Bringing B2C digital marketing techniques into B2B is “massively growing”, an Exertis executive has asserted as he urged the channel to “go where its users are”.
Digital marketing is one of five pillars the distributor is investing in as part of a wider digital transformation drive (the other four being e-commerce, data, digital products and D&I.)
Efforts on this front have seen Exertis increasingly target B2B users on TikTok, Instagram, Twitch and Facebook, and even use ‘influencers’, its Global Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Visha Chhatralia said.
“Digital marketing and modern marketing is about mining those crumbs to then influence people, and that’s more relevant in a B2B environment than even a B2C environment,” he told IT Channel Oxygen.
“Bringing those B2C techniques into B2B is massively growing.
“As humans, we’re spending more and more of our time on digital media. For us to become more progressive as an industry, we’ve got to go where the users are, rather than where we’ve traditionally been.”
Vendor attitudes have shifted rapidly since Chhatralia joined Exertis and DCC Technology from RS Components in 2020, he added.
“I remember sitting in front of the first vendor after I joined – they were a sales director and were a bit laissez fair about what was happening with the marketing dollars. It was, I think, viewed as a bit of a margin kickback,” he recalled.
“That same vendor very soon after had a non-UK-born lady who spends most of her time on WhatsApp and who communicates in a totally different style. It’s like night and day in terms of what we all expect from our marketing dollars from three years ago.
“That’s our why. We have to be ahead of the game in terms of creating value for vendors and customers, before it gets ahead of us.”
“You have to persuade B2B buyers up to seven times, before you get a date”
Some 85% of the campaigns run by Exertis’ 100-strong marketing team in 2023 have been predominantly digital, Chhatralia estimated.
Exertis has successfully recruited from agencies such as Publicis Groupe to boost its digital marketing prowess, he said.
“Lead generation is much harder in B2B,” Chhatralia added.
“I think of it as like romancing, and it’s a longer romancing journey – there are more dates and more holidays before you get to the marriage. You have to persuade people up to seven times before you get a date.
“I therefore think digital marketing has a bigger role to play in B2B because the cost of acquisition is higher. It’s much less prevalent in the B2B world but it’s much more valuable because it’s much harder to win customers.”
Exertis uses influencers “quite heavily” in the retail space to court buyers of tech including VR headsets.
“We’ve got a couple of influencers in B2B who seem to be getting quite a lot of traction on LinkedIn,” Chhatralia said.
“That area is growing. But what works in B2B is using customer testimonials and trust builders that can either help us influence the reseller, or the end business on behalf of the reseller, to latch onto that persuasion journey.”
Moving “aggressively” on D&I
Digital marketing is just part of Exertis’ wider digital investment, Chhatralia emphasised, with the distributor recently showcasing its investment in its Burnley National Distribution Centre (pictured below).
“We’ve invested in e-commerce teams, data science teams to help with pricing and inventory decisions and a digital products division. And we’ve invested a fair amount into our D&I efforts,” he said.
He billed D&I as “probably the most important” of the five areas, and one that underpins all others.
“It’s the one that’s moved the most aggressively. Diversity is not only about getting those people into the business but inviting them to dance. What we’re seeing is more people [sharing] ideas and bringing their experiences from different industries,” Chhatralia concluded.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
