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Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3 About us .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Why understanding your buyers is crucial............................................................................................ 4 Multiple profiles .................................................................................................................................. 4 Getting the message right.................................................................................................................... 5 Different profiles: company and buyer................................................................................................. 5 The company profile ............................................................................................................................ 6 Ideal company profile .......................................................................................................................... 7 Company Profile .................................................................................................................................. 7 The stakeholder profile........................................................................................................................ 8 Ideal stakeholder profile .................................................................................................................... 10 Key Stakeholder Profile...................................................................................................................... 10 Making the most of the profiles ......................................................................................................... 11 Further information ........................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction
Welcome to our guide to understanding target companies and buyer profiles. This booklet is intended to help you really understand who your target audience is and how they behave, so that you can develop appropriate strategies as part of your marketing. Creating target company and buyer profiles is a great way to: develop a clear picture of the kind of companies you are targeting understand the types of people you will be targeting within those companies understand how to reach out to them understand what motivates your existing and potential buyers build a picture of buying cycles so you know when and what to communicate understand what content or products are relevant to your audience understand which offers and promotions are suitable for your audience assess potential leads quickly
As with all things related to business, the more you plan, the better the results. It therefore pays to the take the time to think about who your audience is, what youre going to do and how you're going to do it. Knowing and understanding who youre targeting and how to talk to them will make closing sales much more effective. More importantly, it will be a success.
About us
Modern Media works with numerous B2B clients, large and small. We're experienced technology marketers and specialise in digital communications, including content strategy. This guide has been created to share some of our experiences with you. We'd welcome the opportunity to show you how building up a clear picture of your target companies and buyers will help you meet your business objectives.
Multiple profiles
By undertaking this exercise, its likely that youll have multiple company profiles because you offer different products or services. Likewise, within those companies, you will have different stakeholders. Therefore you are likely to find that you have multiple company and buyer profiles. An example might be a company that produces hardware for the testing of web applications. They may typically sell to universities as well as to industry. In this case, they would need to develop a company profile for each type of business that they sell to and then buyer profiles for the individuals within those companies/institutions. This is essential as a university professor will have very different motivations and concerns than a software engineer working for a web application agency. Start with your best customers as you want to attract more business like them. If youre a start-up or in early life and developing your sales list or client base, then use the knowledge acquired during your market research and proof of concept phases to flesh out the profiles.
Structural Factors Structural factors examine the way the prospects business is set up. Are they centralised or decentralised? What life stage are they in? Are they growing, stable or shrinking? Are they a local, national or international company? Are they heavily unionised or non-union? Do they have a history of acquisitions or organic growth? Environmental Factors Environmental factors are external to the prospect and relate to the market in which they operate. Are they leaders or niche players? Do they set trends or follow them? Is their market share growing? Are they affected by legislation or regulation? How immune are they to market fluctuations? Behavioural Factors Behavioural factors look at the way an organisation makes decisions and their management style. Do they have a top-down approach or collaborative management style? Are they early adopters of technology? What other similar products/systems have they bought in the past? What approval mechanisms do they have in place? Is there a procurement process, if so what type? Situational Factors (Issues, Trends and Trigger Events) Situational factors consider the timing of events. Looking at what has happened in an organisation will show opportunities and threats. For example, has the organisation recently been bought out? Has there been a change in management? Have they been downsizing? Have they announced a new strategy or initiative? Have they recently posted good or bad financials? Have there been any sudden changes in their market?
Description
Key Behavioural Factors (How they make decisions, How do they need to change)
Understanding Buyer Profiles When developing the profiles, we would recommend considering the following factors:
Typical Job Title(s) What are the job titles of this stakeholder? This is essential information when compiling information for marketing campaigns. Reports To Who is this person likely to report within the stakeholders organisation? What is the chain of command? Typical Responsibilities What responsibilities does this stakeholder have? Which of these responsibilities will be affected by your product or services solutions? What problems does the stakeholder have that your product or service will address? Typical Goals What are the typical goals and objectives of the stakeholder within the organisation? What metrics are associated with those goals? Role in Buying Decision Process What role does this type of stakeholder typically play with regard to the buying decision process for the product or service youre selling? Issues, Trends and Trigger Events What are the key internal issues, external trends and specific trigger events that are likely to influence their attitudes and/or behaviour? Consider this specifically in relation to their role within the buying process and the types of problems that your offering is intended to address. Typical Motivations Consider the factors that would cause the stakeholder to move the buying decision process forwards. What would motivate them? Typical Concerns Consider the factors that would cause the stakeholder to want to slow down or abandon the buying decision process. What Would Success Look Like? When considering the problem youre trying to address with your products or services, what would be a successful outcome, or what would a successful outcome look like from the stakeholders perspective?
Typically Reports To
Typical Responsibilities
Typical Motivations
Typical Concerns
Notes
Further information
For further information about building up buyer profiles for companies or stakeholders, get in touch.