Trends in B2B Tech Marketing of 2018

If you have done your B2B Marketing plans for 2018 or if you’re still planning and you want to make sure you have everything covered, here are some of the main trends that you can’t afford to miss once the new year starts. Big Data and Video Storytelling are among the most important ones, but the others shouldn’t be dismissed, either.

Digital Engagement

While you could consider word-of-mouth outdated, as an expression, customer engagement is certainly not. Since smartphones are now the most popular devices when it comes to internet access and 86% of Gen X  is getting online via mobile, digital engagement is crucial for your business growth.

Disengaged followers will also get you out from the first page of search results. Since your digital presence is irrelevant, search engines will apply penalties.

Your content should focus on meaningful interactions, more than on the number of views, as turning your customers into brand advocates will generate more revenue more than traffic ever did.

Big Data

The more you want your customers to engage with your brand, the more you should know about them. Since artificial intelligence allows applications to forecast results based on data, it goes without saying that your data should be accurate. The buzzword here is big data, Consumer Analytics having the most impact on the ways data is used.

Big data can help you improve the customer’s life-cycle, personalize your messages and your content and to target better on your social media channels. At this moment, the large amount of data may be overwhelming, but real-time analytics will become a must, and the slowness of the big data platforms is set to change.

Customer-Centric Marketing

Knowing more about your customers enables you to also create a better customer experience. The customer’s priorities should be at the core of your strategy, so make sure that your tactics serve the customer’s needs first.

Although we are talking more and more about automated processes’, don’t forget about the human connection. Take in-person meetings and phone calls whenever it is important to do so since reaching people is the ultimate goal of marketing efforts.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing works four times better than paid media and is the fastest-growing online channel. Each dollar spent generates a revenue of $ 6.5 on influencer marketing, if you manage to choose the right influencers.

Your partners can create and share content, attract potential customers and take your brand to a new level since you can pick influencers for different social media networks.

This is how the Hawaiian Tourism Authority managed to entice more vacationers to the islands. The campaign included partnerships with top Instagrammers, one of them being a well-known photographer, and the strategy was to post beautiful images of the archipelago with the hashtag #LetHawaiiHappen. It generated nearly 100,000 posts and 65% of users who saw the photos said they would visit Hawaii in the next two years.

Video Storytelling

The best tactic to engage your customers with some help from your influencers is to use video storytelling. A 360-degree video up to 2 minutes is the best content you can offer to your buyers.

Without video content, a survey shows that you risk losing at least one of 4 customers, as they might consider your product insignificant. Also, your customers are 50% more likely to read your email newsletters if you include links to a video.

A soundless video is something you should start creating as part of your social media strategy if you haven’t done it yet since users watch 85% of videos without sound.

No matter how small or big your marketing budget for 2018 is, you should know that all these main trends have one thing in common. One thing that, once it’s lost, money can’t easily buy: trust. If you want to offer content with greater impact, reach your prospects through top influencers to build that trust, but you’re not sure what would work best for you, get in touch with us and let’s talk about the best solutions for your business!