Where Will You Get Your Next B2B Insight

Our clients bring amazing things into the world. What fuels us as marketers—on top of our client's ingenuity—are the thinkers, practitioners and creators who are showing us a new way. In this space, every few weeks we share what is capturing our attention—big or small.

1. Where to Find Some Amazing B2B Insights

One was a Chief Medical Officer. One was a former Automotive Operations Manager. A third was a Supply Chain VP for several Fortune 500 companies. They all gladly shared considerable knowledge about their unique B2B experiences. What did they all have in common?

They were all recent retirees.

I’m increasingly in favor of talking to recent retirees for research purposes, even if they do demand the same premium as a currently working executive. Clients seem to be coming around on the issue as well.

Why? Three reasons.

They have free time. If you’ve done research in an account planning capacity, trying to surface insights about the target audience’s preferences, decision dynamics, and on-the-ground experience, you know that executives are very hard to reach, despite ever-higher recruitment premiums. When you do get someone acceptable to the client, you’re typically reaching them at the very end of a very busy day. They can be impatient and a bit out of it. One doctor I interviewed recently didn’t turn his camera on because he had just completed a surgery. A retired surgeon, on the other hand, is far more likely to have looked over the discussion guide and thought it through.

They have expertise. Unless they’ve been retired for many years, recently retired executives tend to have left at the top of their game. They have lived through economic cycles, both in their industry and more generally, and know their company, their competitors, and market dynamics like the back of their hands. And since you’re asking them and paying well, they tend to have a lot to share and are happy to share it.?

They have perspective. Perhaps most valuable of all, recently retired executives have been there and done that, over and over. They’ve been faced with very messy software environments – one head of supply chain stepped into a role with more than 50 different ERP systems across his company –?and they easily see through vendor claims that don’t match reality. (If they had their way, “seamless” would be struck from every business lexicon.) Recently an ex-Chief Medical Officer zeroed in on a glib claim in a positioning statement I was testing like a laser:

When you say insured patients, do you mean commercially insured? Because if this is a federal or state payer like Medicaid or Tricare Medicare, I'm not so sure that number's true. Most large health systems, if they're lucky, their commercial book of businesses is above 30%. The system I just left, from the 2000s to current day, we went from 30% federal and state payer to 55% federal and state payer. And that swing is significant.”

He then went on to recalibrate my impulsive thinking that states which have refused Medicare funding have done so primarily for political reasons. “They knew the federal government was guaranteeing it for a couple of years,” he said, “but they knew as soon as they had this bloated Medicaid panel, all of a sudden the feds were going to say, ‘Well, you own it now.’” A perspective I hadn’t considered.

So if you’re on the fence about where you’re going to get your next amazing B2B insight, consider extending your recruiting parameters a little, beyond the increasingly outdated line called retirement. You may be very pleasantly surprised.

PJA Author: Hugh Kennedy

2. Growing Reliance On Social Media And AI To Engage HCPs

A survey of 246 global pharma industry executives by Reuters Events and Elsevier reveals a growing reliance on social media and AI to engage healthcare professionals (HCPs). Around 80% of pharma companies are using or considering AI for content creation, market research, and digital marketing. The study predicts a shift from print (yes, print) to digital advertising, with social media set to receive significant funding increases by 2027 due to its ability to target and engage HCPs effectively.

Email marketing campaigns are the most likely to see budget growth, followed by social media. The top social media activities include social listening and connecting with physicians, with LinkedIn and YouTube being the preferred platforms for HCP engagement. AI is primarily used for content creation, digital marketing, and market research, enabling more personalized and relevant communication.

AI is expected to transform pharma strategies, with nearly 40% of respondents anticipating AI will play a core role in major functions. However, less than 20% of current tools incorporate AI. Companies believe only 10% of physicians resist AI, and AI is seen as crucial for personalizing communication, analyzing prescribing behaviors, and predicting patient outcomes to improve treatment strategies. Read more about the study.

PJA Author: Greg Straface

3. The new B2B chasm/change is hard

Tech marketers of a certain age will have phrases like "crossing the chasm" and "the lead pin" etched in their brains. Indeed, Geoffrey Moore's framework is a classic, influencing PJA Marketing + Advertising and a generation of tech marketers. So, talk of a "new B2B chasm" definitely caught my eye, particularly since it comes from Hank Barnes. Hank was one of my first clients back in the dotcom era, and today is Chief of Research at Gartner. IMHO he's one of the best thinkers we have on the complex and changing nature of technology purchase decisions. If you're a tech marketer, do yourself a favor and subscribe to his newsletter.

As for the new chasm, it's created by the democratization of technology. Business decision-makers are now key purchase influencers in an "as-a-service" world, and BDMs bring their own mix of urgency and inexperience to the process. Here's the point that stands out to me: lack of confidence and resistance to change are major obstacles to adopting new technologies.

To sell in innovation-driven markets, you need to make the argument for "why change." Hank's research is a reminder that overlooking the emotional barriers to change is a big mistake. Change is hard, and the personal and professional stakes can be high for B2B buyers. There are ways to overcome resistance to change. But the low-hanging fruit? Focus your efforts on personas that are more open to new possibilities—the "more confident" buyer profiles in Gartner's research. You'll spend less money, but you'll also free your brand to market to the highest common denominator.

PJA Author: Michael O'Toole