GROUP 1 - 2 - 3

MARKET RESEARCH &

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
B2B MARKETING
Market Research
Definition
Market research is “the systematic and
objective identification, collection, analysis,
dissemination, and use of information for
the purpose of improving decision making
related to the identification and solution of
problems and opportunities in marketing.”
(Malhotra, 2010).

In business-to-business settings, market

research is heavily used for forecasting,
developing trends, finding market
potential, studying the competition, and
developing sales forecasts and sales
quotas.
CASE STUDY VISA
The challenge
New payment options and the need for quicker money transfers are causing a rapid
change in the payments landscape. With Visa Direct and Visa B2B Connect, which
facilitate both domestic and international money transfers, Visa is paving the way. To
successfully position these solutions and interact with new audiences within
commercial banks, Visa needs to do research. The goal of the study was to
comprehend the decision-making procedure, advantages, and difficulties that banks
encountered when implementing Visa's new payment solutions.
The Solution
For Visa Direct and B2B
Connect, Visa performed a
The decision-making
qualitative market
research program to
understand the
commercial bank target,
define personas, and map
the buyer journey;
especially in-depth
telephone interviews with
commercial bank
decision-makers in the US
spanning relevant roles in organization and by
Strategy, Product, IT /
Technology, and Sales.
Detailed objectives of the
research study included:
Desired outcomes
Key steps in the
(e.g., value drivers)
buyer journey and
at both the
unit. touchpoints/informa
organizational and
tion sources used.
individual level.
Pain points faced
across the Perceptions of the
Communication
Visa payment
preferences.
each individual solutions tested.
persona.
THE INSIGHT

The findings support Visa marketing, product,

and sales teams to optimize how they engage
with key decision makers, including informing
optimal content strategy, and becoming
audience-first in their thinking.

Visa was able to better understand the driving

forces behind each persona through persona
profiling and buyer journey research, spot
possible roadblocks to implementing new
payment solutions, and develop a customer-
centric value proposition.
As a result of these insights, Visa was also able to
coordinate its sales and marketing initiatives for Visa
Direct and Visa B2B Connect by recognizing the
parallels and discrepancies between the two
offerings in terms of how commercial bank decision-
makers discover, assess, adopt, and implement new
payment platforms and solutions.
 Aspect Consumer Market Research Business Market Research

Target Audience Individual consumers or households. Organizations (businesses, government agencies, etc.)

Decision-Making Unit Individuals or families Multiple individuals within an organization

Smaller-scale, everyday products and

Purchase Volume Larger-scale, capital expenditures, long-term contracts
services

Emphasis on brand loyalty and individual

Relationship Building Focus on trust, reliability, and building B2B partnerships
customer relationships

Surveys, focus groups, social media In-depth interviews, case studies, industry reports,
Research Methods
listening, observation networking

Influenced by trends, cultural shifts, More stable and predictable, driven by rational
Market Dynamics
emotional factors considerations

Demonstrating value, solving business challenges, and

Marketing Strategies Advertising, branding, emotional appeal
personalized approaches
A STRUCTURAL GUIDE
TO IN - DEPTH
INTERVIEWING IN
BUSINESS AND
INDUSTRIAL
MARKETING RESEARCH
 Abstract
Purpose – The authors aim to present a structural guide for data collection in
a participant-oriented, B2B context.
B2B phenomenological ethnography

Phenomenological ethnographic
interviewing enables an
understanding of participants’
thought processes, values,
aspirations, and professional and
life stories in context.
 The three - stage interview

Interview stage 1: Interview stage 2: the Interview stage 3: reflection

focused life history in actual experience: “What on the meaning: “What
context: “How did you is it like being you?” does it mean to you?”
get here?”

Length of interviews (90 minutes)

Hermeneutic data collection:
interviewing techniques
 01 02
Problem definition Research design
Define research problems and
What kind of research

Market
establish clear measurable
methodology and what data
research objectives.
collection tools will be used.

Determine what information is

needed and how the information
Research
will be used.
Process
E.g.
Market research: U.S. Mobility
E.g. Quantitative - 15 minute
Objectives: Quantify usage,
Internet-based survey
purpose and intent of sharing
service users.
Sampling
and Validity Developing
Using stratified random sampling.
Questionnaires
E.g. Subset of potential respondents: In logical order.
18 years of age and older
U.S. residents and reside in one of Open-ended questions for focus
16 metropolitan areas groups and personal interviews.
Car-sharing or Ride-sharing user E.g. Please tell us which
within last 12 months statement below describes your
then choose specific respondents current ... usage habits?
from this subset by chance.

Closed-ended questions for

And Check sampling validity. telephone and mail surveys.

Avoid double-barreled questions.

