DEMANDING VIEWS OPTIMIZING THE WEB EXPERIENCE IS KEY TO WINNING WITH B2B BUYERS There are a number of key conversion points in the decision journey, but none more critical than the first time a prospect visits your website. As this year’s study reflects, the first two steps on the B2B purchase journey start online, with: • 61% of buyers saying they began with a general web search; and • 56% saying they started directly on specific vendor websites. Regardless of whether a potential customer navigates directly to your site, or finds you via search, the ability to provide a compelling, contextual, and customized experience creates the first and lasting impression of your brand. Even while a high percentage of those web visits are being conducted Lisa Ames, anonymously (71% of buyers said they conducted anonymous research during the VP of Demand first 3 months), those decision makers are still expecting an experience tailored to Generation, Demandbase their interests and needs. Consider that three-quarters of survey respondents said relevant content that spoke directly to their company was very important when they visited vendor websites, and 66% said a website addressing their specific industry was very important. Demandbase customers understand these trends and rely on our Website Personalization solution to create a unique website experience for each and every visitor, whether anonymous or known. Customers can customize their websites, creating bespoke imagery and messaging for key accounts and segments. And now, with the recent introduction of our Site Optimization functionality, they can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically recommend relevant content to website visitors at every stage of the buyer’s journey. Our AI technology makes recommendations based on a combination of firmographic data, offsite business/behavioral data, historical traffic data and real- time visitor information—ultimately understanding each buyer and delivering the content they need, when they need it. 2017 B2B Buyer’s Survey Report • 7