1. Data-Driven Marketing

Data is always important when making informed decisions, but reports are not always brought to marketing meetings. This is changing in 2023. Successful marketing involves research and numbers as well as creativity and uniqueness. Using tools like Google Analytics to track and collect data from your website, Google Ads, PPC ads, email surveys, social media, and other digital marketing avenues helps inform what areas your marketing team needs to focus on. Going into meetings with reports and findings can create better connection between your design and sales time. It can also save time during meetings because the data will guide the conversation so your marketing team can create item truly tailor for you target market. 

2. A Rise in Video Content 

Long-form video such as tutorials, essays on industry topics, or webinars are becoming popular amongst b2b communications. They are a great way to show off your topical knowledge and build your industry authority. Going live through video platforms, such as YouTube helps foster community and allows you target audience to know that there are real people behind your company. You can answer any questions clients have about your product or service and discover knowledge from other experts in your industry. Short-form videos are good for business quick tips, sneak peaks, and announcements. These are good to post on social media to quickly grab the attention of your audience. They also do not take too much time out of your day, which is important for busy business owners and employees. 

3. Dark Social Prevention 

Dark social refers to when people share website links through email, SMS, and private messages on social media. These links do not have tracking codes automatically appended, so it is not possible to know how the website visitor found the content. As a result, it hard to measure attribution which can make hard to know which platform needs marketing attention or is effective. It can also make it difficult to educate your buyers about your product or service. B2B buyers like to research and self-discover before contacting a sales agent. They want to learn, compare, and review product options well before speaking to sales. You want marketing to drive funnel conversions through smart use and encouraging of direct contact instead of platform avenues. 

4. AI Utilization 

While AI technologies are controversial in terms of art creation and body copy creation, there are other ways to use AI tech that are timesaving.

• Personalized shopping creates recommendation engines through which you can engage better with your customers. 

• Virtual assistants and chatbots help improve the user experience while shopping online. 

• AI can help reduce the possibility of credit card frauds taking place.

• On Instagram, AI considers your likes and the accounts you follow to determine what posts you are shown on your explore tab. 

• Facebook AI is used along with a tool called DeepText.  It can understand conversations and can be used to translate posts from different languages automatically.

• AI can deliver highly targeted and personalized ads with the help of behavioral analysis, and pattern recognition, etc. It also helps with retargeting audiences.

• AI chatbots can effectively resolve customer issues, respond to simple inquiries, improve customer service, and provide 24/7 support on your website and social media. 

5. Lead Nurturing 

The process of engaging potential customers and helping them become a sale requires nurturing, especially if you are in an area where the economy is in a tight spot. Drip marketing campaigns in the form of sending out automated emails over the course of several weeks or months is one way to nurture a potential client relationship. With business clients being every busy it is important to stay in contact with potential client to close the sale. When the sale is done, you are still not finished. Add them to your email list and offering deals or notifying them about sales will help them keep your company top of mind for other product and services. 

 Create an effective B2B marketing plan with us today. Call 248.528.3600

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1. Live Videos 

Videos are great at communicating emotions and demonstrating a skill.  A study by Livestream found that 80% of people prefer watching live videos more than reading blog posts from brands. The same study also found that 82% of people prefer live videos more than social media posts. When you convey information through visual demonstration, they can be better received and retained. Viewers can pause or fast forward at their discretion. Collaborate with similar or complementary businesses to discuss industry news, opinions, and other information that could be useful to your audience. 

2. Brand Storytelling 

Telling the story about the history of your brand may be difficult if the original owner is no longer the face of the company or if you are just starting out. That doesn’t mean you can’t tell small micro stories about your business and its employees. To sell to people, your product or services must be relatable to people. Talk about challenges and how your employees came to together to solve it. If you partner up with another local business, highlight similar or complementary company goals or beliefs benefit the community you are trying to serve. 

3. Employee Advocacy 

Your employees are also brand ambassadors. Let your employees have the spotlight on social media. Also give them the option to share industry posts on their business profiles on LinkedIn or on other business forums. If an employee does an exceptional job, acknowledge it, maybe have a certificate, or award system. Remember to form a budget for raises or if you have none for a meeting to discuss how much increase in sales to need for everyone to receive a raise. If you are in the US have robust healthcare options for your employees. 

