The statistics have revealed that about 76% of B2B organizations have a marketing plan, whilst 24% don’t have a formal plan to manage their marketing activities. And 56% of B2B companies invest in external resources by opting for in-house and outsourced marketing.
Not having a proper marketing plan may lead to missing marketing opportunities. Thus, it becomes imperative for B2B organizations to lead with a marketing plan. However, having a marketing plan won’t be sufficient; B2B companies need to look at current marketing trends that help them to generate more leads and drive sales growth. What are these trends? Let’s understand that in this article.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is popular for so long now, and its significance is ever-growing. It works best in generating high ROI. Thus, B2B organizations should not overlook email marketing and include it in their marketing tactic with high priority.
Email is an effective channel for nurturing your customers and leads. It facilitates the conveyance of the relevant information at the right moment during the buyer journey.
Targeted emailing helps to build customer trust while also increasing the chances of conversion. Emails are engaging, and that’s how they increase the customer lifetime value.
Along with email marketing, 75% of B2B marketers opt for social media as part of their marketing strategy. While social media is viewed as a critical tactic in the B2C domain, B2B companies can also make the most out of it with the right kind of content.
Moreover, blogging (69%) and SEO (60%) also ranked high on the list. Similar to email, blogging also helps in building trust and credibility. Ultimately, it generates high-quality, organic traffic to business websites.
The marketing budget for 2021
Research has found that marketing budgets for 2021 are rising. Given that free and paid digital media options are available for B2B marketing, the hike in the marketing budgets is noteworthy.
Top areas of marketing investments
Digital marketing has a comparatively larger share in driving leads to your website. Thus, marketers are seen investing in website development (51%) to provide a great user experience to boost conversions further.
B2B marketing targets for 2021
Following are the top B2B marketing targets for 2021:
- To increase sales leads
- To boost brand awareness
- To attain conversion (leads into customers)
- To generate thought leadership
Generating leads
To convert leads into customers, it is essential to understand where those leads come from to begin with. The top source of marketing leads is referrals, as said by 65% of the B2B respondents. It underlines the significance of word-of-mouth marketing.
However, the least preferred tactics for acquiring leads are PR (9%), direct mail (3%) and print advertising (3%). This indicates that face-to-face and digital experiences are preferred and appealed in B2B marketing.
Account-Based marketing tools are in trend
With 46% preferring ABM tools like LinkedIn InMail, marketers are inclined towards targeting key accounts and personnel.
Besides that, content video marketing is another popular strategy for B2B industries in 2021. Because videos are highly engaging and they get along well with social media marketing.
Webinars and demos are also popular in delivering high-quality content.
The way forward
The research-based insights discussed in the blog will help you optimize your digital marketing strategy with trending B2B marketing tactics in 2021. In that, personalization and account-based marketing would help you stay ahead of your competitors.
Also, use email marketing to its fullest by building a robust email marketing strategy.
Finally, get insights into the source of your leads and tailor your efforts accordingly.
Use the related statistics to prepare a documented marketing plan and rock it with your B2B marketing in 2021 and time ahead.
