Going through the car buying process recently, I realized that purchasing an automobile or a house is about as close to a B2B purchase as a consumer can get. This is because:

1. It’s a high-priced item that you will have to live with for at least a few years
2. You have to gather a tremendous amount of information to make an informed decision
3. There’s a longer sales cycle than most consumer purchases

But it doesn’t end there. The old and new ways of car buying are similar to changes in B2B too. A few years ago, you would stumble onto a car lot, drive a few vehicles, haggle with the sales rep, spend a bunch of time in the finance department and drive off in your new vehicle, hoping you got a good deal.

Now, you go online to research vehicle information and read reviews, visit a bunch of dealer Web sites and get several competitive quotes, do all of your negotiations via e-mail and simply show up to the lot to pick up the car.

This mirrors the B2B selling process where a lot of the research, information gathering and negotiations are being done electronically, which makes it critical for your B2B company to have a proliferation of information on the Web that is optimized for search engines.

Have you changed your online B2B marketing strategies to match the way your customers are searching for information online? Do you have meaty content online that enable your customers to find you? Do you have a car buying horror story to share?

I was recently talking to a client about Web site development and he said a supplier of his insisted that users shouldn’t have to scroll to the information they want on a Web site. His contention was that Web sites that required users to scroll are somehow inferior.

I understand the desire to have relevant information ‘above the fold’—as is the goal when designing printed publications. However, this is unrealistic and unnecessary for Web sites in my opinion. Here’s why:

• Screen resolutions and monitors come in all shapes and sizes. One user may be sporting an 800×600 CRT while another might be rocking a 32-inch LCD with 1280×1024 pixel res. The Web site won’t look the same on both monitors. Don’t get me started on IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and various mobile browsers.
• People are used to scrolling. The reason there is a scrollbar on the aforementioned browsers is that people are used to scrolling.
• The Web is for information exchange. I know everyone wants to have the coolest graphics and tight, terse copy on their site. But, you need to deliver a tremendous amount of (well-organized) information on your site for maximum stickiness, especially for SEO.

It’s important to note that some of the biggest brands have Web sites that require scrolling. So, in my opinion, it’s not about building a site that doesn’t make you scroll. It’s about developing a site that makes people want to scroll

What are your thoughts? Oh, and thanks for scrolling  to the bottom of this post. Hope it wasn’t too much trouble.

Right now, it seems the only constant in PR is change. The reporter you were pitching yesterday, no longer has a job today; the trade pub you’ve targeted for 10 years just shut its doors; and, yet another social media site appeared overnight.

B2B companies need to operate under a new model of communications, but many aren’t quite sure how or what this means. In the simplest terms, we can’t just build PR programs to push out information, we must use PR to be found by those seeking information.

Below are a few ideas to adapt your PR programs to this change and deliver value in 2010.

1. Make search marketing and SEO part of PR
2. Create your own original, branded content (great content travels at the “speed of share”)
3. Use social media as a program, not a one-off tactic
4. Focus measurement on business outcomes, not impressions

Moving forward, we need to be flexible with our PR programs and be open to new ideas. But, we can’t ignore the traditional programs that have been the basis of PR for years. Ultimately, we simply have more jobs to do now.

How do you see PR changing?

I love alliteration! Can’t you tell by my terse title? But enough about literary devices. Oh, wait. That’s exactly what I want to blog about, compelling content, so let’s proceed.

I’m a big believer in content marketing, especially in B2B communications. Populating your website and other marketing communications vehicles with relevant, insightful, compelling content about your industry, technologies or services is an excellent way to attract prospective purchasers.

However, the content doesn’t just have to be compelling. It also has to be entertaining, inspiring, attention-getting, etc. Here are a few tips to help you create compelling content that will attract new customers to your business.

Make it actionable: The more practical information you can impart that your audiences can put into real-world practice right away, the better.

Look around: Keep an eye on what’s happening around you, in addition to other industries, then build your messages.

Tell Stories: People are fed up with industry jargon and promotional pitches. Tell stories that your prospects can relate to.

Go with problem/solution content: Content that’s written in a solutions-oriented bent is more likely to be picked up by search engines when your target audiences are browsing the web.

Are you utilizing content marketing to promote your business? How do you keep coming up with compelling content? Do you have a cool alliteration that you can wow me with?