DataCaptive » Prospect » 10 Key B2B Marketing Trends Marketers Need To Know

10 Key B2B Marketing Trends Marketers Need To Know

August 17, 2017
8:06 AM

For B2B marketers, planning is a trait that is almost inherent. Tracking market changes and amassing knowledge of current B2B marketing trends is essential for marketers. With the B2B buyer purchasing behavior varying from time to time & the constant advancements in technology, a marketer who aims to design successful marketing campaigns cannot afford to go wrong with the most trending aspects of the marketing field.

With the booming growth of innovation in marketing technology & the skyrocketing number of online marketing tools to choose from, most B2B marketers are unable to ascertain the right technologies and methods that need to be implemented, in order to achieve their marketing objectives and goals. Thus, to make it simpler for the marketers as well as to emphasize the importance of keeping track of constant market changes.

Let us look into 10 key B2B marketing trends that need to be at the top of every marketer’s priority list.

Account-based marketing(ABM)

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz in the business world about Account-Based Marketing. ABM can be easily understood as customizing B2B marketing tactics for a specific group of high-value clients. Marketing to high-value clients, referred to as target accounts can contribute immensely in establishing a profound brand presence.

By customizing user experience according to a specific client’s requirements can fairly increase the probability of them staying on to your site & engaging in further transactions. This also allows marketers to collect client-specific data such as purchase preferences, nature of products & services preferred, medium of marketing that receives the most response, etc.,

Many marketers are testing or have adopted account-based marketing to add on to their B2B marketing efforts and some are planning to implement ABM in the future. ABM mainly aims to enhance the efficiency and productivity of marketing with minimal investments.

Having said that, does ABM actually help in flipping the sales funnel to fetch ROI? Well, the answer is fairly positive.

About 80% of marketers agree that ABM is fairing much better as compared to other marketing investments in terms of ROI (ITSMA).
When ABM has been in use for at least a year, 60% of users reported a revenue increase of at least 10% & 19% of uses reported a revenue impact of 30% or greater (Demandbase on eWeek).

Well, aren’t these statistics reason enough to watch out for the current Marketing trends in ABM? So Start Right Away!

Artificial-Intelligence(AI) is gaining ground

Artificial Intelligence is a concept that is slowly spreading its roots into every aspect of the business world. We interact with AI each day whether it is Siri from Apple, Watson from IBM, or Alexa from Amazon.

AI mainly enables the use of algorithms in machines to imitate human-like cognitive functions of intelligence.

Machine Learning is an application of AI that is based on the fact that machines can learn to carry out various tasks on their own by utilizing the data fed into them. Understanding these two concepts well & tracking advancements in both these fields could help marketers save a lot of time and effort.

With the pace of technological advancement increasing many folds, soon AI will play a major role in various steps of a business process such as targeting of the audience, content writing, programmatic advertising and smarter decision making. AI will increasingly impact the way businesses enrich their sales pipeline.

By analyzing emails, tracking previous prospect purchasing behavior, and the application of predictive analytics through machine learning AI will make pipeline forecasting, a faster and more efficient process.

Some executives believe that the most important benefit of artificial intelligence is- automated communications which provides data that can be used to make decisions . This suggests that purchasing decisions will rely heavily on Artificial Intelligence in the years to come.

Customer Experience(CX) is everything for business

The popular phrase “Customer is King” typically describes the way marketers & business people view the role of the customer/client in their journey to success.

Businesses need to focus more on providing a rich customer experience that boosts brand loyalty and also aids in customer retention. Customer experience will rule the business front in terms of purchasing decisions. This means that people will invest in a brand, based on the CX they offer rather than the products and prices. The fact that only a few segment of B2B marketers claim to have a customer-centric organizational structure, indicates that Marketers need to align their campaigns based on Customer Experience more in the coming years in order to improve brand loyalty.

Visual content marketing has a profound impact

If the content were to be imagined as a beautiful cake then the visual form of content is the cherry on that cake. Visual content in different forms has been the main marketing tactic for several years now. With various advancements in technologies, visual content marketing is evolving & is of primary importance in designing marketing campaigns that are sure revenue generators.

Executives look for more information after seeing a product or service in a video. This indicates that visual content can fairly simplify lead generation & nurturing.

With the proven success of Pokemon Go, virtual & augmented realities are here to stay along with other existing visual content forms. A study shows that people who prefer to watch videos outnumber those who like to read content by approximately four times.

