Behold the Ongoing B2B Mobile Marketing Disconnect

I don't know about you but I've heard the phrase "B2B marketers want to be more like B2C marketers" quite a few times in my career. 

Now, it may not have been those exact words per se but you get the point. My presumption is that what this means is B2B marketers look across the aisle and see their B2C counterparts doing cool things and trying out new technologies while they seem to be stuck in the year 2005.

Chasing the Ever More Mobile Buyer

That's the title of a recently release report from eMarketer on the state of B2B marketing and advertising for 2017. In their report, eMarketer shares the findings of various research done on the subject of mobile marketing and B2B marketers, which I'll get to in a second. 

The operative words of the title are "ever more" as in more B2B buyers, AKA human beings, are using their mobile devices more and more. 

I say human beings because I believe, still, far too many B2B marketers don't get that there's another human on the other end of the line; that they're marketing to real life people. 

The opening two sentences of the report lay out the problem at hand in a nutshell.

"Many business-to-business (B2B) buyers use their mobile devices as an extension of their desktop.They expect their journey across all devices to be seamless. In order to meet this evolution in device behavior, B2B companies must reframe the mobile experience across marketing and advertising channels along the path to purchase."

Now tell me, when you hear words like "seamless" and "path to purchase" you think of B2C, right? C'mon admit it, you know you do. 

But this all goes back to the fact that B2B marketers need to remember who they are marketing to: People. And what are most people on most of the given day? That's right kids, a mobile device. 

Houston, We Have A Disconnect

So if we can agree on the fact that a great number of us are on our mobile devices a whole heck of a lot during a given day including B2B buyers...

... then how do you explain this?

Or this?

Why is NOT every B2B website mobile friendly and why are not 100% B2B marketers investing in responsive design? 

All Is Not Lost

It would appear that the tide is starting to turn when it comes to B2B marketers and their realizing just how vital mobile is. 

As the report indicated "n 2015, only 8% of B2B marketing executives worldwide said mobile marketing was one of the marketing initiatives that had the greatest effect on their business. But in 2016, that percentage jumped to 25%." 

That's an increase of over 212%. Encouraging for sure, however clearly not enough. 

It is important to note, too that for ANY mobile marketing endeavor, testing is vital for success. Mobile testing is the art and science of building, running, and analyzing optimization tests for mobile customer experiences. What you may not know, like many marketers, is how to do mobile testing really well. It starts with a solid mobile marketing strategy and ends with an effective mobile experience.

Download the Mobile Testing Guide For Modern Marketers for the best advice from analysts, engineers, and thought leaders on how to help mobile-minded businesses master the non-desktop landscape.

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