Marketers are undergoing a radical shift. Embracing these changes will make you a stronger player in 2022 and beyond. Clients lose trust in those who do not follow these guidelines and you risk falling way behind.
With the help of data, analytics, and digital tools, this transformation is happening at the speed of light. Physical interactions like attending meetings, trade shows, and participating in conferences accounted for just a third of B2B marketing before the pandemic.
But unfortunately, those days are over thanks to the pandemic. As a means of capturing leads, artificial intelligence has replaced handshakes. Events, which are always a part of b-to-b marketing, can't match the targeting power of data even with the best in-person interactions.
A considerable change occurred: Back in the early millennia, most digital strategies were afterthoughts to TV and print marketing. It has flipped, with traditional media being used to leverage and complement digital strategy.
How have the changes been accelerated? How do marketers stay ahead of their competitors? Look to Amazon and Google for inspiration.
Towards a futuristic marketing model
Data can and should be used by b-to-b marketers to target prospects, track their online behaviours, and provide the right message or product, just as Amazon and Google do for consumers.
The future is represented by this model. It is expected that online searches and virtual interactions will increasingly dominate the b-to-b buying process in the future.
With the help of technology, marketers are now able to identify top people at a conference based on their activities and profiles, and then give sales and business teams the right insights and content to initiate a more purposeful conversation. Your brand is further entrenched by targeting follow-up emails, webinars, and meetings.
Stuck In The Past
Doesn't everyone use these tools? Having spoken with other CMOs and marketing leaders, it’s clear to see that they themselves are more than ready to move forward. But it’s also clear to see that their bosses are not.
There are times when company leaders fail to see the big picture. Times are changing and it’s a far cry from when they initially started out and started building their companies.
These changes can not only be costly but scary. Without full support throughout the company's inner circle, it can also be challenging. The company needs to invest in technology, such as CRM systems, analytics platforms, and artificial intelligence.
Marketers need strategies to bring others on board and to help them understand new developments in digital marketing, their competitors, and the size of the opportunity. It is imperative to lay out a long-term, multi-year roadmap for technology adoption and investment.
Amazon/Google has become a part of our daily lives. Personalized information is now expected and received by consumers. Our target customers are also those consumers. B-to-b marketers need to adopt these practices by identifying potential customers at a granular level, tracking their online activity and influencing their journeys toward purchases.
Any B to B marketers need to start putting this into practice and knowing who their customers are in a much more highly detailed manner, tracking their online activity and influencing their journeys toward purchases.
