Five B2B marketing trends to watch

During 2013, B2B marketers will be confronted by new opportunities too great to be ignored. We see five trends that will offer exciting potential for those who harness their power. At Tiziani Whitmyre, we’re aggressively leveraging these new directions to support our client’s marketing programs.

1. Successful CMOs master four key areas: We believe that chief marketing officers (CMOs) will grasp four key competencies in the coming year to be effective.First, they will fully commit to measuring marketing ROI and productivity. This means investing in tactics that can generate a measurable return on investment. It also includes incorporating metrics that measure marketing output and outcomes in financial terms; then tracking these metrics to optimize performance.Second, they must drive innovation throughout the marketing function. CMOs should continuously explore and embrace new technologies and approaches that heighten the customer experience, optimize processes, and fuel sales growth.Third, marketing leaders will become more adept at employing digital channels. As marketing moves almost entirely online, the effective understanding of digital tools, networks, and analytics is essential to build high-performance processes that support revenue expansion.Finally, as budgets and resources remain static, CMOs must initiate highly efficient processes that build brands, generate leads, and internalize the voice of the customer. More productive business practices will boost marketing performance, save money, and optimize resources.
2. The revenue generation process gains traction: Marketing strategy has moved beyond lead generation to demand creation and revenue generation. These new approaches give marketing a much greater responsibility for strategies and tactics that not only acquire prospects, but qualify and nurture them to sales conversion. It recognizes that the marketing team must own “out of period” revenue while the sales team owns “in-period” revenue. And it transitions marketing leaders from building initiatives around activities to creating strategies focused on business outcomes. The revenue generation process consists of six steps:
   • Content development
   • Promotion
   • Web-to-lead conversion
   • Lead qualification and nurturing
   • Lead scoring and sales conversion
   • Analytics and measurement

   Most of us have adopted some of these steps in our marketing programs. Collaborating with sales, best-practice teams will now implement the entire process to dramatically accelerate revenue growth.

3. Brands become “publishers:” Developing content (white papers, applications briefs, videos, Webinars) that is highly valuable and relevant to your prospects is a central element in the revenue generation process (see above). As B2B brands immerse themselves in this approach, they will take on the characteristics of publishers. This means marketing teams will need “editors-in-chief” who can develop editorial calendars, identify topics and subject-matter experts, oversee content creation, and manage budgets and deadlines.
4. Mobile becomes a must-do B2B marketing opportunity: Today, Smart phones and tablets have penetrated over 50% of the market. And now, we’re using their powerful capabilities on the job. Tiziani Whitmyre’s e-mail marketing analytics indicate that up to 30% of recipients are viewing their e-mail on mobile devices.Unlocking the power of these tools will be a critical opportunity for B2B marketers. In the year ahead, consider developing a mobile strategy for your business. Identify tactics in your marketing process where you can reach prospects and customers through their mobile devices. These might include tailored content, app development, mobile advertising, social media, and e-mail marketing.
5. Lead nurturing and scoring come of age: While most B2B marketers have dabbled in lead nurturing and scoring, these strategies will become ingrained at many companies during 2013 (see above). As content libraries expand, B2B marketers will have the resources to mount sustained campaigns that engage prospects with relevant, high-value information. Lead nurturing offers the opportunity to engage with buyers in the early, formative stages of their buying cycles. It helps develop a personal relationship that will shape the purchasing process and accelerate sales outcomes. Lead scoring technology enables marketers to track and assign values to a prospect’s digital behavior, role in the buying process, and stage of the purchasing process. The score is calculated in real time and can signal when the prospect is ready for sales closure. Our clients who have implemented successful lead nurturing and scoring programs have experienced shorter sales cycles, higher closing ratios, less discounting, and more revenue per transaction.

Read our management brief on these B2B marketing trends.