Smash the Competition With These B2B Marketing Trends

Are you gearing up for your annual marketing planning process? If you’re feeling a little behind the curve, or like you’re always playing catch-up, never fear! We’ve got the latest and greatest B2B marketing trends to help you smash the competition. Check out our top picks for 2022, and get ready to take your business to new heights. Whether you’re looking to up your social media game, rethink your content strategy, or try some new lead gen tactics, we’ve got something for everyone.

B2B marketing is a process that requires quite a bit of strategic planning. You can’t just expect conversions to happen overnight; a well-thought-out plan is essential to the foundation of your marketing campaign. B2B organizations need to be especially diligent in their planning because of the complex sale cycles – often, multiple decision-makers are involved, and there is a longer timeline from initial awareness to final purchase.

With technology evolving at lightning speed, so are trends, especially in marketing. In this article, @RedBranch will list the top #marketingtrends that will be sure to knock out your competition: Share on X

How well thought out your marketing campaign is can make or break your organization’s ability to gain new clients and seek prospects within your industry. With technology evolving at lightning speed, so are trends, especially in marketing. Jumping on these trends can provide the extra boost your campaign needs to successfully knock out your competitors.

To be successful, B2B marketers need to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate industry trends. This can be a daunting task, but it’s essential to the success of the campaign. Jumping on these trends can provide the extra boost your campaign needs to successfully knock out your competitors. Of course, you can’t expect favorable outcomes if you’re not anticipating and adapting to these trends.

Now more than ever, it’s pivotal to differentiate your organization and deliver a personal yet informative campaign to your target audience. In this article, we outline the latest B2B marketing trends and what you should be incorporating into your next campaign to ensure success.

Selling With Social

B2B marketing has always been about building relationships. And in today’s digital world, social media provides the perfect platform to nurture those relationships. Through social media, B2B marketers can connect with their target audience in a way that is informal, interactive, and engaging. Additionally, social media gives B2B marketers a unique opportunity to showcase the personality of their brand and build deeper connections with their target audience. As the world of B2B marketing continues to evolve, social media will become an increasingly critical part of any successful marketing campaign.

Most would assume that engaging on more social media platforms means more views and a larger audience. But this isn’t necessarily true.

When it comes to adapting to new platforms like behemoth player TikTok, you need to think about who your audience is and the benefits of being present on this platform. In reality, less is more, and it’s more important to be successful on a few platforms than overextending your reach.

Overextending your reach risks delivering content that isn’t relevant to the platforms’ audience and is low quality. On the other hand, more outlets mean more upkeep, and you need to be conscious about how frequently you share on each platform to form a balance.

Aside from what platforms your organization decides to prioritize, appearance and creativity are also at the top of the list for critical factors.

In 2022, we have seen a massive rise in animated graphics or gifs and short videos. Adding a graphic with animation allows your post to stand out on users’ timelines. As for short videos, Instagram Reels have taken the industry by storm. Instagram has stated that it’s transitioning to an entertainment app, prioritizing video content over images. There is where Reels come into play.

This new feature allows B2B marketers to advertise in a short video format. Why utilize Reels in your marketing efforts? This feature extends past your following base, increasing your reach. On average, Reels receive 22% more engagement than regular Instagram video posts, not bad eh? Utilizing these two trends to your advantage will ensure your posts and platforms are impossible to miss.

DYK that ad placement and audience targeting are the top optimization tactics used by advertisers today. Discover more of the latest #marketingtrends in @RedBranch’s latest: Share on X

Attracting With Advertising

As mentioned in the last section, new ways to advertise are catching the attention of marketers. Gone are the days of solely relying on SEO and Facebook and LinkedIn advertising.

While these approaches can be effective if implemented strategically, there are additional outlets worth considering, such as Google, Amazon, and Bing ads. A 2020 study found that Facebook was responsible for a quarter of all digital ad spending (25%) versus Google (28.9%), Amazon (10.3%), and others (35.6%).

Ad placement and audience targeting are the top optimization tactics used by advertisers today. Whatever route you take, these are all effective types of ads depending on your end goal, conversions, lead generation, etc. It is important to note that advertising is not one size fits all; you will have to adjust and evaluate the campaign over time to meet your set KPIs.

