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”