particularly relevant with software and hardware purchases, but also for other industrial products.

Fitting into environment also includes questions such as: Is this kind of company we want to do business with? If the customer has a policy to prefer suppliers that engage in “green” business practices, or that manufacture only in the United States, you’ll find this out from the technical buyer. Also, if the customer requires a certain type of support, such as on-site or 24/7, the technical buyer as well as the analytical buyer will be looking for that type of information.

Technical buyers want specifications, but they also want to see your policies and procedures. They can nix a sale for any number of reasons, and so you’ll have to produce content that answers their questions.

The Buyers Together,

You might produce individual pieces of content for each type of buyer or you might try to communicate with all your audiences at once. There are no set rules other than to be clear and relevant to your customers and to address their concerns: Does your product do the job well, deliver required benefits, and fit seamlessly into their environment?

How do you communicate to the needs of these three types of buyers? What advice would you give to your peers in industrial marketing? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

THANK YOU...,