The past ten years have brought tons of fresh marketing trends in the business landscape. Some have come and gone, others remained struggling to keep afloat, but the toughest ones are sure to survive.
Here are the B2B marketing trends that experts see to thrive this 2020.
Account-Based Marketing
ABM is a business tactic in which organizations communicate directly with prospects or customer accounts via multiple channels. With its personalized messaging and attention to detail, it enables marketers to carefully select ideal accounts, identify contact persons, capture prospect information, score qualified prospects, nurture and convert. Thus, prospective customers are able to find value in a product that expedites the purchase decision and may trigger thoughts of repeat purchase. It’s a perfect boost for a lead generation program.
ABM had higher ROI than other marketing activities, according to 97% of marketers in a survey. (Alterra Group)
Since ABM directs all efforts and resources on highly-converting accounts, measuring results like tracking of KPIs, analyzing which ad campaigns are most effective and fixing issues become easier.
What the experts say about ABM
“ABM is a shiny, new name for an age-old practice: personalization and nurturing of key customers and prospects. ABM lets marketing teams eliminate the poor leads that go nowhere and frustrate their sales colleagues. It also shines a greater spotlight on the process of customer acquisition, making marketing teams stronger in the long run.” (Cathy Atkins, Metis Communications)
Content
Creating and distributing valuable, consistent and relevant content to attract ideal customers is the beat of content marketing. Doing it right can help achieve top of the funnel goals such as creating brand awareness, educating audiences and building credibility or trust. But, taking your content creation to a higher level by making it shareable, link-worthy, viral and upgraded, will drive the best results – achieve a higher ranking in Google, gain more backlinks and impressive sales conversions.
Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads (DemandMetric)
Back then, consumers solely relied on advertising and believed every information that brands share on traditional media. But, technology has changed the way consumers think and buy, and data has become a gourmet product for consumers which now largely influences their buying habits. Media ads, or even in-person promotions, have become second best to product reviews and feedback, the major factors that trigger purchase decisions.
What the experts say about Content Marketing
“Anyone can create clever content. It takes a genius to create content that achieves its sales goals”. (David Ogilvy)
Every marketing tactic was creatively designed to generate leads that convert into sales. While creative content that does not convert is a waste of money and effort. After all, marketing is a business.
Social Media
Social media is the darling of the marketing world. Its widespread availability drives global connection and communication between marketers and consumers, making business a little easier. However, it’s important to know which marketing strategy will turn in the best results as not all types will help realize your goals or are fitting to address your needs and uptick your sales numbers.
54% of social browsers use social media to research products. (GlobalWebINdex, 2018)
The more interesting content is created on different platforms, the more buyers will utilize social media to research for information and feedback about the product they intend to buy. Apparently, this attribute offers both marketers and consumers a huge opportunity to design each buyer’s journey – marketers reach target customers through the platforms they are using, while customers enjoy a list of multiple channels where they can gain insights, make a purchase and share stories about a product or service.
What the experts say about Social Media
“2020 is going to be the year that brands stop random acts of social. Regardless of the channel or platform, the best content strategy in society in 2020 is to create ‘shows’ – constant thematic executions where you post similar information and insights at the same time, on the same day, on a routine basis”. (Jay Baer)
Take vlogs for example. Both businesses and individuals who want to gain social presence would like to sell a product or service or create community relations at the very least of time, create video blogs. Consumers get interested in visiting a company website or make purchase decisions after watching a video.
Furthermore, research shows that 95% of video marketers plan to increase their video spend this year because it increases website traffic, helps generate leads and gives them a good ROI.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing involves people with a ‘strong influence’ on a target market. They could be movie or sports celebrities, professionals, make-up artists, online gamers or organic influencers. It’s basically using someone’s craftiness, credibility and convincing power to engage a brand’s target audience to trigger purchase decisions.
“Influencer marketing is likely to become a $15 billion industry by 2022” (Business Insider)
Influencer marketing is nothing new. It’s an old tactic that uses new tools, particularly social media. Over the years, it has kept the same magic which effectively enables brands to quickly build trust, gain awareness and value and establish winning relationships, when done right.
What the experts say about Influencer Marketing
“After being in digital marketing for over 6 years, everyone is becoming more and more disconnected. Even with Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter and everyone can see what everyone is up to BUT there aren’t any meaningful relationships being built.
That is where being an influencer or authority in your field will allow your business to stand out from the rest.
No matter what platforms come up in the future, your reputation stays with you and that is the foundation of a long-term sustainable business”. (Stan Tan, Selby’s)
New platforms will affect the influencer marketing algorithm, but authentic voices and reputable attributes will keep brands valuable.
Email Marketing
Email marketing remains to be every marketer’s go-to outreach channel when it comes to B2B marketing. It’s the most fitting channel to send formal, personalized communication and delivers the highest ROI among all B2B marketing tactics.
The boom of other marketing strategies like social media, videos, and SEO has quite swayed marketers’ focus, leaning towards creating more content on social platforms to achieve their top of the funnel goals. But, the evolution of new tools did not keep email marketing out. Instead, it became even more significant in the buyer’s journey as the best tool to buckle leads up all the way to the bottom of the sales funnel.
“Marketers who used segmented campaigns noted as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor)
Chatbots, content, videos,etc., more of them are coming soon, but email marketing, along with automation and segmentation, will definitely remain in an indestructible place in the industry.
“Put your content to work for extra opt-ins”. (Jordie van Rijn)
Create content that will share insights with your prospects, something that relates to their needs and will make them want to know more. Some people would exchange important information, like an email address, for a $5 discount coupon, but such is a short term goal. Engage a wider range of audiences through useful content to help your target customers find value in what you offer.
Now go ahead and check your marketing bucket and see what you have. Are you keeping an old, frail strategy that might soon bid goodbye or using one of the winning tactics mentioned above? See your conversion numbers for the answer.
