The final months of 2022 have started. It is time for b2b marketing consultants to think about a new marketing plan with the latest marketing strategies for 2023.
What are the first questions to consider when planning digital marketing for B2B companies in 2023?
What are the latest trends in B2B marketing?
And which communication channels will be most important?
This article will discuss the top seven B2B marketing trends for 2023 and how you can thrive in the competitive business-to-business field.
But before we start, let’s begin with some basic definitions:
What is Business-to-business marketing?
Business-to-business, or B2B marketing, is
“The process of one business marketing its products or services to another business.”
B2B marketing is needed when a company’s production is necessary for another company to maintain or improve its business.
What is a B2B Marketing Agency?
A business-to-business marketing agency is
"a third-party marketing firm that specializes in adapting your company’s marketing message to other businesses."
B2B Marcom professionals know how to target decision-makers for high-priced products and services.
Why is B2B marketing important?
Since most businesses rely on the products or services of other businesses to function, business-to-business marketing is critical.
The process consists of:
discovering B2B marketing opportunities
personalizing a brand’s message to the target audience company that needs your products or services.
increase revenue.
When a company sells products or services to another business, the products and services have considered costs.
Business-to-Business Marketing Types
There are three basic B2B marketing types for a business.
Digital B2B Marketing - Lower your marketing costs and track your business results. If your target business audience is looking for your products and services online, digital marketing is the best strategy to choose.
Traditional B2B Marketing- Increase your marketing costs and improve brand equity. If your target business audience is looking for your products and services mostly offline, you can use radio, television, and print advertisements to capture the attention of your potential business customers.
Personal Selling in B2B - Get results, but scaling a business is hard. When selling face-to-face via networking and maintaining relationships to close deals, personal selling in B2B is the best strategy. Personal selling is mostly used in combination with digital marketing.
To create the best marketing strategy for your B2B company, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
How can each of these B2B marketing types be used for your business?
How do your competitors in the same industry use such marketing plans?
B2B marketing trends to know in 2023:
To answer the above questions, you need to know:
What are the latest trends in B2B marketing?
And which digital b2b marketing channels will be most important?
Therefore, B2B digital marketing agency, Xplore digital, give businesses an overview of the top 10 B2B marketing trends for 2023:
1 B2B Public Relations and Sales
PR for B2B businesses is becoming increasingly important. B2B customers look for trusted companies to do business with. Businesses are more likely to buy from a brand they trust. PR professionals help create brand awareness and build trust.
A strategic PR campaign is an effective way to build trust. It helps potential B2B customers connect with a brand, get familiar with its products and services, and let them understand who is leading the business and what a business does.
PR helps to:
Shortens the sales cycle
Drives revenue
Build relationships
2 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence gives business leaders insights and can boost B2B marketing performance. In 2023, every business can leverage machine learning to help marketing efforts. But smart technology needs smarter humans. Helping marketing teams stay up to date with artificial intelligence is a wise thing to do.
AI helps to:
automate email marketing strategies.
use digital data to avoid human errors.
3 Virtual Marketing Partners
Business teams are increasingly able to work virtually. This also has consequences for doing business with other businesses. With the recent trend of hybrid working, businesses can easily hire a digital marketing agency on demand.
Hiring a virtual marketing partner means hiring a team of marking experts that help your business organization do business communication for you.
Virtual Marketing Partners help to:
conduct research about your potential customers for your B2B.
identify key strategies and messaging
to execute the marketing strategy of a marketing campaign
reach business goals.
This type of virtual partnership is more collaborative and engaged than traditional marketing agencies.
4 Transparent marketing for Web3
The decentralization of data, the foundation of blockchains and the metaverse are characteristics of a new upcoming digital era, in which users will have more control than companies.
Web3 will lead to:
more transparent marketing
virtual experiences
Community building
Zero-party data* is "Data that customers share with companies".
With zero-party data, a B2B needs to give a B2B customer what they want and need to make a sale. Content marketing stays important, but personalisation through authentic communication between the brand and consumers is starting to become increasingly important.
5 Branding with purpose
With increasing inflation and rising product and service prices, B2B customers do not simply buy. B2B customers need to trust you before they will buy from you, and they need to know you and your brand's story to be able to build trust.
Trust no longer only is limited to providing B2B customers with a quality product or service. They want to trust your purpose, the reason you exist and do business needs to align with their personal values. People trust B2B brands that provide quality services and are branding with a purpose.
A B2B brand needs to:
demonstrate empathy and authenticity
be inclusive
be self-aware and humble to admit their shortcomings.
improve what they do, how they treat their employees and serve the community.
6 B2B Influencer Marketing
Customers are increasingly emphasizing a brand's reputation and values. This has given rise to B2B influencer marketing.
B2B Influencer Marketing helps to:
increase trust and engagement on social platforms.
People want honest, straightforward, and advice from influencers they trust.
7 Social is the new Search Engine
When your B2B company still does not understand the importance of social media channels, chances are your company is missing out. B2B social media marketing is essential for B2Bs.
The rise of the latest social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram changed the way people process and interact with information. They focus more on video content instead of text and prefer social media channels, like TikTok and Instagram as their search engine.
Customers use social media to do their research and discuss the pros and cons of a brand, product, or service with others online.
Social Media platforms help to:
increase B2B user-generated content (UGC) to influence buyer decisions.
replace traditional search engines.
Social media searches look for user-generated content- not a company website- to learn about a B2B product, service, or brand.
B2B marketers can help businesses to thrive, if:
your brand is visible on social
you focus on helping your customers with information
ask questions to B2B customers and answer questions
learn through social listening about their concerns and ideas
Understanding the top 7 B2B digital marketing trends for 2023 is the first step to a successful business year. Implementing these trends into your next year’s marketing campaign strategy is the next. Need help with your B2B marketing strategy for 2023? Contact us.
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