Uncovering 2015 B2B Marketing Trends and Challenges

As the spread of digital media and mobile technology continues to transform the B2B buying process, integration of the latest B2B marketing technologies and tools into a seamless cross-channel marketing strategy has never been more critical to driving revenue and growth. The companies that fail to focus on digital channels—particularly interactive communication channels like social networks and blogging—may struggle to retain customers, inspire conversions, and win new sales.

Engage, Educate, Entice, Evangelize, and Evaluate

Sparked with innovation in emerging manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing and robotic manufacturing, along with a strong commitment from the government to bring back “Made in America,” the manufacturing sector in the U.S. has entered an exciting new phase of opportunities.

Building a Digital Powerhouse

Since the turn of the 21st century, industrial marketing, or marketing for manufacturers had been in a continual state of evolution. The days of putting an ad in the Yellow Pages and picking up the phone to do cold-calling are far less in number, if not over. Industrial marketing has a new look, dynamic vibe, and gets real results.  

Read Up ... The Rules of Industrial Marketing for Manufacturers Have Changed!

Nestled in a dingy grey industrial area, old cobblestone streets mapping the way for imposing brick buildings with smoke billowing out of high stack chimneys; laborers bustling about, operating heavy machinery—this is a clichéd, exaggerated, and very retro depiction of the industrial and manufacturing sector. In reality, this sector has undergone a period of drastic modernization within the past decades, accompanied by rapid innovation, growth, and boom.

Think about a consumer brand that caught your attention recently. It may have evoked a positive response, humor, or welcomed nostalgia. It is highly likely that many brand names popped up in your head.

There is an old expression, “Use a picture, it’s worth a thousand words”, first expressed by Arthur Brisbane to the Syracuse Advertising Men’s club, in March 1911. Numerous studies have backed that visual content holds superiority over verbal content when it comes to conveying a lot of information quickly and succinctly. It stimulates a perceptual and emotional response among viewers that ultimately influence their purchase behavior. We are now surrounded by visual images – from smart phones, web pages, TV screens, tablets, and other mobile devices. As ProfessorPaul Martin Lester points out in “Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication”, “we are becoming a visually mediated society… For many, understanding of the world is being accomplished, not through reading words, but by reading images”. In this high-tech era where visual imagery is not just confined to images; social networking sites, info graphics, blogs/vlogs, online videos, games, 3D movies and so forth take visual stimulation to another level. Over the past few years, content marketing has developed into part of the marketing strategy of B2B companies. Business to Business marketers are using blog post with images and video, or webinars containing audio and images. There is an upward trend in content marketing toward all things visual.  Relevant findings from industry reports and trends have supported this claim –

At Grant Marketing, we like to stay ahead of the curve and that’s also the reason why we spend a great deal of time researching, monitoring current marketing trends, gathering consumer insights and pushing beyond this to deliver customized marketing solutions. This year we bring the concept of marketing automation into our zeitgeist. Although it is an evolving concept that many companies particularly in the B2B space are still grappling to acquire the right knowledge in order to leverage this technology to its full potential which exists today. This blog aims to impart a degree of understanding on the importance of embarking on a marketing automation journey for B2B, as there is a general consensus now more than ever, the value of marketing automation capabilities needs to be understood by both small and medium-sized B2B to large enterprises.

As mentioned in our previous blog, B2B companies are slowly and steadily dipping their toes in the social media water, and rightly so. But there is another storm brewing in the present digital ecosystem, which is integrating mobile into the current B2B marketing mix. According to Forrester Research report for 2012, “By 2016, smart phones and tablets will put power in the pockets of a billion global consumers, and mobile is the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement”. This power shift is compelling not only for B2C companies to pay attention to mobile marketing, but B2B companies are also waking up to the innumerable opportunities, this evolving and interactive “touch point” can offer them.