Stand Out in 2022: B2B Marketing Trends
As we move into the new year, we want to make sure that we stay on top of new marketing trends. Here are some of the latest strategies for 2022 and insights on how you can leverage them for your business.
- More Brand Personalization
- Video Marketing
- Customer-Focused Content
- Account-Based Marketing
1. More Brand Personalization
Think about how you react to your favorite brands – what do you like about the company? Does their marketing seem to be targeted just for you? The same is true with B2B.
According to BusinessWire, 79% of organizations that exceeded revenue goals have a documented personalization strategy. Developing this strategy can help make your company memorable in 2022.
As the number of B2B businesses increases, it is important that your company stands out in its own unique way. Having a brand voice and personalization helps differentiate your business from the crowd.
When developing your brand’s voice, it should be a reflection of your target audience- helping you to connect with your audience in a language and format they understand. When you only have a logo and name, targets are less likely to interact with you and remember you. With brand personalization, your customers feel a more personal connection to your brand and are more likely to remember you.
To develop your brand’s messaging, it is important to consider what your B2B prospects value. For example, when talking to one group of target personas, they may have a more casual way of speaking while another group may utilize a much more technical way of speaking. Know what audience you’re speaking to and cater your outreach to them.
These messaging points should be universal throughout your company. Both marketing and sales departments should understand the voice and carry it through to website language, blog posts, social media, and other marketing channels. Maintaining consistency will gain trust from your leads.
87% of consumers surveyed say that personally relevant branded content positively influences how they feel about a brand (Instapage).
2. Video Marketing
The number of ads and marketing communications consumers see every day increases every year. With video marketing, you have a better chance of catching a target’s attention. According to a Cisco report, video marketing will account for 82% of all online traffic by 2022, and 84% of users say they are more likely to invest in a product or service after watching a video.
This B2B marketing trend isn’t going away any time soon. Here are a few types of video assets that B2B companies should consider:
Corporate Videos: These videos highlight company culture and how your company has helped team members grow. Here is an example from HubSpot. HubSpot’s video is informative and welcoming without being over the top – allowing them to creatively showcase their company culture.
Collateral: These videos are a type of B2B sales video that are customizable. In the upcoming year, many B2B businesses plan to use this type of video to highlight their product or service as well as content like demos or case studies. Here is a helpful guide to help you create your own marketing collateral. This video discusses ten different types of collateral and how they can help generate leads.
Animated Videos: Some technical products may be too hard (or too boring!) to explain with words, so animated videos are becoming more popular in industries like software to simplify or illustrate concepts. Here is a great example of a B2B product explainer video that shows us simply and clearly what the product is, where and how it can be used.
Short-Form vs Long-Form Videos: Short-form videos are good for B2B businesses because they are under 2.5 minutes, better for meeting clickthrough goals. These are also useful for social media as they are more engaging. This blog from HubSpot demonstrates six different types of short-form videos that can show off your content in an entertaining way.
Long-form videos are good for embedding into your website on “About Us” and “Case Study” pages as they can be used to tell your story. This blog from Wista illustrates 7 different types of long-form videos to help you connect with leads in a deeper, more technical way.
3. Customer-Focused Content
When creating new content, it is important to keep the customer in mind as you want to address their wants and needs. Identify your target audience, research what types of media they engage with, listen to how they talk and develop an understanding of their needs and how you can address those needs.
As mentioned in another one of our recent blogs, How to Better Connect With Your B2B Leads, it is important to connect with your customers in a way that speaks directly to them. Buyers begin to tune out the advertising they see every day so you have to create content that specifically appeals to your target audience.
Creating this customer-focused content can also lead to a better customer experience. When your content is relevant, it allows your audience to engage with your brand in a more meaningful way. Creating personalized content is part of any good account-based marketing (ABM) strategy.
4. Account-Based Marketing
ABM is becoming more and more popular among B2B marketers. Some marketers are still hesitant to use it because it seems more daunting than it is. (Here is a recent blog of ours where we go over 5 Common ABM Misunderstandings.) According to HubSpot, 56% of marketers strongly agree that personalized content is a key to ABM success. When you use ABM, you are flipping the funnel upside down and only capturing the most qualified leads.
Customers are being flooded every day with emails and content. When they find a piece that piques their interest and educates them on a relevant topic, they are more likely to interact with your brand and remember you.
HubSpot reports that in 2021, 70% of marketers report using ABM, up 15% from 2020. ABM is a great way to stay ahead of the competition and grab your audience’s attention through personalization.
As we head into the new year, make sure you are up to date with relevant B2B marketing trends. RenderTribe can help you identify and prepare an ABM strategy to align with your overall marketing goals and business objectives.
Contact RenderTribe today to see how we can help you stand out in 2022!
