by Galina Jordanowa, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Progress Software
Dear marketing fellows, 2024 is just around the corner. I sat down with a cup of coffee and list these five – you could take some ideas if you find them useful. And please share if you have any other ideas that could help our marketing society. Thank you! 🙂
Adapting to new B2B needs with a humanized behavior
B2B purchasers are increasingly independent, often conducting a substantial part of their research before initiating contact with sales or even a trial. The significance of word of mouth and social proof in shaping purchasing choices has grown significantly. This underscores the importance of not only influencing immediate buying decisions at the mid- bottom of the funnel (capturing demand) but also connecting with prospective customers earlier in the funnel. This early engagement aims to establish brand recall for later stages when a purchasing decision becomes more imminent (demand creation). In a nutshell, buyers search for evidence at very early stages of their journey. What could be the right evidence – it’s all about educating, building trust, and providing value far before a buying discussion takes place. What could be the direct way to build trust – showcase real customer stories, give free resources, be day-to-day partner even before the purchase.
Overcoming budget obstacles in the new reality of uncertainty
Adapting to the evolving economic landscape requires a blend of caution and innovation, with a focus on cost-effective measures, operational efficiency, and strategic investments. Navigating through this uncertain terrain demands a forward-looking approach, embracing technology for agility, and exploring a culture of adaptability within the organization. This means that marketers need to create the financial justification behind the products for the company. It could be good ROI, it could be level of optimizations, it could be speed, anything related to the financial goals vs. marketing need. Very often, marketers need not only to persuade the concrete buyer, but also to help the buyer to persuade his boss in favor of specific product or solution. Marketing will become a partnership game more than ever before.
Making personalization with predictive AI
Imagine delivering 1:1 message to each of your customers, tailored to their individual behaviors. It’s a dream for every marketer, me included, but turning this vision into reality is an immensely challenging task. You need data scientists or analysts to make sense of it, and then a team of marketers to write the copy and team of demand generation build the campaigns. For most teams, that level of improvement is simply impossible. But now AI is making this closer and closer. By employing predictive AI, marketers can now gain a comprehensive view of the bigger picture and identify crucial trends, such as the characteristics of high-value customers or optimal times for potential purchases. This enables them to strategically offer the appropriate incentives to individuals based on these insights.
CMOs and CIOs will collaborate more closely than ever
Collaboration between chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief information officers (CIOs) will become increasingly vital as brands integrate their data into AI tools. This symbiotic relationship is founded on mutual benefits: CIOs play a crucial role in ensuring responsible utilization of company data, while CMOs require access to the appropriate data for delivering personalized experiences that enhance their company’s return on investment (ROI). Marketers has just started to paint this AI picture and the development is very dynamic.
Differentiating in the crowded messaging landscape
The B2B market is filled with numerous competitors within each category, all essentially conveying similar messages. In such a crowded landscape, determining the most suitable solution for any company becomes a challenging task. Effective storytelling, customer reviews and real cases can be powerful tools in highlighting the unique product value. Leave your customers to talk to your future customers and make it as real as possible. You see, it’s like a circle we have started with trust and end with trust, and everything in between is also trust.
Remember this word: Trust… and build your marketing strategy around it. And last, but not least – don’t be afraid of making experiments and testing new approaches, new messaging, new ways of doing things. If you don’t always win, you will surely learn. And every marketing win is built by small and big learnings.
Enjoy this incredible journey 😊
