Marketing and advertising continue to evolve in our rapidly changing world. These functions adapt to this new environment but also act as the change agents themselves. As a result, new terminology and acronyms have entered our lexicon. Transformations in two categories, digital and B2B marketing are delineated. Not surprisingly, some of these changes fit into both categories. Other trends more unique to B2B marketing are covered in the latter portion of this post.

Digital Marketing Trends

In an article by Kate Harrison, “Top 10 Trends that will Transform Digital Advertising in 2017”, she shares these perspectives of Stacy DeBroff, CEO and founder of Influence-Central.

• New Products Introduced by the Brand Revolution – The “brand revolution”, a set of associations which could be company name and logo or psychological reactions, are increasingly responding to the needs of the consumer and current lifestyle trends with their products.
• Artificial Intelligence – I. is increasingly coming into play in areas such as electronic applications and data analytics that can forecast customer needs. With regard to B2B marketing, A.I. will cause quicker decisions in product management, e-commerce, and other areas all leading to action.
• Niche Curation Assists Information Overload – Because of the deafening amount of information surrounding us, DeBroff concludes that “we’ve increasingly come to rely on, not just curated information, but on the people we most trust to curate this information.” Consumers will be searching for niche experts to sift through all the recommendations to best meet their needs.
• Mobile Marketing – As mobile devices become smarter and faster, they will significantly influence consumers at the point of purchase. Consumers will be able to instantly check product attributes and use online coupons while at the store. In the last quarter of 2016, 50 percent of all B2B companies had implemented a responsive design (website now viewable on tablets, smartphones, and notebooks).
• Influencer Marketing – This type of marketing, which focuses on key leaders driving your brand’s message to the larger market, will be increasingly used in 2017. In the B2B world, “micro-influencers” will reach fewer people than in the mainstream market but with a more focused message on one specific topic.
• Consumer Resentment of Intrusive Marketing – Brands aggressively showing up on social media are falling out of favor with consumers. They will remove themselves from these platforms and learn more about products on their own time.

B2B Marketing Trends

There are also marketing trends that have particular resonance in the B2B environment. In an article “13 Marketing Trends for 2017 that B2B Marketers Need to Understand”, by Steve Olenski, he outlines some of these.

• Executive Branding – Olenski references Grant Wickes, an executive branding specialist who states that senior executives must develop their own personal brand.
• Native Advertising – This is material in an online publication which seems more like editorial content but actually promotes advertiser’s products or services. It is less intrusive than traditional banner advertising, more informative for the reader, and less expensive for the advertiser.
• Agile Marketing – For B2B enterprises, this means removing traditional departmental barriers and implementing a more collaborative approach within the organization and with clients.
• Experiential Marketing – As opposed to just reading words, today’s buyers both in the regular consumer world and with B2B, want to “touch, taste, and feel” your brand. Whether it be in person or in a virtual setting, consumers and companies are gravitating toward authentic, live-action, visual storytelling.
• Social Media—Social media is impacting the B2B world too. In 2016, 39 percent of marketers reported significant return on investment, as opposed to 9 percent in 2015.
• Next-Gen Automation – The latest generation of marketing automation tools are being used by B2B organisations to generate leads, accumulate customer intelligence, drive e-commerce revenue, and manage cross-channel campaigns. 58 percent of top performing companies where marketing contributes half the sales have implemented marketing automation.

If you’re looking for a partner who can help you maximise opportunity across the print, digital, and B2B sectors, our expert team at MediaSmiths is ready to take the call. We completely understand the wider media landscape across Australia and can help you craft a perfectly balanced overall strategy that delivers the best from varied types of marketing and advertising. Get in touch today to start mapping out your options!