Autumn is always a busy time for businesses and this year will be no exception. Several US B2B agencies have already published their B2B marketing trends earlier this year, so what’s in store for the final quarter of 2016?
What all these publications have in common is that most of these trends are themselves, nourished by two big changes.
First is the increasing importance of millennials in the B2B buying process, and second, content marketing has become less effective and more difficult.
Here at Exo B2B, although the sample was small on Quebec’s scale, 2016 has been synonymous with a marked increase in requests on 5 specific points:
1-Web sites
In B2B, many companies still run on old sites. Gradually, as the leaders of these companies understand the importance of the website as a lead generation tool, its applications become increasingly accurate and it is no longer seen as a showcase. More and more buyers are of a new generation, for whom making one’s mind up about a company depends on the quality of the website.
2-CRM
Here also, understanding is rapidly evolving. We better understand the possibilities of the tool and its place within integrated marketing. Although some still feel resistance from representatives, leaders have a more global vision and see CRM as an indicator tool for the change happening in their markets. In a world where the “customer need” approach takes precedence over the “product” approach, companies using a well detailed CRM process, have a great head start on their competitors
3-Account Based Marketing
If we take point 2 and add saturation of content, combined with the potential of using marketing automation intelligently, we see Account Based Marketing emerge. The great dream of hyper-personalizing marketing for accounts that relate to us most, takes shape. Indeed, B2B transaction value, often more than volume, justifies investing in ABM. This kind of success can only exist in the context of fully integrated marketing (something most Quebec SMEs are still struggling with).
4-Video
The more B2B labor is rejuvenated, the more video becomes important. Because of a lack of time, but especially because of millenial content consumption habits. The format is particularly suited to the “smartphone” format, which is this generation’s favorite.
5-Promotional Content
Last year, Exo made some waves at Québec’s largest B2B event, Les Affaires, demonstrating how strong social media fatigue and content saturation have become. Because Quebec is still a little behind in its use of content strategy, some content still works well without promotion. However, it is five minutes to midnight and the growing interest of decision makers for a ROI on marketing investments is going to force everyone to begin investing in content promotion. ExoB2B will offer, in collaboration with Les Affaires, a free webinar on September 27, on the state of affairs of content promotion and we’ll cover the following items also related to content strategy:
– The 5 pitfalls to avoid in creating marketing content
– The 5 Best mailing practices recognized in the industry
– Optimal use of social media in your business events
– The way to effectively generate leads on LinkedIn
Will you be joining us?
