Friday, June 10, 2011

How Do Consumers Gain Power Over Sellers?

A study fielded in May 2011 with 502 small business, mid-market and enterprise respondents worldwide has some interesting implications for content marketers and the role of content in the sales process.

As you might expect, the top concern overall was "changes in costs to deliver current products or services," such as competitors with lower cost structures that are able to deliver competitive products at lower retail prices. Some 29 percent of respondents suggested they were "fully or very exposed" to such dangers.

But the second most important source of potential revenue disruption was "increased customer bargaining power, gained directly by their access to better information about product offerings and alternatives." Some 28 percent of respondents reported they were "fully or very exposed" to such dangers.

In other words, competitors selling at lower prices and greater buyer knowledge were nearly equal in terms of dangers to revenue models. That should reinforce the notion that potential buyers have to be reached, indirectly, through web channels, as those prospects conduct buying research, since these actions occur before a brand is aware a prospect is in the market.

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