4. Influencer Marketing 

Influencers are not just young Youtubers or acting celebrities. Think: can your product or service be useful to entrepreneur, small businesses, or large corporate entities? Are well known successful businessperson or salesperson willing to recommend you to others? Form a relationship with employees at other companies. See if there are any kinks in their process or workflow your product or service could help improve. Working on internal improvements leave the companies to focus on their clients which in turn will help them profit. This will make you an asset in their eyes and will recommend you to other businesses that may need you. 

5. Mobile-Friendly Content 

 Over 50.3% of global web traffic was generated from mobile devices. Most of your target audiences (decision makers of businesses) are always on the go. Mobile is the medium through which they consume content. This includes your website, social media, video, and advertising content. Make sure fonts are easy to read and button or links are prominent enough for people with different hand sizes to touch. You can use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check whether your website’s pages are mobile-friendly or not. If not, work with your developers or a web agency to make sure that you’re able to deliver a pleasant experience to your mobile users.

6. Customer Testimonials & Case Studies 

A study by Koyne according to a study of B2B brands, word-of-mouth is known to influence purchase decisions of 91% of buyers. The same study found that 62% of B2B marketers use customer testimonials as their main marketing strategy. Video testimonials are extremely credible and more trustworthy in consumer eye. Not every testimonial has to be a video, but if you can get 1 or 2 of your best customers to make one, you highlight it on your website and digital marketing avenues. In addition to testimonials, do in-depth case studies of how your company solved a complex problem. Case studies help with product or services that don’t have fast tangible results.  

7. Analytics & Automation 

Use Google analytics to view what type of content on your website gets the most views. You can also keep track of your target demographic or location. Analyze the buyer personas of people who have visited your website using. Then ask, “is there any administrative task that can be automated?” Simple confirmation emails or frequently ask question chat bots can help cut down on wasted time asked by viewers that are just window-shopping.  Send thank you notes after events or trade shows with automated email features or email campaign services. WordPress has a lot of free options when it comes to plugin for this task. Gather feedback using survey automations during the testing phase.

Update your B2B marketing plan by calling 248.528.360. 

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 Find & Share Highly Qualified Audiences

The main benefit of any influencer marketing is that influencers have loyal followers that are predisposed trust whatever that influencer recommends. They built a relationship by sharing their thoughts and expertise with the audience that follow them. B2B audiences are especially highly qualified and highly motivated. These potential buyers are often on the hunt for product or services that help their business. Co-creating content with the correct complementary business influencer can help build a better product and service. This content usually comes in the form of a podcast, demonstration video, or blog post. Not only will you reach new audience segments who may not have known about you before, but those audience members will be suited to understand the unique value proposition of your organization relative to your industry as well as give intelligent and construct feedback on your product or service. 

 Demonstrate Social Proof

75% of B2B sales are made before the company’s sales team gets involved. B2B buyers devote a lot of time researching a company before reaching out, making the content you create very important. They are judging every element of your website, buyer reviews, and social media profiles. They are also reading your case studies, researching your former clients and competition, and looking up your employees. All this before they even respond to your email or call one way or another! B2B buyers want social proof that you are who you say you are and that your company is real. They want to get it from someone other than your own marketers or salespeople. Influencers can help with this form of proof. When an influencer works with you, they’re staking their reputation on you as well. Working with a highly respected influencer shows that, at least according to them, you are credible. If your buyers follow and respect that certain influencer, that means they’ll respect you, too.

 Become Newsworthy

Business tends to move fast. Some acquire other businesses, develop new products and services, or come up with new innovations. It is important to look ahead and predict what’s next. B2B Influencers almost do this instinctively. They are constantly finding a way to stay at the forefront of their industry whether it be with latest technological advancement or the best new way to communicate with their target market. Their audience follows them because they are quick to experiment and relay their findings. Partnering with a B2B brand that isn’t afraid create and share content that is experimental gives you the opportunity to try out content may be too risky to try out alone, but if successful benefits both companies. 

