The only constant in the realm of digital marketing is CHANGE. Ironical as it may sound, marketing principles are always on their toes, shedding skeletons and evolving to a better version. If the marketing predictions are correct, 2021 will be a big year for B2B brands. If 2020 hasn’t been your year due to the raging pandemic, this year might be.
But success doesn’t come easy.
To continue your quest for success, you need to grow out the old fads and replace them with relevant trends to stay ahead in the race. But what are the search marketing tricks to absorb this year and which ones to pass?
Read on to find more about the most important trends that will be synonymous with success.
8 B2B Marketing Tricks for Advertisers to Tap Into
As we usher in the year of “new normal”, it is time to look at the key B2B marketing trends of search marketing that will pick up steam in 2021.Here’s a list of 8 B2B marketing trends you need to watch out for.
- Understand your demographics
All your search marketing tactics will fall flat on their face if you do not research well to find your target demographic. Therefore, your first step should be to get a precise picture of the kind of audience you want to target.
Refine your findings and concentrate on your core audience by asking these questions:
- Who do I have to cater to with “buyer personas”?
- What are the buying habits and price range of your audience?
- What are the pain points to address?
You can use “hyper-targeting” to narrow down your audience in less time and save money at the same time.
- Strategic focus paired with lean marketing
Over the last few years, customer demands have evolved thanks to new tactics, channels, and technology. As a result, marketers have tried to fit it all in, leading to a chaotic cycle. As we near the half of 2021, it is time that B2B marketers evaluate their marketing activities and focus their time and resources on one thing.
This decade should be about B2B marketers lessening the breadth of their search marketing activities and focusing on actionable insights rather than on traditional vanity metrics plagiarism checker. Therefore, the emphasis should be on marketing principles like testing and iteration.
- Heightened customer experience
We have finally arrived in the “age of the customer” where customer experience or CX is the backbone for gaining a competitive advantage over your contenders. While B2C ventured into the arena a long time ago, B2B firms are coming of age and adopting a customer-centric approach. But CX isn’t just about the customer.
For B2B brands, the focus should be on employee experience (EX) and brand experience (BX) alongside CX. Although separate functions, you can deliver a brand’s promise only when these three factors work in tandem. In 2021, more B2B firms will adopt a holistic view of experience by aligning people, processes, and programs.
- More of interactive, visual and video content
Content marketing has been a beau to search marketing for like forever, and rightfully so. While the written form of content still takes the cake, B2B brands are turning to visual and video content for better engagement and enhanced interaction.
According to Demand Gen Report, 91% of B2B consumers prefer visual and interactive content to static content. Moreover, video content takes the lion’s share of internet traffic, with the credit of increasing internet traffic by 80% resting solely on its shoulders.
To help you build a robust content strategy for your B2B business, here are some video content trends to capitalize on in 2021.
- “Snackable” videos of duration not more than 3 minutes for social media content.
- Live streaming of events to replace the over-stretched webinars
- Use of interactive infographics in the domain of visual content
- Use of motion graphics and animation to explain products and processes
- Use of micro-interactions and background videos on B2B websites
- Quizzes and online surveys via Instagram and Facebook for engagement and assessment
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning
While B2C brands have been using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for a while now, most B2B firms have failed to see its wide range of benefits. But hopefully, 2021 will witness more AI and machine learning to gain better insights and detailed analysis of business processes.
Machine learning will also bring about disruptive changes in prospect identification and hyper-targeting for B2B companies. Platforms like Mintigo and 6sense will be used to harness AI and analyze massive data sets for predictive analytics, campaign optimization and intelligent lead scoring. AI tools like Chorus can be used to analyze sales calls and get insights on how to close more successful calls.
- Personalization and hyper-targeting
With the realm of search marketing experiencing seismic shifts due to drastic changes in customer demands, B2B firms are bringing in personalization and hyper-targeting to target the right message to the right customer at the right time and through the right channel.
This year, B2B brands will take personalization and customer-centricity to the level of B2C brands like Amazon and Netflix. This would involve customizing your website content according to a user’s browsing behavior, geolocation and click-paths. Using digital campaigns for hyper-targeted and geofencing, B2B will be able to provide programmatic ads based on the target audience’s location.
- Social networks will rule
Social media is irreplaceable for all businesses, even B2B ones. With one and a half billion users active on Facebook, Zuckerberg’s brainchild is a haven for better conversions. 2021 will see the entry of B2B firms in online presence building via social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
While Instagram can be your wardrobe to a Narnia of building better brand value, it is LinkedIn that can be the treasure trove for B2B firms. Brands will also be using WhatsApp to its strength, i.e., its vast database of 1.3 billion active users. But there is a catch here. Social media algorithms are ever-changing. Therefore, B2B companies need to be very careful with their social media marketing tactics.
- Greater emphasis on website optimization
With the focus being on content marketing and client experience, most B2B firms make the mistake of deemphasizing the most valuable asset – their website! To capitalize on growth opportunities, B2B firms will experience an online renaissance in 2021.The need for SEO will remain constant, but the dynamics and rules will change. This means that marketers need to be well-rehearsed with the new regulations of the various Google Analytics tools.
With voice search dominating the customer-search scenario, the focus should be on optimizing long-tail keywords and paraphrasing tool. Other than long-tail keywords, keywords with the first-person pronoun will assignment help your content get a better ranking too. Besides SEO, the site architecture and user interface design should be focused on also for lead generation, search engine ranking and page speed optimization.
Parting thoughts,
If the predictions are made right, 2021 will bring in success like never before for B2B firms, even amid the devastating air of a looming crisis. So, make it a point to incorporate the above search marketing hacks to put your best foot forward in 2021. Here’s to the hope that this year brings you good fortune and the recognition that your efforts deserve!
And if you have any search marketing hacks to share with fellow B2B advertisers, feel free to comment in the section below.
