2021 has been anything but boring for B2B marketers—and it looks like 2022 will be just as exciting. The new hybrid world continues to put custom, digital experiences at the forefront of innovation. So what does that mean for marketers in 2022? We asked six marketing leaders, and B2B Demand Generation Visionaries guests, for their top 2022 technology predictions.
Digital transformation was accelerated with the onset of COVID, and we're seeing that acutely in the B2B software space as well. The way that software buyers are purchasing and making buying decisions has changed, even from a year ago. Word of mouth, peer reviews, and customer voice are playing very big roles in those buying committees and purchasing decisions.
Retention is the new avenue to growth. Invest in customer success, advocacy, and community. Making these investments will help any software marketer better retain their existing customers, not to mention create expansion opportunities.
As we move to a more privacy-centric future, away from third-party data, we’ll see more of an emphasis on actions and signals versus personal information like demographics and interests. B2B marketers who embrace account and intent-based solutions will gain a distinct advantage in this new landscape.
As we navigate this new hybrid world of marketing online and in-person, technology is making the ability to create seamless, customizable experiences easier than ever. The exchange between data and experiences will shape how businesses can drive better outcomes for both businesses and customers.
In 2021, we’ve seen closer alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success – all with the objective of creating superior customer experiences.
Prioritize customer experience. Whether global economies continue to bounce back in 2022, or we’re hit by another pandemic (let’s hope not!), you can’t go too far wrong if you’re delivering an amazing experience to customers.
When you design your B2B demand generation strategy for the year, focus on CX above all else – whether it’s your website, digital content strategy, or field marketing events.
Given that we’ve spent the majority of the past two years trapped indoors, I think we’ll see a resurgence in offline experiences in 2022. However, the world has changed, and the skew towards digital marketing is certainly here to stay.
Also, I expect that we’ll see businesses continuing to invest heavily in technology that aligns sales and marketing towards one vision – creating an amazing prospect and customer experience.
Technology is changing the very definition of marketing. We now have the tools at our disposal to support and craft the entire buyer lifecycle, from prospect to customer.
Technology is also a positive force in aligning sales, marketing, and customer success. Increasingly, marketing is responsible for supporting everything from revenue to customer expansion.
The last year broke some of the traditional tactics or things that we think about in B2B demand gen and made us reimagine them from an experience first perspective.
Use your data to create customer first experiences. Put prospects and their experience first to really drive success across the board.
Continue to innovate around personalization. We know our prospects better than ever and have access to technology that can deliver the right experience, content and message to the right person at the right time.
The amount of signals available about buyers, coupled with new channels, allow us to create experiences we could never have imagined 10 years ago. Savvy marketers will differentiate through these experiences — which will get them into the best opportunities first and give them a competitive advantage.
B2B marketing has become even more data-driven and personalized; companies are seeing the value in how to appeal to specific audiences and create these unique experiences for their end-users.
It’s critical to not get caught up in the “tool sprawl” - understand what software platforms are meaningful for your company and what will take your companies to the next level. Knowing what data you need and what tools you need to get there is a great place to start, and you can build from that foundation.
Continue to innovate around personalization. We know our prospects better than ever and have access to technology that can deliver the right experience, content and message to the right person at the right time.
The future is bringing humanity to marketing. We talk a lot about personalization and how B2B marketing is appealing to users based on these insights - but when you scale, it’s important to recognize the human element and not just focus on turbo-charging the technology component. Keeping humans in marketing will enable us to connect and carry through our messages much more effectively and holistically.
Many “went digital” because they had to in 2020; however, in 2021 marketing strategies evolved and were driven by applied intelligence – meaning organizations strategically leveraged all the data they could to meet customers where they were at and deliver more personalized and meaningful interactions at the right time in the right place and via the most appropriate channel.
With digital maturation of marketing in 2021, in 2022 marketers will need to double down on creating a more unified, personalized, and intelligent customer experience. While maybe not intuitive, a curated customer experience can include building friction into a process when necessary or being personable even in digital, automated interactions that feel interpersonal to create a meaningful engagement.
Next year will be the year of “respecting the data” and creating value for the customer. It’s no surprise that marketers ask customers for a lot of information to help create relevant customer interactions. However, marketing needs to demonstrate to customers that you respect them and their data and are providing real value in exchange. In short, we need to focus on compensating customers for the information they share.
Particularly when it comes to data, deriving insights and applying that intelligence to customer experiences, technology, in my mind, is delivering a better tomorrow for everyone. As more businesses and organizations exchange data for something of value to customers, we’re headed in the right direction.
Undoubtedly, COVID converted the age of the digital transformation to the digital revolution. Every company was forced to rethink and retool to be entirely digital-first in a matter of days.
Keep people at the center of your business. SDRs [Sales Development Representatives] are at the center of your business, aligning marketing and sales. Leverage your SDR team and conversational marketing tools as the "front door" to the B2B organization- they provide visitors with the experience they want, when and where they want to have it.
I think that marketing operations will be paramount in ensuring that the back-end delivers the enrichment and account linking/visibility required to truly deliver an enterprise buying experience. Investing in technology that optimizes sales intelligence will be critically important to create a best-in-class experience for the customer.
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