Top B2B Marketing Strategies to Opt for in 2021. - Apprise Marketing Services - AMSB2B

2020 was one of the hardest times most businesses ever faced. Covid-19 is a crisis like none we’ve faced before. The outbreak of this vicious virus has caused devastation that would be expected to last for at least a couple of years. However, the most critical impact of this virus is affected by the gathering of people for social, business, or any other purpose. ‘Social Distancing’ a familiar term for all of us.

There are several challenges that businesses are facing amidst this ban on the gathering of people be for any reason. Physical marketing events and trade shows were practically impossible in 2020 and still aren’t on the minds of businesses. In such a challenging environment which are the top B2B marketing strategies that can prove to be a boon for Marketers worldwide.

As we all know – Modern marketing is more about customer experience, feedback, building relationships with customers, adapting continuously to the new digital landscapes, and marketing across multiple channels to reach different consumers. It’s a need in today’s world that marketers must work continuously for an ever-increasing number of platforms to develop a more identity-based audience without or with very little physical presence.

So here are our top 9 B2B Marketing strategies that’ll dominate the year 2021.

1. Account-Based Marketing

I’ll be candid here. I simply can’t imagine the marketing efforts of a B2B business without ABM as its one of the prime marketing strategies for almost all businesses. ABM was and will continue to be a core platform for marketers in the martech stack. ABM is no longer a new or a niche concept for the b2b marketers. It now has a proven track record—and businesses are putting more budget into ABM because it’s working for them.

The unprecedented disruptions of 2020 have pressure-tested even the most mature ABM programs, but many companies have responded by putting even more emphasis on ABM as a strategic growth driver for 2021. ABM programs continued to generate impressive business results this year and the majority of program leaders are looking to do even more next year.

According to research by SiriusDecisions, In the last three years, the percentage of respondents who say ABM is important has hovered around 90% with an upward trend. 91% of respondents say that ABM has made a difference in the number of opportunities closed and the average deal size.

The global 2020 Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising Outlook report of B2B marketers and their agencies shows that 75% consider ABM important to their organization’s marketing efforts; 5 in 10 companies believe ABM to be at least “very important”. Currently, 45% of B2B marketers are already doing ABM in their company with a further 20% planning to do it in the future.

2. Content Marketing

It’s True that networking differentiates B2B and B2C marketing strategies, but the content is one string that connects both of them. And as marketers, you know that CONTENT IS THE KING, and if you don’t address it respectfully, there is no way you will make it big in the market.

In 2021, it’s time to get even more serious about your content creation and content marketing efforts. Content is at the core of our digital and social marketing strategies. Content marketing now is more than just creating, distributing and sharing content in order to engage audiences and generate leads.

Our prediction in 2021 for Content Marketing is, Content will remain to be at the center of the attraction between your brand and your customers. It is either going to open their eyes to pay attention and care that your brand exists, or it simply won’t. I’m sure that many marketers are already working on their plans and likely have a content calendar set for 2021 being populated with content to delight and engage their audiences.

Apprise Marketing Services have proven expertise in content syndication services- Dissemination of whitepapers, E-books and other assets to clients with varied nature of businesses. We successfully generate content syndication/promotion leads and MQL’s across all verticals and geographies in the given span of time thus fueling your sales funnel with sufficient Marketing Qualified and Sales Qualified Leads.

In 2020 you must have a proper content marketing plan that’ll help you align your content to your marketing and business goals.

3. AI-Powered Marketing

Technological advancements have revolutionized the way businesses plan and execute their strategies. Technology has been able to help businesses learn more about their target audience far beyond what they thought possible.

Marketers are using what is known as ‘artificial intelligence marketing’. One of the key benefits marketers receive when using artificial intelligence is data analytics. AI has the capacity to gather, analyze, and store large data. AI helps marketers easily understand consumer trends and incorporate that knowledge into marketing strategies. With the right AI, the marketing strategy will become more effective. Effective marketing strategies tend to show the right content to the right person at the right time through the appropriate communication channel.

