4 B2B Marketing Trends Boosting Growth in 2018
The time is now. 2018 ushers in a new trend of B2B marketing. Technology is booming, algorithms are changing the world, and digital marketing has never been as important as it is now, but what about 2018 should marketers target? This is a question we get often, and some of the answers remain the same. Over the years multiple tiers of marketing have become available, all of which provide amazing insight and advantage over competitors. So, do you want to know how 2018 is shaping up in terms of marketing trends? Continue for the full scoop of trending marketing techniques for 2018.
1. Concentrated Shift in Targeted KPIs
It use to be that when measuring campaign success and deciding what numbers were the most important to follow, we would always find ourselves looking at metrics like traffic and new leads. That is coming to an end, and a growing number of marketers are finding themselves tracking conversions and revenue now. It is about who buys and during what part of your funnel did they cave in.
Powerful metrics linked to these funnels can be gathered and assessed in order to determine what needs to be improved. Sure, knowing how many people visit your site and from what channel they discovered you, but at the end of the day, it boils down to what really matters: Sales.
Read more: 8 Growth KPIs Every Startup Should Track
2. AI Forming Custom Tailored User Experiences
Another marketing trend that is going to sweep over 2018 like a massive hangover is the use of AI (artificial intelligence) technology. It is everywhere already, and the tech behind it is only getting better. The metrics we collect are training marketing AI units, and we have seen these in its simplest form as suggestions, nudges, or persuasive marketing that seems like it is tailored to you. Turns out, it probably is. The use of big data is becoming an essential part of marketing and understanding what the consumer wants is most certainly worth its weight in gold. Nevertheless, how will AI influence the marketing field in 2018?
It is quite simple actually. As more and more software and other platforms implement these data collecting, consumer-understanding personas, marketers are able to better understand their customer base and audience, which in turns allows them to connect the right content and marketing strategy to the right person at the right moment during the sales funnel.
3. Influencers Provide a Solid Backing
I bet if you read this headline, you opened your wallet and nearly cried because influencer marketing can cost a fortune. Well, it can if you do it wrong. Once again influencer marketing is making a trending statement as marketers are leaning toward niche specific influencers are have slightly smaller followings that the mega-star influencers.
This is not necessarily true because marketing teams do not have the budget to throw mounds of cash to get the attention of certain influencer. Well, that does play a factor, but scheduling and collaboration for content become harder when dealing with a top-notch influencer when employing several smaller influencers can have the same if not, greater impact on a much smaller budget.
4. Content Still Rules Supreme
You can build it, divide it, stack it, break it down, analyze it, create it, expand it, and even research it. It’s everywhere: “Content is King.” This is not just a buzzphrase to get marketing teams to buy services from copywriters and the need for content is not going anywhere. In fact, 2018 is trending to the largest year of content investment ever. Staying on the leading page of your industry is important, and many times content marketing is confused with SEO (search engine optimization) marketing. They are completely different, but work best in unison.
You cannot expect your copywriter to understand search engines, but you can expect them to be able to illustrate a masterful art with wordsmithing in order to increase your conversions. Just because you place a large “BUY” button on your page, doesn’t mean anyone is going to buy. Content is how brands, companies, and everyone else communicates. From Google AdWords campaigns to blogs and social media post, content is needed every step of the way. So where should marketers focus their 2018 content expansion efforts?
Believe or not, social media is shifting from a marketing platform into a more communication fewer ADs era, while LinkedIn is becoming more popular for marketing teams, especially for B2B marketing as this is where strong relationships and future business partnerships are formed. In addition to crafting intelligent and engaging article-style content, a growing shift to video content marketing is emerging. By 2020, more than 75% of marketing content will become video-based.
Set Your Startup or Business Up for Marketing Success in 2018
For marketers, 2018 will be a very big year. Current marketing tools are getting facelifts, and exciting new and even stronger tools are rolling out. No matter the software, program, or strategy you use, these 4 trending core components will remain present in every marketers winning strategy. How will your digital marketing agency help your company grow in 2018?