However, it’s not all about digital ads. In fact, we’re starting to see a rise in the return of traditional advertising. According to Harvard Business Review,  “a HubSpot survey found that 57% of participants disliked ads that played before a video and 43% didn’t even watch them.”

This information has forced marketers to find a different approach, considering that many users deem digital ads as less trustworthy than traditional advertising methods (print, mail, television, etc.).

Something else to consider is personalization, which ties in with content. Ads that evoke a particular emotion or hook consumers to the content will see a higher success rate. Another factor is the length. In general, the rule of thumb is to keep it “short and sweet.” Too much copy risks leaving your audience feeling overwhelmed, and the same goes for the copy on your graphic.

In addition to your typical ad format, there has been, you guessed it, a rise in animated and short video ads on social platforms. For a while, a single image ad or carousel ads were the go-to methods for marketers, but that is in the past. Using animated images or videos in your ads creates the visual experience that your audience wants and will be sure to catch their attention.

Craving Content

Now more than ever, marketers are investing in content marketing. 82% report actively using content marketing, up from 70% last year. What’s more, is that more than 60% of marketers report using sales to measure the strength and effectiveness of their content strategies. Content is your best friend if you want to drive more traffic and sales; after all, they say that content is king.

B2B marketing is all about creating content that helps your audience solve their problems. Whether it’s helpful blog posts, informative guides, or even just a simple FAQ page, B2B marketers need to focus on creating content that is worth their audience’s time. After all, 47% of buyers view three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep, so you need to make sure that your content stands out from the crowd.

At Red Branch, we like to call content the art of storytelling. We believe that the best B2B content is informative and engaging, and tells a story that your audience will want to hear. So if you’re looking to create B2B content that will stand out from the crowd, remember to focus on delivering information that your audience will find useful. The majority of prospects expect brands to create content to gain their interest. Give the people what they want!

Circling back to driving traffic and sales, the content you deliver puts you on the chart with your competition. A great way to sell authenticity is to add statistics and sources, giving them the credibility they crave.

Not on the content train just yet? A recent study showed that 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s effective, and 10% say it generates the most significant return on investment.

Conclusion

So, how do you stay ahead of the curve? How can your business make sure it’s on top of all the latest trends and technologies when they seem to change every other day? The answer is simple- you don’t have to do everything. You can’t be good at everything, nor should you try to be.

But what you can do is focus on what makes your company unique, focus on what sets you apart from the competition. And then find a marketing partner that knows how to help amplify those strengths. That’s where Red Branch Media comes in- we know social media, we know SEO, and most importantly, we know how to help businesses like yours succeed online.

Marketing Statistics for the Road:

Strategizing With Social Media:

Top platforms:

• As of January 2021, Facebook was the top used social media platform among marketers globally at 93%.
• The second most popular platform used by marketers is Instagram at 78%.
• Over half of marketers plan to increase their investment in TikTok.
• More than half of U.S. marketers were projected to start using LinkedIn in 2022.

Demographics:

• As of January 2022, there are 3.96 billion total social media users across all platforms.
• 41% of all Facebook users are ages 45+.
• More than half of global Instagram users are under the age of 35.
• 38.5% of Twitter users worldwide are between 25-34 years old.
• 82% of Snapchat users are under the age of 35.
• 59.1% of all LinkedIn users worldwide are between 25-34 years old.

Fast Facts On Digital Ad Conversion:

• Google accounted for 56.8% of search advertising revenue in the United States as of March 2021. Amazon followed with a search ad revenue share of 19%, while Microsoft, Verizon Media, and Yelp completed the top five with a respective 5.3, 1.3, and 1.2%. (Statista)
• 70% of people have bought a product after seeing it in a YouTube ad. (Google)
• The average conversion rate on Amazon is 9.87%. (Ad Badger)

Shocking Stats On the CTR of Digital Ads:

• Why do people click on paid ads? Because they answer a question (33%), mention a familiar brand (26%), are listed before other results (20%), or because they have a compelling title, description, or image (19%) (Clutch)
• Google Ads results receive 65% of the clicks that started with buying keywords, while organic results only receive 35% (Askmedigi)

Additional Resources:

• Leveraging SEO For A Better User Experience
• The Essential Variables For The Perfect Social Post
• Email Marketing Strategy And Tips For Successful Campaigns In Business

Need help with your marketing game plan? Red Branch Media has your back! Explore our wide range of agency services.