The New Language of B2B Communication †P2P

By: Chris Reid, Account Manager P2P?H2H?These terms might sound like the names of lesser-known Star Wars droids, but both actually describe a communication style: person-to-person, also known as human-to-human. While there used to be a time when you could separate nearly all written business communication into two basic styles – business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) – these approaches are gradually being replaced by P2P.Specifically, this means delivering a more personalized customer experience regardless of whether you’re marketing to individual consumers or businesses. At the end of the day, businesses don’t make purchasing decisions,people do.Even in a traditional B2B transaction, it’s important to remember that connecting with potential customers on a personal level will set you apart from the competition, helping you take your business to the next level. A Person-to-Person Approach to Content Authenticity and transparency form the cornerstone of P2P marketing. Employing these qualities rather than just dryly stating facts can help your business make better connections with people making individual purchases or on behalf of a company. But it’s one thing to understand the ideals of P2P marketing and quite another when trying to figure out how to apply the concepts to your own content.Here are a few guidelines to help you reach and gain the trust of your audience. Tell Your Brand’s Story People love and connect with stories. But many brands are still reluctant to share their own because they feel like it isn’t compelling.On the contrary: every company has a story containing challenges, milestones, places and especially people.It’s the sum of all these bits of information that make your brand what it is now. Don’t Launch into a Sales-Pitch Right Away It’s natural to just want to talk about the awesome product or service you offer. But sometimes it helps to connect with your potential customers by being generous and offering them a few things for free to gain loyalty and trust. The most common way to do this is to be a consistent source for useful information for all things related to your product either directly or indirectly. Produce blog posts, white papers, ebooks and infographics that are informative, capture attention, and are easy to access. As a bonus, it can also drive additional traffic to your site. This method allows you to establish your brand as a trusted authority in your space and not turn prospects off by immediately asking for a purchase. Communicate Openly Like any relationship, honest conversations with your audience are essential for effective P2P/H2H communications.Your customers and fans don’t expect your brand to be perfect, but they do want it to be authentic, so avoid canned answers.Stay on top of your brand’s social media accounts and keep an eye on review sites so that you can jump into the conversation whenever possible. Talking to Humans Whether you’re marketing to businesses or individual consumers, every interaction involves a person on the other end.Keeping this in mind, it’s easy to see why ‘person-to-person’ is now often the most effective way to reach B2C and B2B customers.A personalized, human-focused approach to your marketing content can help greatly increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts so you can increase connections with buyers and, ultimately, boost sales.