 03. Analyzing the data

Data Data Data

collection processing analysis

Raw data can be primary data or
secondary data.
E.g. 1133 completed surveys -
Natural distribution of market yields:
‒ 1019 Ride-sharing users
‒ 384 Car-sharing users
‒ 81 Users of “Other” type of sharing
The raw data is processed by ETL Actionable information from
process which stands for raw data → The basis of
Extract, Transform and Load. recommendations for solving
problems.
E.g. Responses are loaded into
data analysis software properly E.g. In general, very few “high
for quantitative analysis. frequency” users.
4. Presenting the findings
The information collected from conducting market research study is converted into a market
research report and final presentation.

E.g. Most users plan to use personal vehicles as part of a long term mobility plan.
Usage is driven by special occasions, recreation and travel - not commuting.
Competitive Analysis
Introduction
1. Definition: The process of identifying competitors
in the industry, researching their different strategies
and compare to identify our company’s strengths
and weaknesses relative to each competitor.

2. Why do we have to analyze our competitors?

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
Understand the market
Spot industry trends
Set benchmarks for future growth

3. When do we analyze our competitors?

A competitor analysis should be used at each
stage of the business lifecycle.
Competitive Analysis
Process
Competitive Analysis
Process
Competitive Analysis
Process
Implications Of Types
Of Decision Support

Targeting Decision

Design Decision

Go/No-go Decision
 Authors/Readings
Managing B2B customer journeys in
the digital era: Four management
activities with artificial intelligence-
empowered tools.

Key summary of the findings

Provide a framework for planning
management practices for B2B
customer journeys and the use of AI-
empowered tools in such practices.
Revealing the possibilities for AI in the
customer journey management context.
Redefinition: AI functions
are based on Machine
Learning
Machine Learning
Allows the machine to learn to perform a
task by examining previous examples.

Artificial Intelligence
AI is a term for computational agents
equipped with properties that enable
them to interact with their surroundings
and, based on recognized patterns in
data, are able to reason or modify their
behavior or surroundings in a goal-
oriented way.

AI-empowered tools are tools that have

one or more AI functions.
B2B customer journey
 METHODOLOGY
PHASE 1: COMPRISES STRUCTURING A PHASE 2: INDENTIFIES EMPIRICAL REAL-
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK LIFE AI-EMPOWERED TOOLS

Searching on Scopus and Web of Detecting the tools via Google

Science with “customer journey,” keyword searches “digital
“customer process,” “buying marketing tools,” “digital sales
journey,” “buying process,” tools,” and “sales force tools” plus
“purchase journey,” or “purchase online survey among sales and
process”. marketing managers in Finnish
Skim through titles, abstract. B2B companies.
-> Customer journey management aims -> 152 (139+13) commonly used sales
to manage customer's experience and marketing tools were categorized
presented by 4 main activities. based on their core functionalities.
 PHASE 1

Analyze Design Engage Guide

Detecting customers’ Designing the Capturing the Steering the
characteristics. journey elements. customer’s customer
Generating data and Architecting sales attention. through their
customers’ behavior. and marketing journey to find
Measuring the realized processes. the next step.
success of sales and
marketing processes.
 16 tools function catergory

Digital signature tools

E-commerce
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Web page platforms
and search engine marketing (SEM)
Social media platforms
CRM/Marketing automation
Tools for integrating
Social media management
Content production
Making appointments
Market research
Contacting and mass marketing
Social media analytics
Interactive content
Sales analytics
Prospecting and mapping
BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CLIENTS IN B2B SALES

1. The use of different sales channels

Respondents indicate the use of the traditional sales channel

supported website and catalog (36%) or all channels (44%). Only
4% of respondents use the traditional channel only.

The majority of survey participants (74%) indicate e-commerce as

a key channel for business purposes, 41% use stationary shop and
e-mail, and 37% perform shopping sales representative.
BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CLIENTS IN B2B SALES

2. Creating value in the process of B2B sales

Buyers need the corporate value of the well-known brands, low

prices and a positive shopping experience.

What prompts B2B customers to repeat purchases, is the low price

and the total evaluation of the quality of service.
BUYING BEHAVIOR OF
CLIENTS IN B2B SALES

3. Results of B2B
buyers and
sellers research
BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CLIENTS IN B2B SALES
4. Brand influence on the purchasing
decisions of B2B customers

Process of decision-making in the context of company purchase.

Products are more valuable if they belong to a particular brand.

Brand is particularly important in the case of purchases of complex

products whose quality can not be recognized.
BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CLIENTS IN B2B SALES

5. The factors that influence the B2B e-

commerce purchasing process

The role of the Internet in B2B activities.

One-to-many, many-to-many.
Global market vs local market.
Customer experience.
Multichanneling.
Self-service with everything.
Scope of the offer.
The role of trademark.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION