📰 Everyone Gather Round, Forbes Has Something to Say
There’s no doubt that over the last few years, the B2B marketing landscape has taken on gradual yet noticeable, significant changes: AI, automation, Web3, LinkedIn – it’s a jungle out there, but no one ever said they weren’t expecting it. Apparently, 2023 is set to be a very important year for B2B marketing according to multiple people. Forbes, Marketing Week, and The B2B Institute for LinkedIn’s Peter Weinberg and Jon Lombardo all seem to agree, but why?
Well, according to a report published by TechNavio in December 2022, Artificial Intelligence was forecast to see a compound annual growth of 21% from 2020 to 2025. This puts 2023 in a rather interesting and pivotal position, because spending in the U.S. is approaching $15 billion on digital advertising, and as B2B seems to have more competition than ever before, Dee Blohm at Forbes reckons that ‘2023 is likely to mark the first breakout B2B marketing campaigns on connected TV (CTV), dramatic improvements in the use of data, and unique new approaches that marry online and offline into a new buyer journey.’
🛍️ Taking a Leaf From B2C’s Book
It’s not that the world of B2B understands marketing any less than B2C, it’s just that they’ve had more time and more opportunities to master it. The marketing world in general seems to adore B2C’s marketing, and rightly so; as Weinberg and Lombardo point out, we love to talk about ads from Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Rice Crispies and all the others, but when it comes to B2B, no one wants to acknowledge it all that much.
One thing that needs to be implemented in the B2B marketing world is the notion of ‘memorability’. If you were asked to think up a famous advert in your head, you might have thought of the John Lewis or Coca-Cola ads, both B2C brands!
But can you think, from the top of your head, any real memorable B2B ads? Difficult, isn’t it? In 2023, that’s all about to change. As we garner more data and analytics, as our AI technologies grow and develop, B2C may just remain in the past as our legacy. They already take advantage of and lean into their own first-party data to target audiences more effectively, and there’s absolutely no reason B2B can’t do the same!
If we were to look at our audiences’ identities and really target them with laser-like precision, we’d be unstoppable. We could even take tips from one David Allison of Valuegraphics and look at how our values as people can help us pinpoint more accurate market targeting.
📅 C’mon 2023
So, what’s the point in all of this? Well, in 2023 we’re going to have to hit the B2B industry with better, more thoughtful marketing than ever before. The future of the economic landscape is uncertain, and as Blohm at Forbes points out, ‘B2B marketers should be open to testing tactics that could have a material impact on sales, especially if they aren’t particularly difficult to implement.’
We have so many new tools at our disposal, and we’re at the tipping point of it all; we’re making our way through the looking glass, and we need to prepare. A.I. and the large hoards of data we have at our disposal are all just sitting there, waiting to be utilised. There is, quite literally, no excuse to not use them. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind and be left in the dirt whilst everyone else is thriving.
Those who thrive are the ones who embrace change, whilst those who stagnate are the ones that refuse to even dip their toe into it.
Sam Hollis is a Writer for Fame, SaaS Marketer, as well as his own fictional short stories. He lives and works in Birmingham with his three cats and his dog (way too many pets, if you ask us)