As another year draws to a close, we’ve taken a hard look at the direction B2B marketing is taking and have chosen our big bets for 2022.
So what tools, strategies and behaviours are we likely to see more of in the coming year?
The pandemic closed many physical spaces and brought professional networking and conference events to a halt. But organisations who were innovative enough to pivot to virtual platforms and host webinars were able to keep scheduled events up and running to reach even greater audiences than before. As a result, the global webinar market is now estimated to reach 800 million by 2023, up 253 million from 2015. The benefits are undeniable – virtual events are cost effective, more accessible to a wider audience and much of the content from discussions or presentations can be easily repurposed to maximise your ROI.
As automation steadily infiltrates every aspect of our lives, it’s no surprise it’s becoming more commonplace in B2B marketing. Not only can it reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and allow more focus on strategy, but tightly scheduling interactions and output across your email, social media and webpage will significantly boost lead nurturing, while unlocking powerful insights to analyse impact. Right now, there’s a whole range of automation tools available on the market to assist with scheduling, lead management, segmentation, multi-channel campaigns and even page visitor tracking.
95% of buyer decisions are made by the sub-conscious mind, so how can we tap into it?
Long applied in B2C, neuromarketing is the application of neuroscience to marketing strategies to study how human brains respond to promotional materials and branded content. In 2022, we expect more B2B organisations to apply cognitive research and psychology to refine their targeting, content strategy and even granular details like page layouts and optimal image sizing. In time, growing understanding around key decision-makers’ desires, intentions and needs will support B2B organisations to generate more meaningful conversions.
It’s certainly nothing new, but year-on-year video marketing content has been consistently on the rise. We now watch an average of 16 hours of online video per week, which is a 52% increase from just two years ago. So, whether it’s incorporating video into blog posts, articles and landing pages or sending out video promotion as part of your email campaigns – experimenting with visual storytelling is more likely to yield results. And now more than ever, as 91% of marketers feel video is more important for brands in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
These days, most customers expect personalised experiences to some degree. So, to meet growing demands, organisations will need to increase the sophistication of their personalisation to show they understand each customer and specific industry at every possible opportunity. Most importantly, in an omnichannel world, this recognition of individual identity and preference should remain consistent across every platform a customer uses to interact with your brand. It’s worth it – as a recent study showed 80% of organisations see increased sales once they implement more personalisation into their brand experience.
Distinguishing your content amongst the sea of campaigns out there today isn’t easy. But one sure-fire way to differentiate yourself from the rest is creating standout interactive experiences that engage audiences directly. Compared to static content, 93% of organisations agree that interactive content is more engaging. So whether it’s including questionnaires, surveys, eBooks or guides with links and videos, or interactive infographics – we expect to see a continued rise in organisations incorporating these strategies into their campaigns.
As B2B marketeers continue to innovate and experiment into 2022, our most important prediction for success is that organisations who get the edge over their competitors will be the ones that retain their human touch. Embracing changing customer behaviours, new trends and technologies is critical for survival, but technology will never be able to compensate for human intuition and hard-earned longstanding experience.
Creating meaningful touchpoints and personal connections, and conveying a clear sense of personality to your customers is the best way to create standout experiences that will propel your organisation into a successful future.
If you’d like to find out how we can help with your campaign strategy in 2022, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