Most B2B organizations use video in some form or other in their marketing campaigns. Some have even reported positive results to their ROI. The importance of more visual content to be a part of your marketing strategy is established & tracking the developments of this marketing trend becomes essential.

Marketing automation will reinvent your marketing

The top-performing companies where marketing contributes to more than half of the sales pipeline have adopted marketing automation.

Marketing Automation has become an exhaustively used term among most B2B communities.

Marketing automation holds promise for marketers as it simplifies many of their tasks such as profiling customers on web pages & landing pages, sending out personalized emails to further lead nurturing, lead management, etc. Yet, Only 2% of B2B organizations are utilizing marketing automation to maximize their results. Marketing automation if used appropriately could help increase the overall efficiency of marketing.

Major takeaways from this study include:

Marketing automation develop & execute a multi-step welcome sequence with content that is dynamic as well as relevant.
It could assist in remarketing of products that prospects view or often browse through on third-party websites.
Moreover, it also facilitates lead grading and scoring so that a marketer can track and evaluate leads at each stage of their journey.

With Marketing Automation gaining popularity, it would be wise to start incorporating marketing automation into your campaign so that you can keep up pace with the growing competition in the field of B2b marketing.

Personalize to bring in customers for the long haul

65% of buyers will come away from the buyer journey frustrated by inconsistent experiences – (McKinsey).

This statistic suggests that providing a personalized and consistent customer experience must be a task that should be high on a marketer’s priority list. B2B buyers believed that content that addressed their personal needs was the most influential part of a company’s entire website.

Personalization doesn’t just mean sending emails by addressing the prospect/client with his/her name. It means understanding and addressing the various pain points of the customer or prospect and offering solutions through various forms of content that include website content, emails, newsletters, blogs, videos, Infographics, etc. This requires not only collecting data & taking insights from the buyer’s previous purchase behavior but also evaluating the buyer journey stage at which the particular prospect stands. Thus, personalization can be pivotal in improving customer experience & facilitating customer retention.

Influencer marketing can benefit marketers

Influencer Marketing although not a new tactic in B2B marketing yet it needs to be explored further to maximize results. People trust brands and influencers on social media more than they trust recommendations from friends.

A study states that 49% of users rely on recommendations made on Twitter compared to 56% that rely on recommendations by friends.- (Source)

Since social media sites have become popular B2B marketing mediums, more and more companies are realizing the significance of having micro-influencers aid their marketing for better results. But as competition grows in this field, so will the investment into premium influencer marketing.

Internet of things is the innovation to watch out for

Internet of things is becoming one of the most engaging topics of conversation in any setup. “Products like industrial sensors, connected manufacturing machines, in-store analysis devices, and workspace management applications are already on the market. These B2B IoT devices will fundamentally transform the way organizations do business with other companies.

“This year, 60 percent of global manufacturers will use analytics data recorded from connected devices to analyze processes and identify optimization possibilities, according to IDC and SAP”

With technological innovations such as self-driven cars, internet TV, medical imaging solutions, refrigerators with smart inverters that can be monitored over the internet, it seems like every gadget is tied to the internet and can be accessed from anywhere at any time. This also means that these gadgets are gathering immense volumes of data from the people that use them. Marketers can leverage this data to tailor their marketing strategies according to the specific requirement of their target audience.

Social Media Marketing advantage

Social Media is presently the most interactive platform for effective marketing.

With so much investment going into social media and the added perks of directly reaching the target audience on social media sites, the marketing potential associated with social media marketing has amplified many folds

Social Media ad spend has almost doubled worldwide over the past two years – rising from $16bn in 2014 to $31bn in 2016.

” Instagram is on track to generate $1.53 billion in mobile ad revenue worldwide in 2016 “

Content Marketing needs to be focused on

Whether it is in the form of blogs, emails, and videos or as a website, content is definitely a resource that needs to be utilized to its maximum potential. There is a requirement for dynamic content in all forms of marketing, ranging from social media marketing to paid media advertising. Personalized content scores best in addressing the pain points of prospective customers and offering solutions. Although the content has been used for ages now for marketing yet it can be tapped further not only to improve marketing tactics but also to develop a successful sales pipeline.

All these statistics and facts indicate only one thing:-
Marketers need to focus on all the above-mentioned aspects of Marketing to generate more leads, drive successful marketing campaigns & most importantly win ROI!