You do not have to wait on the new year to give an assessment of your marketing and business strategies. Technology and business trends are moving faster than ever, so whenever you have a chance to stop and revise, you should do so. Here are a few new insights that you may want to consider incorporating into your strategies for the rest of 2017.
Marketing Automation
The concept of automation was made for B2B marketing. The idea of being able to apply personalized concepts at scale gives business marketers the ability to nurture an entirely new level of leads and track those leads confidently down the sales funnel. Surprisingly, many companies have not looked into marketing automation as a viable strategy for 2017. Do yourself a favor – start automating your initial email outreach or CRM updates and watch how much free time you have for more creative pursuits.
Leveraging data analytics has become indispensable in refining B2B marketing strategies. With an abundance of metrics available, companies can gain precise insights into customer behaviors and preferences. By analyzing this data, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts and optimize campaigns more effectively. This approach not only boosts return on investment but also enhances customer engagement. Using analytics tools, you can adjust strategies in real time, ensuring better alignment with market demands and more informed decision-making processes.
Content Marketing
Although content marketing has been used as a staple technique in the B2B landscape for many years, most companies have not truly incorporated inbound marketing into the equation. We now have more opportunity than ever to share social media and blogs with our prospects. This is also another strategy that you should incorporate as quickly as possible. Many B2B specialists have identified content marketing as a strategy they want to employ; they simply have not found the time to do so. If you are on the cutting edge, then you can expect quicker results for your timely actions.
Video content is increasingly making waves in B2B marketing. Platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn offer valuable opportunities to showcase products and engage audiences in fresh ways. Using short, informative videos can enhance brand storytelling, making complex information easier to grasp. Businesses using video can capture attention efficiently, providing demonstrations or customer testimonials that build trust and clarity. Investing in video creation can lead to higher engagement rates, setting your strategy apart in a competitive market.
Personalization
Prospects demand personalized service. The B2B industry should be taking a page from smaller e-commerce sites and personalizing content whenever possible. For instance, if you are not using dynamic content insertion as a daily technique in your email blasts, you have some catching up to do.
Channel Integration
Going omnichannel is great, but have you integrated these channels into a single nurturing process that is easy to fulfill? It is one thing to collect separate lists of data from social media, your phones and message boards. However, you may be creating trouble through duplicate records, outdated records and unqualified leads. Funnel all of your channels into a single CRM so that you can effectively track your prospects through the sales funnel.
Engaging on social media is essential for maintaining strong B2B connections. Platforms such as LinkedIn are not just networking tools; they’re valuable avenues for brand visibility and direct interaction. Active engagement, through responding to comments and sharing insights, fosters stronger relationships with prospects. Utilizing these channels strategically can establish your brand as an industry thought leader, ultimately enhancing credibility and fostering trust within your professional community.
Account-Based Marketing
Combining account-based marketing with marketing automation is a technique that savvy companies are now seriously considering. Look for automation services that also include features of account-based marketing that will make targeting and nurturing groups of prospects easy through the creation of buyer profiles.
Mobile Marketing
All marketers should be looking to move into the mobile space. Google has reduced its mobile first index and will begin giving out penalties for pop up windows. These are both signs that commerce continues to move into the mobile space, and this trend is definitely not turning around anytime soon. Mobile traffic is now over 50% of all web traffic, and no business can be sure that they are being contacted on a desktop or a laptop. Make it a goal to shore up your mobile marketing by the end of 2017 for best results in 2018.
