The Top B2B Marketing Trends to Prioritize

B2B marketing is undergoing seismic transformations. With a focus

on attracting and engaging a better target audience, tactics, tools,

and strategies are evolving that underscore the need for better data,

better customer experience, and better marketing attribution.

The catalyst behind these evolutions is the realization that the line between

B2B and B2C marketing has blurred; campaigns must be humanized

to target people, not organizations. Several B2B marketing trends have

emerged that center around those three core needs: data, customer

experience, and attribution.

Continue reading to learn more.

MASTERING MOBILE

MARKETING

Business gets done on the go, and reaching today’s decision-

makers means designing campaigns and high-impact content

that renders seamlessly on multiple mobile devices and platforms.

For many B2B companies, it also means app development to drive

engagement and enhance the buying journey. According to the

U.S. Mobile App Report, consumers spend 52% of their mobile

time using apps, and Localytics discovered that over 50% of app

users elect to receive push notifications on their smartphones.

50% of B2B customers are searching for and reviewing products on their mobile devices.

According to a study reported at CMO.com, mobile B2B traffic will

outpace mobile B2C traffic in the coming years. Currently, over 50%

of B2B customers are searching for and reviewing products on their

mobile devices. Further, a study by Acquity Group on procurement

showed that 35% of respondents made a B2B purchase on a

mobile device in 2014.

How it works:

Why it works:

* marketing technology reviews on Industry Index

Increasingly, mobile is the future of B2B marketing.

According to a recent survey, about 52% of all B2B

businesses incorporate mobile sales, and 75%

plan to use it by the end of 2015. In addition,

42% plan to increase their mobile marketing

budgets this year. Responsive web design, mobile

email marketing campaigns, and mobile app

development are logical starting points in a mobile

marketing strategy, followed by integrating CRM

and marketing automation software with mobile

for better data collection and analytics.

Contextual awareness is also essential in mobile

marketing; today’s B2B decision-makers use more

than one device. Marketers need insight into which

devices their audience members are using for

which activities along their path to purchase in

order to identify pain points in the cross-screen

experience.

52% of all B2B businesses incorporate mobile sales.

ENHANCING MICROTARGETING & PERSONALIZATION

Marketing execs leverage big data and analytics to better identify

target audiences and respond in real-time with personalized content

that addresses their specific needs. According to Tim Asimos of

Circle S Studio, “We will see a push for more comprehensive and

meaningful personas, leading to more ‘micro’ targeted marketing

activities with an eye to increased relevancy and effectiveness.”

Microtargeting and personalization improves the customer experience

by creating timely and relevant one-to-one interactions.

How it works:

Why it works:

CORRELATING DIGITAL

STRATEGIES

Marketing departments support digital campaigns with an interrelated

stack of marketing technology tools to ensure a unified and consistent

user experience across all marketing channels.

Using a marketing technology portfolio enhances brand awareness,

drives engagement, and shortens the sales cycle by coordinating

and optimizing campaign elements such as websites, landing pages,

and paid amplification strategies.

How it works:

Why it works:

TOP 4 SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS THAT B2B MARKETERS USE

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

91%

85%

81%

73%

INVESTING IN INFLUENCER MARKETING

Influencer marketing, at its core, means leveraging thought leaders and

other individuals who exert influence over a company’s target audience.

Properly executed, influencer marketing helps C-suite executives and

internal experts find a trustworthy voice that promotes the brand’s or

individual’s thought leadership or trust factor.

LinkedIn’s eBook, “The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Thought Leadership,”

states that influencer marketing leads to more inbound inquiries, increased

close rates, shorter sales cycles, and increased customer loyalty. Prospects are much

more likely to convert after being influenced by trusted sources.

How it works:

Why it works:

Content marketing priorities will focus on crafting a documented strategy,

evaluating ROI, incorporating video and infographics, integrating content

marketing across all channels, and increasing resource allocation to

content marketing strategies.

FINE-TUNING & PRIORITIZING

A DOCUMENTED CONTENT STRATEGY

60% of marketers with a documented content marketing strategy considered their strategy highly effective.

According to the Content Marketing Institute’s B2B Content Marketing

Report, 60% of marketers with a documented content marketing strategy

considered their strategy highly effective compared to only 32% who only

had a verbal strategy. The study also indicated that only 21% felt that they were

successful in tracking ROI; the vast majority planned to increase efforts in this area.

How it works:

Why it works:

INCREASING EFFORTS IN

MARKETING ATTRIBUTION

Marketers are moving beyond last-click or last-event attribution models and

employing advanced attribution platforms that analyze data from marketing campaigns

at a granular level to pinpoint the channels, cadences, assets, mediums, etc. that proved

most effective.

Accurate and holistic attribution data gives marketers actionable insight into what

drives conversions. This enables dynamic resource allocation to ensure the best ROI.

How it works:

Why it works:

* Jebbit campaign funnel

EMBRACING PREDICTIVE

INTELLIGENCE

Alison Murdock, VP of marketing at 6sense, a predictive intelligence tool,

defines predictive intelligence like this: “Unlike predictive lead scoring,

which uses heuristics and static attributes to rank score existing leads,

predictive intelligence taps into behavioral data from CRM and marketing

automation and the much larger B2B web to identify buyers who are

actually in market to buy specific products or solutions.”

Predictive intelligence delivers a higher quality lead, shortens the nurturing

process and buying cycle, and promotes a more personalized experience by

allowing marketers to deliver the right message to the right buyer at the right time.

