Post on 21-Apr-2017
2017 B2B MARKETING TRENDS
Peter WeinbergStrategist, Agency and Channel DevelopmentLinkedIn
P R E S E N T E D B Y
Let’s talk about 7 emerging trends
in B2B marketing
These Trends Can Be Applied To Your Marketing TodayEach trend fits neatly into this traditional marketing framework
01
02
03
04
CreativeContent FranchisesTouchpoint Consistency
DistributionEveryone-As-A-MarketerHypertargetingBrand Investing
AudienceThought Leadership
MeasurementCost-Per-Connection
The True Value of Thought Leadership1
B2B Buyers Are ScaredB2B is not “rational”, it’s even more emotional than B2C
Jon MillerCEO & Co-Founder at Engagio,
previously Co-Founder at Marketo
“It’s not a big deal if you buy the wrong can
of soda.”
Don DraperCreative Director at Sterling
Cooper,fictional character on Mad Men
“Nobody ever got fired for buying
IBM.”
…believe it increased trustin the organization
83%BusinessDecision Makers
81%C-Suite Executives
…believe it builds trust in our organization among potential
clients
49%
Thought Leadership “De-Risks” The Buying ProcessIt establishes trust, which leads directly to sales
Among Creators of Thought Leadership… Among Decision Makers…
Thought Leadership “De-Risks” The Buying ProcessIt establishes trust, which leads directly to sales
…believe it gets them more RFPs
17%…believe it invites the
organizationto propose on a project
63%BusinessDecision Makers
64%C-Suite Executives
Among Creators of Thought Leadership… Among Decision Makers…
Structure Your Thought Leadership To Drive ROI“The Sophisticated Guide” has been our #1 driver of sales 3 years in a row
MQLNO YES REVENUESALESNURTURE
NO
THOUGHTLEADERSHIP
The Sustainable ProfitabilityOf Content Franchises
2
The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is BrokenThe “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize
Nearly 1 In 2 BDMs Are Disappointed With The Quality
Percentage of the time I gain valuable insight from thought
leadership
44%Percentage of survey respondents who are disappointed by this
51%
The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is BrokenThe “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize
The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is BrokenThe “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize
Instead, Imitate Disney’s Blockbuster StrategyThe first studio to make $6B, all thanks to “familiarity” and “extensibility”
S U M M E R2 0 1 5
FA L L2 0 1 5
W I N T E R2 0 1 5
S P R I N G2 0 1 6
S U M M E R2 0 1 6
FA L L2 0 1 6
W I N T E R2 0 1 6
S P R I N G2 0 1 7
S U M M E R2 0 1 7
Instead, Imitate Disney’s Blockbuster StrategyThe first studio to make $6B, all thanks to “familiarity” and “extensibility”
A B2B Blockbuster Monetizes A Brand’s Expertise A sustainable approach that monetizes multiple channels with the same IP
The Growing Need forTouchpoint Consistency
3
Nobody Remembers Much Anymore, Especially AdsThe average consumer sees 5,000 ads a day
Pattern Recognition Is How Brands Drive RecallWe see B2C and B2B brands accomplish this every day
Blockbusters Enable Touchpoint ConsistencyHelping build a memorable brand across an explosion of channels
The Promising Arrival ofEveryone-As-A-Marketer4
Employees Are Your Most Valuable TouchpointThe most trusted spokespeople to sell culture, product, and news
63%Trust people like themselves
45%Trust Institutions
Employees Offer Better Reach And EngagementEmployees have 10X the reach of a LinkedIn Company Page
100Employee
Shares
96Profile Views
48Company
Page Views
48Job Views
16Company
Page Followers
32New
Connections
So It Is Imperative To Develop A People-First StrategyFeature your brand characters in your content, distribute through employees
The Sudden Death ofHypertargeting5
Brands Are Overly Obsessed With Ad TargetingDigital sells itself on the false promise of ‘zero waste’
The Problem Is That Targeting Excludes Potential BuyersSophisticated marketers are waking up to this expensive truth
The Solution For B2B Is “Relevant Reach”Reach the entire buying committee, today and tomorrow
TARGETED BUYER
Junior Decision Makers
Extended Buying Committee
The New Principles of Brand Investing6
#1: Obey The “60/40 Rule”Brands need to balance long and short-term objectives
“Investment in long-term brand and
trust building, combined with short term brand activations to reap the sales benefits of those
investments”
60/40 RULE
#2: Plan For A “10:1 Ratio”In a pay-to-play world, distribution is king
#3: Budget For The “80/20 Rule”80% of value comes from 20% of your content; invest accordingly
The Economic Case for Cost-Per-Connection
7
Everyone Is “Counting” The Wrong MetricsCurrent industry metrics (CTR, CPC) do not correlate with revenue
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything
that can be counted counts.Albert Einstein
Cutting-Edge Measurement Reflects The Offline World“Connection Density” does correlate with revenue
Most-Connected Metro Regions
2
3
4
Least-Connected Metro Regions
8.2%
5.1%
4.8%
3.9%
3.5%
More Connections, More Job Growth(Average Job Growth, 2010-2014)
*Based on index of connectedness. 2014 employment based on first nine months of year.Data: LinkedIn, Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Mountain Economics LLC
Marketing Helps Sales To Nurture Connections“Cost Per Connection” is a leading indicator of ROI
Non-Nurtured Prospects Prospects Exposed To Content
16%
40%Response Rate to InMails Sent By Sales Teams
+150%
14X Higher Than Average
E-mail Response Rate*
Great. So how can my client take advantage of these trends
today?
1 Invest in thought-leadership to drive sales
2 Package your thought-leadership into “blockbusters”
3 Use your blockbuster to achieve touchpoint consistency
4 Amplify your blockbuster via employees
5 Reach the entire buying committee with your blockbuster
6 Distribute according to the 60/40, 10:1, and 80/20 rules
7 Start measuring “Cost-Per-Connections”