Top 10 Trends in B2B Marketing You Should Know About

To stay competitive, companies must keep up with industry trends as technology breakthroughs continue to disrupt the B2B marketing landscape.

In terms of marketing strategy, understanding the B2B industries will help you stay ahead of the competition as it has the potential to increase your sales and conversions.

Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 epidemic significantly impacted digital marketing investment in 2020. According to eMarketer, B2B enterprises boosted their digital ad expenditure by 22.6 percent compared to the previous year.

A shift to a digital-centric approach in marketing and sales was one of the significant impacts of 2020 for B2B marketers. Due to the pandemic, the loss of field marketing, outside sales, and in-person events caused a significant shift in virtual events and online information discovery, consumption, and engagement for buyers. From traditional approaches to digital, B2B marketers had to make substantial modifications.

As an outcome, there has been a solid push to migrate B2B marketing to digital forms, with 76 percent of marketing leaders stating that digital transformation in marketing technology is their most important objective for 2021, according to a recent study.

B2B advertisers concentrated more of their attention on reaching their target audience through desktop formats as more people worked and studied from home. The popularity of webinars and interactive virtual events has skyrocketed.

The problems that B2B marketers faced in 2020 drove them to rethink everything from their core offering to their marketing strategy. Because of the pandemic, 94% of respondents indicated they had to change their content marketing strategy. During the pandemic, these pivots prompted significant business and marketing strategy adjustments.

We’ve taken a careful look at this year’s rising trends and come up with a few noteworthy ones.

First of all, let’s see some numbers!

The biggest question is, where do marketers plan to invest now that everything is changing?

What are the newest trends on the horizon?

1. Hyper-personalization

Hyper-personalization uses artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data to provide each user with more relevant content, products, and services. This method takes targeted marketing to the next level. The loss of cookies and the shift to first-party data in B2B marketing opens up new possibilities for personalization.

Buyers are expecting more relevant and valuable content experiences, and personalization will only become more important as a means of meeting those expectations. Hyper-personalization is the key to success for an online business since consumers want a brand to provide them with a tailored experience.

2. Digital selling

Our world has shifted from analog to digital. In the future, the benefits of digital selling will be enormous. COVID-19 saw several changes, particularly in the area of telephonic development. Many B2B buyers now prefer digital meetings, conference calls, and negotiations.

3. ABM

ABM is an excellent example of a B2B marketing trend that has appeared on several lists in recent years. According to SmartInsight’s study, ABM is the top priority for B2B marketers. ABM is a relatively new movement, but it’s catching on like wildfire, and for a good reason. 64% percent of ABM programs began in the last five years and have rapidly advanced in sophistication, with 68% relying on automation.

The pandemic has caused 42% of responders to change their ABM goals, and 49% of marketers have adjusted their goals to emphasize expanding business with existing customers. ABM has a 97% greater ROI than other marketing efforts. In late 2020, 42% of marketers stated the pandemic had changed their ABM aims, and 49% of those surveyed indicated their goals had moved to focus more on expanding business with existing customers. While 30% of people cut back on their expenditure in response to the pandemic, 26% boosted their spending.

This strategy’s success depends on the sales and marketing teams’ strong collaboration and synchronization. Collaboration between sales and marketing stakeholders can aid marketers in identifying the best prospects for an ABM approach within the target demographic.

4. Content marketing

It’s either go big or go home! Only committed brands will succeed in content marketing in 2021. It’s something we hear from brand marketers who aren’t committed to content marketing all the time. There’s so much noise out there! How am I going to get through? – you would ask. Promote your path to success and invest in content marketing to achieve long-term strategic ROI.

5. Omnichannel marketing

Omnichannel retail refers to a company’s presence across several channels (such as eCommerce and physical stores), as well as the integration of inventory, customer service, and sales to provide a seamless transition between channels based on the consumer’s preferences. The omnichannel strategy will assist you in reaching out to a wide range of B2B prospects. Research shows that utilizing several pipelines to grow your footprint is effective. As a result, you’ll be there no matter what they’re looking for. You can also increase your lead generation by exposing yourself to outlets that were previously unknown to you. Another benefit of this approach is that it will finally assist you in answering the nagging question of which channel is best for your B2B marketing efforts!

6. Storytelling and engagement

Because many firms have recently undergone the most challenging settings, brands should demonstrate sympathy while handling tested clients. It will take a lot of tuning in, information, and comprehension to properly understand your intended interest market empathically. Be sincere and authentic to yourself. Tell real stories to engage your target audience; people want stories that they can relate to.

7. AI

Marketing automation solutions, such as AI and machine learning, enable marketing teams to accomplish more with less, saving money and expanding their reach. Targeting, segmentation, personalization, lead scoring, predictive analytics, and even content generation all benefit from it. According to Statista, the worldwide AI software market will increase at a rate of around 54% every year. It will eventually attain a market capitalization of $22.6 billion, thanks to significant acceptance in the business world. To avoid being left behind by their competitors, many businesses will turn to AI and automation. Professionals who seek a future in digital marketing must keep up with the latest digital marketing trends in the industry.

8. LinkedIn

According to a previous survey conducted by Oktopost, LinkedIn generates 80% of B2B leads. It’s difficult to argue that any other social media platform is more crucial for B2B marketers than LinkedIn. Through organic content and networking, as well as their evolving advertising and sales solutions, LinkedIn offers fantastic opportunities, from brand thought leadership to specialized prospect targeting. In 2021, it was (and still is!) the most important community for B2B marketing campaigns.

9. E-mail personalization

Aside from LinkedIn, email marketing has shown to be a reliable distribution medium for B2B marketers. Email marketing is the most effective channel for producing income for almost 60% of B2B marketers, and it’s also the third-best way to find information. What is the difference between first and second? It’s challenging to beat recommendations from colleagues and industry thought leaders. Personalization has proven to be a goldmine for increasing email margins even further. 71% of email marketers who have entirely embraced personalization claimed their campaign returns were “good” or “outstanding,” compared to only 41% of those still in the early stages of personalization.

10. Thought leadership

To create best-in-class content for your website, assemble an internal team that includes SEO strategists, subject matter expert writers, editors, and graphic artists. Make sure your material follows a logical flow that caters to your reader’s needs, stimulates their minds with creative and insightful content, and provides definite and actionable next steps. Many firms would choose to outsource this process to a high-quality agency specializing in ghostwriting thought leadership for the first 2 to 3 years of a content marketing campaign due to the time it takes to establish such a team.

We’ve arrived in the digital age. Digital technology has taken over our lives, from school lessons to meetings. Similarly, digital technology has been a boon for B2B marketers.

They were able to get the most out of the COVID-19 circumstance, from online meetings to developing client loyalty. However, for B2B marketers, 2021 was recognized as the year of transition. In 2021, technologists expected and witnessed a slew of new trends that carried on into 2022. B2B marketers have a lot to look forward to, from account-based marketing and digital selling to co-marketing collaborations.

If you want to keep up with the emerging trends, we would be glad to help you!