The use of artificial intelligence marketing allows marketers to reach potential customers and give them easy access to make purchases. Another benefit is the efficiency that AI contributes to marketing. AI’s high capacity to gather large amounts of data and analyze it in a short period of time, helps businesses save time and money.

Some business professionals already believe that the marketer as known today will completely change by the year 2025. With that in mind, the skills of marketers have the possibility of being tested. According to a study of 100 Senior Marketers done by Smartinsights.com, “55% of companies are either currently implementing or actively investigating some form of AI initiative,” demonstrating their confidence in AI.

4. Digital Marketing

The way Digital marketing has evolved since 2020 truly shows this marketing strategy is here to save the businesses and marketers amidst the pandemic. We all know that the pandemic is not gone yet.

The dominance of Digital Marketing will continue even in 2021. As the internet has become a part of our daily lives, digital marketing has proved to be imperative for brands. Considering 4.5 Billion internet subscribers globally, more & more businesses now focus on creating an online brand image because that’s where their customers are!

However, in the year 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted our lives and multiple businesses across the world in unprecedented ways; marketing spends and activities of many brands have been paused, including various digital marketing initiatives. Today, it’s critical for marketers to look beyond this situation and gain a long-term view of the picture before pausing their digital marketing efforts.

People are spending more time online now more than ever. In fact, as the coronavirus pandemic places a quarter of the world’s population under lockdown, internet hits have surged by 50-70%, according to Forbes. So, brands need to carefully define their digital marketing strategy and find newer & sensitive ways to communicate during this time.

5. Omni-channel Marketing strategy

Omnichannel marketing is a multichannel sales approach carefully curated to provide a seamless shopping experience for the customer. The advertising strategy is based on customer behavior and interaction, not a universal brand experience.

Omnichannel marketing allows you to remain relevant and competitive in a crowded market. Having so much competition means you need to figure out efficient and effective ways to stand out and really connect with your consumers. In a growing digital landscape, omnichannel marketing allows you to connect with your customers through a personalized experience that can turn them into lifelong customers.

The few Omni-channel marketing are:

a. Facebook and Instagram: These are good channels for priming your audience through strategic content with the end goal of making a conversion. This would be done through engagement, conversion and retargeting ads.

b. Amazon: Having your products on Amazon helps with convenience, trust and speed. Research shows that a projected 47% of e-commerce is done through Amazon. It is important to understand that customers tend to shop from places they know and trust.

c. Email: Email is a great channel that allows you to build a customer list through lead magnets. It is also great for follow-ups, promotions and customer service inquiries.

d. Text: Text marketing allows you more retargeting capabilities, such as abandoned cart reminders, company-wide messages and order status updates.

e. WhatsApp: Some companies allow potential customers to reach them on WhatsApp, making it quick and efficient to get questions or concerns addressed in real-time.

f. Messenger: Messenger chatbots allow your brand to operate 24/7 online from a customer service standpoint. With pre-built conversations, FAQs and redirects, Messenger allows you to communicate with the customer outside of operating hours.

g. YouTube: YouTube allows you to retarget website visitors as well as individuals who have looked up certain keywords related to your product or service.

6. Buyer Enablement

Buyer enablement helps buyers buy – it’s that simple. Buyer enablement is the provisioning of information that supports the completion of critical activities necessary to make a purchase. Just as sales enablement helps sellers sell, buyer enablement helps buyers buy by providing them with prescriptive advice and practical support to make the buying process easier to navigate and complete.

In a survey of more than 250 B2B customers, Gartner found that 77% of them rated their purchase experience as extremely complex or difficult.

What customers truly want in this complex buying environment is information that helps them simplify the purchase process.

And suppliers who can provide them with that information will be rewarded. In fact, Gartner’s research shows that customers are three times more likely to buy a bigger deal with less regret when suppliers provide information perceived as helpful in advancing the purchase process.

