Influence B2B Buying Behavior with Self-Motivation

Self-efficacy is the belief a person has in his or her ability to achieve a desired behavior, and can be a huge motivator in one’’s ability to accomplish that behavior. Research indicates that people who are confident they can achieve a behavior have a greater chance of doing so than those who don’’t.

Self-efficacy in B2B: Speaking to your target audience’’s self-efficacy may help motivate their buying behavior and thus create a more effective B2B marketing campaign. A B2B marketing study on WhichTestWon.com demonstrated this using the Grasshopper phone system. It tested two separate online pages under their “”How It Works”” heading. One explained how the phone system worked with the headline “Advanced Business Number, Advanced Features,” while the other used the headline, “Grasshopper is Easy to Set Up and Use.”

As you can see, the second headline spoke to the prospect’s’ self-efficacy by telling them it was easy to get started and easy to use. And it worked. It increased sign ups by 45%, increased the average order value by 2.8%, and decreased the page’s exit rate 10.3% compared to the other option.

Final Note: The next time you are doing research with your target audience, remember to include the concept of self-efficacy. What made them feel like they could purchase your product or service? Or what prevented them from doing so in the past? If you can get as close as possible to what affects their beliefs regarding their ability to buy than you can include that in your messaging — and it may hold the key to a more effective and successful campaign.