How it works:

Why it works:

BENEFITS OF INCORPORATING

THESE TOP TRENDS

These marketing trends share similar goals:

increasing awareness and engagement, improving

the customer experience, developing more detailed

buyer persona to focus sales and marketing efforts,

and shortening the lead nurturing/buying cycle.

Many companies have successfully embraced these

trends to help them reach their marketing objectives.

Dell’s enterprise division targets CIOs and CTOs of large IT organizations to market and sell hardware

and software security solutions. Traditional content marketing tactics were becoming less effective,

and Dell needed a way to attract these high profile buyers with the goal of driving conversions

through white paper and content downloads.

Dell decided to take this rather mundane experience of simply asking potential leads to “download

a whitepaper” and make it more interactive. Dell used Jebbit’s “Content Quiz” campaign to instead

challenge it’s audience to take a quiz that unlocked the white paper by answering a few questions

about information security. This resonated much better with its audience, increasing the time they

spent on the site by 5.2 times and increasing the volume of leads by 3.4 times.

HOW TO KNOW WHICH TREND

IS BEST FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Not every trend is right for every business; some,

like clearly articulating and documenting your

content marketing strategy, applies to businesses

of all sizes and should be a priority.

Investing in mobile marketing is another scalable

trend that applies to every business. While B2B

marketers tend to think that mobile is the domain

of B2C, the increasingly mobile behavior of B2B

customers proves otherwise. Larger businesses

can implement a fully integrated mobile marketing

strategy while smaller ones can focus on optimizing

a mobile website, designing content specifically

for mobile, and adding mobile social plugins and

mobile apps. While a smaller company may not look

at app development specifically, it can consider its

presence within other mobile apps, specifically social

apps like LinkedIn.

B2B companies that market to IT Users and

CIOs especially can’t afford to overlook a mobile

strategy. The 2014 IDG Enterprise Customer

Engagement Survey revealed that 62% of IT

decision-makers would be less likely to do

business with a company following a poor mobile

experience, and 54% said a poor mobile experience

would negatively impact their opinion of the brand.

The keys to identifying which trends work

for your business include evaluating your

marketing resources and department bandwidth,

and identifying your target audience. Large

companies have access to elite enterprise-level

marketing solutions that easily integrate top

marketing trends such as predictive analysis

and microtargeting. Smaller companies may

find scalable SaaS platforms that enable a more

comprehensive content marketing strategy to

exploit emerging trends in that channel.

Knowing which marketing trends drive success

for your business also includes understanding

where your target audience lives. Businesses

targeting CIOs require a different approach than

those targeting CMOs or CEOs, for example.

CIOs download an average of seven assets

throughout the purchase process (eight for

enterprise companies versus six for SMBs),

and rely heavily on product reviews/expert

opinions, case studies, and social media in their

buying decisions. For CEOs, however, the number

one driver in the final stages of the purchasing de-

cision is professional network influencers, accord-

ing to a study by IDC.

HOW YOU CAN IMPLEMENT THESE

MARKETING TRENDS TODAY

A common theme among these marketing trends is

the importance of improving the overall customer

experience through digital marketing. Enhancing

microtargeting and personalization, mastering mobile

marketing, integrating platforms and technologies

across the entire purchasing journey, and fine-tuning your

content marketing strategy all emphasize giving priority

to the customer’s experience. And each is underpinned

by the need for better data quality that unifies sales and

marketing information within the CRM.

A good first step in harnessing these marketing

trends involves investing in technologies that

enhance the customer experience. Post-Click

Engagement platforms such as Jebbit optimize the

experience once a customer interacts with your

brand, leading to increased conversion rates and

overall improvement in campaign performance

and ROI.

Microtargeting and personalization platforms

improve the lead nurturing process and can lead

to an overall bump of 19% in sales. Implementing

a triggered, personalized email component may

lead to a 25% increase in open rates and a 52%

increase in click-throughs.

Predictive analytics was previously available to

only the largest corporations. Cloud-based B2B

SaaS solutions now exist that comb a company’s

existing CRM and marketing automation platform,

making it easy for any size organization to

implement. Companies that use predictive analytics

enjoy high double-digit increases in leads and sales.

CONCLUSION

Embracing these trends will help businesses improve lead generation,

increase conversion rates, shorten the sales cycle, and lead to better

return on investment. Overall, marketing execs should focus on scalable

solutions that improve data collection and analytics, especially with

an eye toward incorporating predictive intelligence in lead generation,

microtargeting, personalization, and marketing attribution.

Focusing on technologies that improve the overall customer experience

is another top B2B marketing trend; Post-Click Engagement platforms

and enhanced content marketing strategies that deliver timely, relevant,

and highly personalized content will be given priority. Influencer

marketing will also gain prominence as B2Bs look to build market share.

Finally, expect mobile marketing to command a larger portion of an

organization’s resources and attention as B2B users increasingly

rely on mobile devices to help them in their purchase decisions.

Though many of the best practices outlined here can be applied to static

landing page campaigns, there are certain advantages to creative and

interactive landing pages that merit special attention. All of the examples

used were powered by Jebbit to create an experience tailored to a specific

audience and marketing objective.

Reach out to us to learn how you can create these types of

campaigns for your brand.

LEARN MORE

www.jebbit.com | marketing@jebbit.com | 617-514-0030