We call this type of information “buyer enablement.” If the goal of the sales leader is to increase reps’ ability to drive high-value customer interactions‚ then equipping them with the right information is the recipe for success.

7. Chatbots for Marketing

A chatbot is a computer program or an artificial intelligence which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Chatbots have evolved significantly in recent times, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing(NLP) that powers them. They’re now extremely sophisticated and versatile tools that can help you automate a number of your business processes.

Aside from being awesome for helping with customer care queries, AI-powered chatbots can be part of your marketing initiatives and help push your customers seamlessly through your sales funnel.

Many marketers predict that usage of chatbots is going to get a boost in 2019 and beyond as AI is been on the rise for the last couple of years. Gartner predicts that by 2021 people will have even more conversations with chatbots than their spouses. Hubspot presumes Chatbots might be the best thing to happen to marketing yet.

8. Voice Search Marketing

One of the biggest developments impacting the world of marketing today is the widespread adoption of voice search technology, which is changing how search marketing professionals optimize websites to rank for targeted keywords and queries.

Voice search optimization presents a rare opportunity for businesses looking to get ahead of the game. If you think your organization’s digital marketing efforts might benefit from an enhanced voice search strategy, there’s still time to beat your competitors to the punch.

General Voice Search Statistics:

1. 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2021, per comScore.

2. About 30% of all searches will be done without a screen by 2021, per Gartner.

3. 13% of all households in the United States owned a smart speaker in 2017, per OC&C Strategy Consultants. That number is predicted to rise to 55% by 2022.

4. There will be an estimated 21.4 million smart speakers in the US by 2020, per Activate.

5. The voice recognition market will be a $601 million industry by 2019, per Technavio.

In the digital world, significant innovations seem to change how we all use the internet. As voice search technology has leaped forward in recent years, the way many of us search online is changing. To capitalize on its rapid rise in popularity, SEO strategists must identify emerging trends in voice search statistics.

9. Video Marketing

Video marketing is a component of an integrated marketing communications plan designed to increase audience engagement through social activity around a given video.

Modern customers spend most of their time watching informative videos about the product or service that they’re interested in or are planning to buy. Your videos are a great source of an educational asset for these active buyers and in return, they’ll think of you when it comes to actually buy.

The best part about video marketing is search engines love videos and these videos will make you stand in front of your audience quite easily with not many efforts.

Here are a few amazing stats about video marketing that prove my point –

a. According to a recent study by Cisco, by 2021, more than 80% of consumer internet traffic will be video.

b. Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared via social networks. (Buffer, 2014).

c. 43% of consumers would like to see more video content from marketers (HubSpot).

d. Marketers using video saw revenue grow 49% faster than those who were not (Aberdeen, 2015).

e. 51.9% of marketing professionals in the world rate video as the content with the best ROI (Adobe, 2015).

That is why you should make video marketing a priority for your business in 2021 and make video promotions, Ads, Ads series(if possible), funny viral videos, educational videos, etc. based on your product and the preference of your existing and potential customers.

Conclusion:

There are several marketing strategies available for marketers to opt for depending upon the nature of the business. Many marketers advise trying all those strategies that would possibly work for the business. Seriously?? do we have that much time and budget to try each strategy?? – NO… If we try doing so, we’d be far behind in the competition. The best way is to follow the current trends.

We as marketers are familiar with the fact that strategies and trends change often. If any particular strategy is on the go now, the chances that the same strategy will work even after 6 months or a year is quite low. Audience changes, their taste & preferences change and hence it’s very important that you go with the flow. In order to get the most out of your marketing efforts, you need to run with the latest B2B trends so you can get the highest ROI for your business.

PS: No single marketing strategy is going to help you with all your marketing efforts. Make sure you have a proper mix of marketing strategies and then go for the hunt in 2021.

Contact AMS at info@ams-in.com or visit us on www.ams-in.com today to plan out your B2B marketing strategies and to take your lead generation efforts to the next level in 2021.

Thank you and Happy Marketing!