Big proposal at the start of 2018
The environment surrounding BtoB websites and this year's outlook

Happy New Year. This is Tatsuta, the head of the Marketing Department.

The marketing department has a team called the BtoB team.
Under the category of BtoB, our team creates and operates websites for a wide range of clients, from listed companies to mid-sized companies and startups.

As we welcome the new year, I would like to continue from last year and write about the current situation and my outlook for 2018.

We would like to write based on what we feel in our daily work and what is actually happening on the ground.

More B2B companies are placing importance on websites - Major changes in organization and budgets

The environment surrounding the Web is changing rapidly, with changes occurring every year.
This is also true for BtoB sites, but I sometimes feel that the situation surrounding the Web has changed.

This means that there has been a sudden increase in B2B companies placing more importance on websites and putting more effort into them than ever before.

This is an abstract expression, but I would like to explain the background to this.

Looking back, compared to the BtoC industry, the BtoB industry has never had a high awareness of the web. Sales has been at the center of marketing activities in Japan's BtoB industry. The characteristic of Japan's BtoB industry is that sales have grown by taking on all the responsibility from finding potential customers to understanding their needs, making proposals, and receiving orders.

Some B2B companies that are advanced in marketing recognize the importance of websites and have begun new initiatives, but the reality is that this is not the norm.
However, it seems that this is beginning to change, with more and more companies beginning to focus on their websites.

In corporate activities, the amount of effort put into a business is most evident in terms of people and money.
In other words, in this case, it would be "organization" and "budget."
I feel like we are seeing big changes in this organization and in our budget.

First, let's look at the organization.

Until now, the web departments that we dealt with were all over the place, and there were almost no dedicated staff members. It is not uncommon for the General Affairs Department or the Corporate Planning Office to create and manage websites in a different field, working on other tasks at the same time. In other words, departments that are not specialized in PR or marketing end up being the web management department. If I think of it as the same idea as the General Affairs Department managing company information, does that give you an idea of what it would be like?

Changes are beginning to occur in that organization.
One of the companies we work with actually saw the following move last year:

• Establishment of a new public relations department
• A webmaster has been appointed to manage the website.
• A cross-sectional website operations committee was established

There is a steady increase in B2B companies expanding their organizational structure in order to strengthen their websites, and it is clear that companies are making an effort to improve their websites.

For us, who established the BtoB team in 2012, this is a big and welcome change.

Next, the budget.

In 2017, we saw a big change in the average unit price of the projects we received. Compared to 2016, the average unit price per project has doubled.
Doubling it is a huge impact.
We would like to say that this is the result of our sales efforts, but of course that is not all.

In most cases, the budget has already been finalized by the time you consult with us. This is sent in the form of an RFP (request for proposal), a competition is held, and the orderee is selected. This is the general flow.
This means that the budget is already decided by the time you consult with us.

With the advent of smartphones, the process of creating websites has become extremely complicated. As a result, the amount of work required for production has increased, but there has been little understanding of this, and it has often been the case that "we create minimal content on a tight budget."
However, as this understanding spreads, it seems that there are more and more cases where websites are given a clear role.

We believe that the main reason for the doubling of the budget and the ongoing organizational restructuring is the "clarification of the role of the website."

Flow of the role of BtoB website

Now that we're talking about roles, I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify the flow of roles on a BtoB website.

Please see the diagram below. This is a timeline compiled by the BtoB team.
This document describes the role expected of BtoB websites from 1995, which is said to be the first year of the Internet, to the present day.

If we follow the steps

" Information Dissemination " (1995~) was an important promotional tool
" Branding " (since 2000) focusing on recognition, image, and web usability
" Sales support " aiming to send customers to sales (2005~)
I believe this will then lead to " Marketing " (2014-present).

The start date for each role is not the year when it became mainstream, but when leading companies started using it.

The important thing here is that the role is not "changing" but is "added." For example, even if you aim to become "sales support," you should not lose the elements listed in "branding."

We launched our BtoB team in 2012. At the time, the majority of website renewal requests we received were motivated by the following reasons:
"The design is outdated, so I want to update it."
"As the amount of information increases, I want to organize it and make it easier to find."
"Because our competitors have renovated."
Although it has not been clearly stated, the renewal was undertaken with branding and the defined role in mind.

So, what does it mean that the role of websites has been clarified and their importance has increased, as mentioned in the previous chapter?
This refers to the fact that an increasing number of companies are clarifying the role of "sales support" to include "inquiry acquisition" and "upselling."

Sales support is a role that began around 2005, but it was just something we vaguely thought of as something that would be nice to do. However, the recent trend is to clarify this as the role of the website and to aim for it in earnest.

So, what is the difference between this "sales support" and "marketing," which will likely become more common in the future?

"Sales support" is nothing more than support for sales, and the main focus is on sending customers to sales. It's a linear relationship, where the baton is passed on. The KGI (Key Goal Indicator) is the number of inquiries.

On the other hand, the role of "marketing" will be linked to overall sales activities and product development. It is complex and cyclical. KGI will be sales, and important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will include order rate and repeat rate.

For example, the PDCA in both may be easy to understand. The "sales support" PDCA is the PDCA for the website. We analyze website access leading to inquiries, such as the number of hits and bounce rate, and make improvements. The "marketing" PDCA involves the Plan, Do, Check, and Action of all marketing activities, including sales.

To achieve this, it is important to have a strategy that outlines your entire marketing activities, and then to build a collaborative organization that follows that strategy.
Although the hurdles are high, some B2B companies have begun to take up the challenge after marketing automation (commonly known as MA), which was introduced to Japan from the United States in 2014, was introduced.

If you are in charge of a website renewal in 2018, first consider what role you want the web to play .

Our current understanding is that an increasing number of B2B companies are beginning to move towards "sales support."
However, being solely responsible for "sales support" rather than "marketing" does not mean that we are falling behind.
As I have written, roles do not change, but are added (information dissemination + branding + sales support + marketing). It is difficult to skip "sales support" and go to "marketing". Alternatively, it may be possible to specialize in "branding".

First of all, it is important to clarify the role of the website.
This leads to the success of your website.

We hope that 2018 will be a good year for your website.