 Foster Lasting Relationships

Achieving marketing ROI takes place on a longer timeline in B2B than when selling B2C consumer products. In most cases, B2B buyers are not one-time-only customers. Instead, they are long-term clients you may enjoy a working relationship with for years. You want these clients to look to you as a trusted service provider and subject matter expert. Influencer content can help facilitate this by fostering a knowledge swap in your industry or to cover the hot topics of today. You are not just extending your reach or enticing highly qualified new prospects, you are also showing existing (and former) clients that you are relevant and leading the competition. Ongoing content collaboration relationships with B2B brands develop long term relationships with customers as well. New and old clients alike often see influencer content as proof that you’re still looking out for them. You are still engaged and actively working on finding new and better client experiences.

Ready to create a B2B Influencer Campaign? Call 248.528.360 

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 Better Communication

Cross functional teams can communicate with each other without arbitrary department walls. If a problem arises that one department can’t solve, the question can be opened to other departments and solved faster. Time doesn’t have to wasted on individual departments answers that you have to guess-and-test. 

 Endless Fresh Perspectives

A method or idea may solve other problems you didn’t know were related. It starts with the big picture or goal, then leads to other teammates seeing details from different angles. This can help when gathering behavior insights, data, or coming up creative design ideas. 

 Better Understanding of Target User

Related to the previous point, with the free flow of information, different departments can share what they learned from user behavior and client feedback. There is no need to guess which problem to prioritize or where the areas of improvement need to be because each team can compare notes. You also won’t run into the chance of repeating solutions that don’t work.

 Faster Market Production 

Success can be doubled by splitting or switching tasks across the board. There is less chance of over working or frustrating employees that are limited in knowledge. There is less research that has to be done because another team will have and share the answer. 

Ready to collaborate with us? Call 248.528.3600

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With 409 million+ people viewing more than 21.3 billion pages each month WordPress blogs can generate leads and help gain potential new clients. 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments are added monthly meaning businesses are actively engaging with their audience. Your marketing and sales team can create a relationship with new clients or maintain relationships with loyal clients. Blog posts are also easily sharable on social media and email marketing allows you to reach even more people. This is helpful when trying to gather data to better understand your clients’ needs. 

Need help adding a blog to your website? Call 248.528.3600

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Adding gradients to flat icons and backgrounds add vibrance to mundane or stock photos. Using a gradient as a text fill can also provide maximum impact of an important word (preferably a keyword). Flat illustrations are starting to feel boring so applying a gradient to certain areas of an illustration creates texture and depth with is more visually appealing. 

Home Pages Without Images

Sometimes a company doesn’t want to use photos because it can look cheesy or fake, depending on the industry. As a substitute they will on use beautifully designed typography and apply varying techniques such as animation, different hover states, and other interactive elements to create a dynamic website that fits their brand. 

Layered Effects 

Stacking and overlapping elements adds dimension and depth backgrounds or product photos. It brings attention to what you want to sell or important information. Use it as a wayfinding tool for your audience to purchase your product/service or contact your business. 

Split-Screen Aesthetics 

Horizontally and vertically split screens with each side having the same or different functional or click action provides a strong visual experience. It can also create multiple entry point to other content available on your website. 

Interactive Typefaces 

Text that moves is peak attention grabbing on a website. Most interactivity is hover states, but liquid animations are growing popularity. When using this technique be careful that your words are still readable and understandable. 

Mega Footers  

 These footers contain a lot of information, large number of pages, or multiple points of engagement in a four to five column format. Example of sections to include are company links, products/services menu. social media (follow us), subscribe or contact form, and housekeeping links (private policy, terms of service, copywrite). 

Inclusive Design

Inclusivity extends to race, gender neutrality, culture, accessibility, and ability. People tend to gravitate towards brands that they can physically see themselves in. Use images and languages strategically as to not come off as disingenuous. If you need help determining a target audience, create user personas and gather data from areas with diverse populations.  

Extraordinary Imagery  

Create images that challenge reality. Surreal art style is popular in ads as well as websites. Have fun with color and scale and take to absurd levels. This will help stand out from the rest of the companies that sell similar products or services. 

Need help applying these trends? Call 248.528.3600 

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