What are the B2B eCommerce trends in 2022?
It is undeniable that due to the pandemic and development of eCommerce technologies, more and more B2B operations have moved online. In the United States, the total eCommerce B2B sales are projected to reach 17% in 2023. With that in mind, the businesses started to consider ways to optimize and improve the B2B operations in the eCommerce space. In this regard, we will review some of the trends in B2B eCommerce that could be a decisive factor for success in 2022.
Automation of the processes
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
The automation of any eCommerce business is an important step in optimizing the processes and making the operations more efficient and convenient. In particular, every B2B eCommerce business should consider using back-office automation systems and marketing automation tools. The importance of marketing automation should not be underestimated because it contributes to better sales and reduces manual work of the marketing department. In our article devoted to the role of marketing automation in the success of a business, we have already explored the primary benefits of investing in this process. Besides, with the vast selection of tools, setting up automated marketing campaigns would not be a problem at all.
Personalized experience
As part of the previous section, marketing automation also implies personalizing messages and suggestions to potential customers. Personalization in B2B usually means offering the right services/products to other businesses and having flexible sales strategies (e.g. personalized pricing). Transforming B2B eCommerce and making it similar to B2C is the key to making a successful B2B business. The buyers should be able to get all the necessary info about the availability of products and services, quality display of the products, convenient interfaces, and appealing design of a site just by visiting your site. After all, B2B as every other business, should be able to find the right strategy to win the customers’ attention.
Social Media Platforms
Using social media as a marketing channel is underrated in B2B eCommerce because the B2B buyers do not perceive the B2B brands as entities. Usually, the attitudes towards B2B companies are strictly professional. However, the research indicates that before committing to work with a B2B, buyers are trying to research a company and explore the reputation and feedback about the business. Therefore, managing the social media account could be an important mean of maintaining the reputation and influencing the positive perception of the buyers about the company. The social proof in the form of feedback from the clients and the stories from the satisfied employees creates the idea about the reliability of a B2B business. Therefore, the social media activity of the B2B eCommerce business is not only about brand awareness but also about making the case as a reliable B2B company.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash
Content Marketing
Content marketing is another trend that can provide a competitive advantage of an eCommerce B2B company by increasing its presence in the market and appealing to buyers. For instance, investing in the creation of video guides, explainers and publishing case studies about the services and the articles about how a B2B company managed to solve a particular problem would improve the positions on the market. Moreover, the proper content strategy could effectively improve the SEO ranking of a B2B business. As a result, content marketing can increase the conversion rate and benefit the marketing efforts.
Photo by Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash
Conclusions
All in all, the trends in B2B eCommerce are mostly related to making the experience between the company and buyers similar to B2C eCommerce. The automation of the processes is the crucial advantage of the eCommerce model, while the personalized approach to the buyers would increase the conversion rates. Lastly, social media and content marketing are aimed to improve brand awareness and solidify the reputation of any B2B company.
