B2B businesses have less marketing budgets than B2C. Budgets for marketing usually account for 2 to 5% of total revenue. The majority of time and resources are spent on advertising. However, the Warc Report’s results predict a fall in advertising from 8.3% in 2022 to just 2.6% in 2023.
For the marketing strategy to be successful, it must be customized. Aligning marketing operations with shifting customer behavior is a big problem for B2B marketers dealing with low marketing budgets! However, today’s ultra-competitive environment makes it evident that additional room is needed to outperform the competition, particularly for B2B businesses with limited marketing resources.
As 2023 approaches, let’s take a moment to foresee the 6 trends that you should include in your marketing plan.
B2B Marketing Trends 2023
Personalized customer service and prompt action
Modern buyers expect rapid responses and messages that are personalized to their specific needs. Most of the 2022 B2B marketing plan matched this expectation. Considering how quickly technology has advanced over time, more and more B2B clients are making purchases online. They will consequently seek both quicker and more customized service.
B2B businesses must use customer data to create tailored experiences and communication channels like chat, social media, and email to get quick feedback in order to meet these needs. To be able to answer questions and issues right away, you can also staff customer service departments.
This includes active social listening, participating in customer interactions on social media, branding, and projects via email newsletters. Without data, personalization is impossible.
Hybrid Marketing
Physical or digital? Which channel to use? Two of them!
Despite the fact that more and more customers are placing orders for products or services online, many still prefer going to real establishments. Therefore, providing a hybrid experience continues to be the next challenge for businesses. According to the Deloitte survey, 75% of businesses are already preparing to invest in this experience.
For a hybrid marketing plan to be successful:
- All platforms and channels should have the same branding.
- Make content specific to each platform.
- Ensure a uniform experience at all points of interaction: Customers should be able to find a product they see in your store, at a trade show, or on your digital platforms.
- Gather information at every point of contact, such as when you meet potential customers in person and add their information to your CRM so you can later re-engage them digitally (SMS, email, LinkedIn, etc.)
Increase participation with interactive content
Interactive content is more engaging for users, claim 81% of marketers. They are more likely to remember and spread it around. Additionally, it can help you in learning more about your audience, which will enable you to produce future content that is even more interesting.
Any content that promotes user interaction is referred to as interactive content. It could be a game, quiz, or even just a straightforward survey. The important thing is that readers may engage with the content in some way, whether it’s via responding to questions, participating in games, or clicking on learn more. A wonderful method to distinguish you from the competition is engaging content.
Video continues to rise in popularity.
Video usage in marketing strategies is another trend that has been around for 10 years. This trend is clearly going to continue, as evidenced by the explosion of video content on TikTok, reels on Instagram, and the abundance of video content on other networks.
There are now a variety of online video marketing courses, as well as tools and software available that are quicker and simpler for non-videographers to utilize. You will undoubtedly discover that video formats provide a lot more impressions and interactions than any other content when you examine the outcomes of your social media posts.
It is the time to start looking into it if you haven’t already! And don’t forget to include captions to your videos so that people who are deaf or who don’t watch videos with sound can still enjoy them.
Make employees brand ambassadors.
A PwC study found that 46% of customers will stop buying from a company if the staff is uninformed. Furthermore, unfriendly staff members inhibit conversion.
Remember that your teams are the face of your business on the ground. To make them ambassadors in 2023:
- Provide them with training to help them understand your products better.
- Permit them to share information on social media about your business’s values, offerings, and culture. Also, encourage them by giving them a manual and ready-to-share posting.
- Highlight their experience by asking them to write blog posts. Conduct video interviews with them, display their online presence, etc.
Increase efficiency using AI
By 2030, it is anticipated that the market for AI will be worth $1.81 trillion. The businesses using AI services surged by 270% between 2015 & 2019. Artificial intelligence (AI) will become more prevalent in B2B marketing in the upcoming years.
Marketers can’t ignore the advantages of employing AI technology. AI algorithms can enhance lead generation by up to 50% while also cutting call duration by 60%. The usage of AI benefits customers in various ways (such as better content personalization) and employees themselves by speeding up task completion and boosting output.
Wrapping Up
It is not easy to forecast what will be popular in the coming year. This is because of the continuously shifting marketing landscape. However, by observing current trends, we can obtain a sense of what might be well-liked in marketing in the near future.
Knowing what matters to your clients and whether any of these trends meet their expectations will help you succeed in 2023. Moreover, you won’t have to worry about attaining a good result for your business if you follow our suggestions.