- Dominating the online sphere emerges as the paramount B2B 2024 marketing trend
- AI and automation speed up B2B’s catch-up with B2C, resulting in shift of roles
- Overcoming the B2B modularity, dark funnels, and attribution poses will be a significant hurdle
In B2B, a notable paradigm shift has been underway, transitioning from the traditional siloed approach of offline sales and marketing strategies towards a dynamic hybrid ecosystem enabled by technology and AI.
This outlook explores our vision on the B2B 2024 marketing trends that are shaping this future, emphasizing the pivotal role these approaches play in driving sustained commercial success.
#1: Hybrid is the B2B 2024 marketing trend
The B2B sales cycle is undergoing a transformation, marked by the rise of a hybrid model that blends traditional in-person interactions with an increasingly digital landscape. While in-person contact remains an integral component, the initial exploration phase has overwhelmingly shifted to a digital playground, constituting approximately 90% of the entire sales cycle.
This digital exploration phase enables prospects to research, compare, and evaluate offerings online, significantly shaping their purchasing decisions before engaging with sales representatives. Furthermore, B2B marketplaces and commerce platforms are revolutionizing the digital landscape by evolving into direct sales channels, seamlessly guiding the entire sales journey, culminating in final conversions.
#2: Website as biggest digital lead-gen asset
The first demo conversation with a sales representative triggered by the demo button on a website remains a pivotal moment in the B2B sales cycle. This interaction serves as the crucial juncture where prospects transition from digitally exploring a product or service independently to engaging directly with a human touchpoint within the company. This interaction marks the beginning of physical relationship-building.
Nevertheless, many B2B companies continue to underutilize their websites and missing this B2B 2024 marketing trend. Instead of leveraging their most important online asset as an interactive and engaging platform, numerous businesses treat their websites as static brochures.
This oversight results in missed opportunities to employ effective lead generation strategies, personalized engagement, and compelling calls-to-action that could effectively nurture and convert visitors into promising leads.
#3: Rise of owned digital ecosystems
Your own digital ecosystem has become the focal point for progressive B2B strategies. Rather than viewing the internet as a singular highway, leading solely to customer acquisition, successful B2B enterprises perceive it as a complex network of interconnected roads.
The emphasis now lies in cultivating a robust digital ecosystem—a network of relevant touchpoints strategically positioned to engage potential customers at various intersections. Winning B2B companies recognize that success isn’t contingent on dominating a single channel or one-off campaigns or sales activations. Instead, it hinges on weaving a comprehensive digital authority.
This approach gains momentum in the wake of the cookieless era, prompting a shift towards harnessing zero and intent data. By harnessing zero-party data—information that customers willingly share—and intent data, which provides insights into buyer behavior, companies are now equipped to craft more personalized, targeted, and effective marketing campaigns, effectively bridging the gap between sales and marketing.
#4: AI and automation accelerate B2B’s catching up to B2C
B2B automation, empowered by advancements in AI, is reshaping the landscape of both marketing and sales operations, driving unparalleled effectiveness and efficiency. AI technologies streamline repetitive tasks, analyze vast datasets swiftly, and provide actionable insights, allowing businesses to optimize their operations significantly.
In marketing, AI algorithms refine targeting, personalize campaigns, and predict consumer behavior, leading to more precise and impactful strategies. Similarly, in sales, AI aids in lead scoring, automates routine processes, and facilitates personalized interactions, enhancing the overall efficiency of the sales cycle. AI and automation also enable B2B to catch up faster with B2C, closing the gap more swiftly.
This surge in automation doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in workforce but rather a shift in roles. The integration of AI enables a single person to manage tasks that previously required entire teams. Consequently, individuals can oversee comprehensive marketing or sales operations with the support of sophisticated tools and systems, accomplishing more in less time and with fewer personnel.
While routine operational tasks become automated, strategic thinking roles emerge as invaluable. Human expertise in devising overarching strategies, understanding nuanced customer needs, and crafting innovative approaches remains irreplaceable in this AI-driven landscape.
#5: Attribution and dark funnels in a fragmented market
The B2B landscape is intricately structured, characterized by a modular system that varies significantly across countries and subcategories. This diversity creates a nuanced environment where one-size-fits-all approaches fall short. Unlike winner-takes-all scenarios, the B2B landscape thrives on a diverse ecosystem, fostering multiple winners.
Each market segment and geographic region demands a tailored approach, allowing various players to excel by addressing specific needs and intricacies within their respective niches. This dynamic nature underscores the importance of adaptability and specialization, enabling numerous entities to thrive concurrently within the multifaceted B2B market.
Therefore, attribution in B2B marketing has evolved into a complex landscape. Especially with the emergence of dark funnel activities significantly impacting the understanding of customer journeys. While traditional attribution models focus on visible touchpoints and easily trackable interactions, a substantial portion of B2B purchase decisions now occurs within the dark funnel—untraceable, offline, or encrypted channels.
As a result, B2B marketers are navigating the challenge of attributing these unseen touchpoints, seeking innovative methods and advanced analytics to shed light on the impact of dark funnel and brand activities. Understanding and attributing value to these obscured touchpoints are becoming pivotal in creating comprehensive and accurate attribution models for this B2B b2b 2024 marketing trend.