Purchasing B2B technology has become a corporate endeavor. It involves four out of every five workers, and the idea to buy might come from practically anyplace. Today, 50% of company IT acquisitions do not receive any official clearance at all, in contrast to the past when a single IT decision-maker (ITDM) would scrutinize every step along the buying route, devouring spec sheets and pricing information. They are propelled by Anonymous Buyers, tech-savvy employees who perceive it as outside the scope of their job to sign checks or engage in sales conversations but who are driven to identify better solutions and convince their company to embrace them.

Earn loyalty first, then lead by flipping the marketing funnel

It makes sense to try to use a lead from every contact when your aims are expressed in terms of Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and you are aware of how valuable your audience's attention is. Because of this, tech marketing techniques put the collection of information first, with the goal of engaging, educating, and nurturing consumers after the contact information has been securely added to the database. However, in the age of the anonymous buyer, the effectiveness of this strategy is quickly dwindling.

Spend money on bigger brand promotions

One of the most crucial marketing formulas, the Share of Voice (SOV) rule, has been largely disregarded by the conventional B2B digital marketing paradigm. According to this, a brand's market share will increase until it equalizes its share of voice within its category. The opposite is also true: a brand with a large share of the market that fails to keep a sizable share of voice can anticipate seeing its market share decline. However, a lot of tech companies make no genuine effort to increase their voice.

Develop the three R's before the consideration stage

According to research analysis of the B2B tech buying process, anonymous consumers weigh the benefits and drawbacks of potential solutions according to the three R's rather than specific costs and features: reputation, reviews, and recognition. As a result, tech businesses that are well-known and frequently mentioned have a significant edge. Delivering value to prospects before obtaining their contact information can play a significant part in fostering good evaluations, while investing in pertinent, unique thought-leadership content is a key lever for securing a reputation within the industry.

Set new MQL objectives

A lead, rather than being the beginning of the nurturing journey, is the destination in the era of the anonymous buyer. The leads generated by marketing by turning the traditional marketing funnel around will ineluctably diverge from the MQLs that the majority of tech marketing targets are based on. There won't be as many of them, but they'll be of far higher quality.

Tech marketers will need to engage closely with their sales teams to reshape expectations surrounding MQLs in order for this to be successful. The end result is to put greater emphasis on the revenue those leads ultimately produce rather than on the quantity of leads they generate. A marketing team cannot simply inform their sales colleagues of this.

Look for beneficial methods to include sales into the journey

Because they don't always determine budgets or approve purchases, anonymous purchasers don't think it is their responsibility to speak with sales. They defer to others to handle the specifics. However, it's possible that anonymous purchasers are more receptive to speaking with consultants, advisors, and specialists who can assist them in finding the data they require, set them up with a trial version, or maximize the value of a freemium service. These exchanges appear to be more like pre-customer service than sales, but they are a crucial element of the sales and marketing process.