We’ve all heard that today’s B2B buyers are doing as much as 70 percent or more of their research and buying journey on digital channels. But even in the era of online research, buyer behavior has shifted in significant ways.

As buyers resist filling out forms and surrendering email addresses, vendors have a difficult time understanding who is coming to their site and what action they take when they arrive. That makes it more difficult to respond with appropriate messages and offers.

Maura Rivera is the CMO of Qualified, a conversational marketing vendor that infuses Salesforce data into chat to give the sales team a better idea of who is visiting their website. In this episode of B2B Nation, we talk to Maura about marketing in a space with a dominant brand, B2B marketing tactics she’s re-examined over the past two years, and why conversational marketing goes beyond chatbots.

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Episode Guide

2:15: What it’s like to market in a space with a well-known brand.

5:23: Why do some web visitors seem to prefer the chat channel?

9:18: What is the biggest misconception about conversational sales and marketing?

11:27: How conversational marketing extends beyond chat.

13:00: “We’re more impatient as buyers now.”

14:53: What has Maura learned about marketing over the past two years?

16:50: Have traditional tactics like PR and analyst relations been crowdsourced online?

21:30: How has the calculus around events changed for vendors and buyers?

22:24: What is Maura’s favorite tool?