Among specialist or technical B2B companies, you often hear a common sentiment when it comes to websites. Our products or services are so complex that it’s impossible to explain them simply online…
It is true that many products or services are complex. It is difficult to distill Aerospace components, or Actuarial software, or AI-driven anything down into simple straplines or bullet points.
But it’s important not to conflate complex information with a complex buying journey.
Believe it or not, your website can very simply and succinctly guide users to conversion points – no matter what you sell. And still provide buyers with all the information they need to know about specifications, invoicing, case studies, manuals, procurement details or anything else complex.
Read on to find out how. Or watch this 5 minute video from our Head of Marketing, who looks at how Universal Robots create simple yet compelling buying journeys. Despite selling something very technical and expensive – robots that automate production processes.
If they can create simple online journeys selling those, so can anyone!
And it’s essential that even niche B2B providers do. Research shows that more than 4 out of 5 B2B buyers want to make buying decisions online. Even for things as complex as solar panels or statistical analysis. Simplifying digital buying journeys has become essential, whatever you sell.
Make It Instant & Interactive ☝️
As established, B2B buyers want to research and go through their buying decisions online. So it’s only natural that they would expect websites to be interactive, able to answer their questions, and make enquiries easy.
If you’re sending visitors to a website which does the following things – you aren’t meeting their demands:
- Buries products and services in a series of category pages that have be uncovered through menus
- Doesn’t clearly and easily signpost to relevant videos, case studies or use cases
- Directs enquiries to generic contact pages where users have to have fill in multiple form fields or find numbers to call
These are all too common in many specialist websites. But the reason they don’t work and result in low conversion rates is because they place the burden on the potential buyer. Learn more about Traffic vs Conversions.
Buyers often have to parse through multiple sections or pathways of a website to find a product relevant to them. Or content that shows it off in action. Or to ask a simple question to a sales rep – that they have no idea when it will get answered.
And with 80%+ of buying decisions happening online, you better believe they’ll be looking at competitor websites too. If they get an instant and interactive experience that allows them to find these things more efficiently on another site – you’re forever playing catchup.
In the Universal Robots example from the video above, as soon as potential buyers come onto the site they are greeted by the on-brand ArthUR – who asks them what he can help them with. Anything from submitting a sales enquiry to discovering the right robot for you, can be taken care of by ArthUR.
Relevant and Personal Signposting 🪧
Buyers want to research and find out info for themselves. But they also want to find that easily. Signposting and personalised prompts based on their behaviour are essential to this.
In that Universal Robots example, if you click through to the full showroom of products, you can filter by product types, applications, etc. Or you can simply click back into ArthUR. But instead of showing you the same options as before, he knows he sent you to the showroom.
So now he just asks – did you find the product you were looking for? And if you didn’t, or you have a question, you can type it directly into the bot that the customer service team will get back to you on.
No sending you to a contact form page. No forced telephone or live chat options that requires a team on call. We landed on the homepage, got advice on choosing a relevant robot, saw all our available solutions, and were able to submit a question – all in a handful of clicks. And without ever having to even scroll down pages.
Make Conversions Simple ✅
Hopefully the above has given you ideas for how to make the initial browsing of your specialist B2B website more interactive, relevant and instantaneous.
If you can implement a similarly efficient pathway, either through web design or conversational tech like chatbots, you’ll have a lot more people reaching relevant product and services pages.
But then you need to get those potential conversions over the line. Universal Robots do a fantastic job of this. Firstly, their product pages contain very digestible graphics, specifications, and traditional CTAs above the fold.
You can also scroll down and see tabs of images, more in-depth specs, and even product manuals in clearly marked tabs in the page. So whether it’s a product expert or a procurement department visiting the page – the user has all important info available to them.
But, remember we’re trying to make the buying journeys as simple and interactive as possible! Some users might not even want to have to scroll through these pages.
So that’s where ArthUR comes back into play. This time he pops up as an Inpage bot, as you scroll through the product page organically.
And again, without being directed to another URL, you can do anything from asking a question specifically about the UR3 robot, to seeing case studies of it in action, to downloading technical support manuals.
A product as complex as an industrial robot, summarised in an inpage bot with 5 interactive prompts. That allows the user to answer any questions they have it about – and even start the buying process.
It’s these final conversion touchpoints that have allowed Universal Robots to achieve notable commercial successes through their website recently.
Tying It All Together 🪢
When it comes to online buying journeys, interactivity and ease win. What we’ve shown with the Universal Robots example is that you can sell an incredibly technical and complex product through simple buying journeys. In a matter of minutes.
Don’t believe it? Watch the video below to see how in less than 5 minutes you can:
- Land on a homepage
- Get advice on the best solution for you
- Be signposted to relevant use cases
- Filter based on your needs
- Take in technical information about specifications
- See the product in action with case studies etc
- And ultimately start your buying process
And again, we aren’t talking about a T-shirt here! These are specialized and expensive industrial robots. But the same principles work. And in the case of UR – they work very well indeed.
All you need is the right website structure and/or tech to support these journeys. Thankfully that’s what we’re experts in! No matter how complex your product or service is.
