As the onslaught of emerging trends in our rapidly changing marketing landscape continues, a little expert foresight can lead to a significant strategic edge. That’s why, at the start of every new year, we look forward to seeing what the respected soothsayers of B2B Marketing are predicting and ideally gain some adept insights to help inform our client’s plans. Here are a few of the 2020 trends topping our to-do list along with some practical and successful applications.
Incorporating Sensory Elements To Heighten Brand Experience
According to Forbes, “Experience marketing in 2020 is going to be even bigger and better than it was in 2019.”
Placing the importance of the customer experience at the forefront, sensory marketing is a powerful method for B2B marketers to create meaningful and compelling interactions with customers, especially when B2B buyers desire more and more the type of experiences they receive as B2C customers.
Plus, incorporating sensory elements into your marketing strategies, to create highly memorable and shareable experiences is accessible for many businesses. For example, Forbes acknowledges how the Museum of Ice Cream and GE’s Healthymagination initiative successfully tap into the senses and embrace what technology has to offer to create long-term, meaningful relationships with their audiences.
“While brands may be well-versed in engaging sight and sound, branching out into smell, taste, and touch can offer new ways for your customers to interact with your brand, as well as make those experiences much more memorable.”
We discovered this last year with the successful Direct Mailer campaign we created for insightsoftware. Engaging, most of the senses, the mailer did not only include a sweet treat in a visually appealing package, but it also solidified a memorable brand experience.
Moats Will Almost Be Non-Existent, Other Than Brands
Branding, Neil Patel predicts, will be the most reliable way you protect your business in 2020 and well into the future. “It’s the best moat you can build in marketing.”
From the smallest detail to the larger picture, your brand must remain unmistakably recognizable to your consumers. It’s that recognition that will continually set you apart from your competition. Customers prefer to participate with brands that have been set in their memory. If they don’t remember you, they will then choose a familiar alternative.
A prime example of the power of branding is how McDonald’s still dominates the fast-food market even after Consumer Reports listed McDonald’s hamburgers as the worst tasting of 21 major fast-food chains.
According to Patel, “B2B companies that fail to focus on their brand and market it effectively are essentially neglecting their future and their clients. Your name, reputation, or brand could be the only factors preventing your clientele from leaving you. Or worse, it could be what’s driving them to look for other options.” It’s why the larger B2B businesses, like IBM, GE, and Microsoft, prioritize investing in branding campaigns. Consumer retention is essential to help them maintain their competitive edge.
At Bloom, we encourage smart branding for all of our clients. When a company has a reliable brand, it not only makes it easier for the marketing, sales, product, and technology teams to do their real work, but it also helps the company provide better experiences to their consumers. And it is with that focus on customer experience we helped DAI re-define their brand in the aviation industry.
Refining Content Marketing Efforts
Inc., Forbes, and Hubspot all agree that content is still the king of the castle and will continue to be in 2020 — because content converts. In fact, according to research by Hubspot, 41% of marketing budgets were spent solely on content in 2019. However, quality over quantity and more diverse content are predicted to be consumer favorites. For example, 70% of B2B buyers research their potential purchases by watching a video. And, even though Google is ranking video content higher than text-based content now, blogging or longer forms of written content remain vital contributors to driving visibility and strong SEO. Also, marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.
So determining the type of content that will drive your visitors to engage, cultivate conversions and improve your brand should continue to be a top priority in 2020.
Here’s a recent marketing campaign we executed for insightsoftware that is successfully driving visibility to their business.
Have a B2B marketing objective you’d like to see come to fruition in 2020? Let‘s talk!
