Introduction
In today’s followup to our B2B trends post for 2022, we look ahead4 years to 2023. Many people don’t like thinking about what 2018 will be like as it is still 2017, but taking a look at where B2B marketing is heading in 4 short years can help you better plan and revise your current strategies. In the last article, we discussed how market intelligence tools would become more common and important, including how they would work with machine learning and AI tools. I’ve also done a post on advanced routing platforms if you’re after learning more about that area of technology.
Automate with Chatbots
In the next few years, chatbots will become an integral part of your business. But what is a chatbot? It’s a computer program that communicates with customers through text or voice commands. They’re used for everything from providing customer service to browsing websites and completing transactions.
Chatbots have made it easier than ever for businesses to automate certain processes while connecting with their customers in ways that weren’t possible before. When you use a chatbot, you’ll no longer have to wait on hold or enter long phone numbers into your phone just to get help with something like canceling an account or checking on shipping information—you can do it all right there on your phone!
We’ve found some of the best tools out there for automating B2B processes so that you can focus more on growing your company by offering high-quality products and services rather than spending time responding individually to each customer query yourself (which isn’t always possible).
Improve Your Sales Funnel
To improve your sales funnel, you need to first understand that there are two main parts of a sales funnel:
● The top portion is composed of prospects who have never heard of you or your product. They are in the Research stage.
● The bottom portion is made up of people who have already bought from you and continue to purchase regularly. They are in the Loyalty stage.
The steps between these two portions can be broken down into five stages: Awareness, Consideration, Preference, Decision and Loyalty (A-C-P-D-L). You need to identify which stage each prospect is currently at so that they can be directed appropriately through their journey towards becoming an active customer (A-C)
Create Video Content
Video is a powerful tool for B2B businesses. It helps you capture leads, build brand awareness and increase sales.
To leverage the full potential of video, you should create different content types. Here are some ideas:
● Product explainer videos that highlight the features and benefits of your products or services
● Introductory videos (e.g., how to do something)
● How-to videos (e.g., how to use a product)
● Case studies showing how customers have improved their business by using your product or service
Leverage AR and VR
AR and VR are the future of marketing, so it’s important to know how they work.
AR stands for augmented reality, which is basically a more advanced version of what we have now with smartphones. It overlays digital information on top of real life objects (like this). It can be used to create a more immersive experience, solve problems and create personalized or interactive experiences.
VR stands for virtual reality and it allows you to immerse yourself into another world completely by putting on a headset that blocks out everything else around you (like this). You can do much more with VR than AR since it blocks out all external stimuli instead of simply adding new information onto something already existing in the real world.Use Social Messaging Apps
Social messaging apps are one of the best ways to engage with your customers. They’re also a great way to reach them on their phones, which is something that many B2B businesses are doing less and less of these days—but should be doing more.
Social messaging apps help you build relationships with customers, which means they’re a powerful tool for acquiring new leads and customers as well!
Leverage Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a great way to get your brand in front of the right audience. Influencers have built trust with their audiences and can be thought leaders, celebrities, or even regular people. However you choose to use influencers, they’re a powerful tool that can help you build awareness for your brand and increase sales.
Before deciding on an influencer marketing strategy, think about what you hope to accomplish by using these people. If it’s all about getting more followers for your company page on Facebook or Twitter (which isn’t the best way for companies to build engagement), we recommend focusing on paid advertising instead of choosing influencers who might not engage with their audience as well as you’d like them to do so because they were paid off by another company already – which defeats the purpose of spending money on advertising!
Use Long-Form Content
In the future, long-form content will be the best way for B2B companies to engage with their audiences. Long-form content has a number of benefits over short-form, including:
● It’s more engaging than short-form content. People are naturally drawn to longer stories because they’re more interesting and complex. They also make it easier for readers to connect with the brand because they provide a sense of community (i.e., “I read this whole story!”).
● Long form can build trust through storytelling and transparency. Being able to tell an entire story in one place helps you connect with your audience on an emotional level by allowing them into your world or business process in a way that’s rarely possible with shorter formats like blog posts or tweets alone—and this increases trust between brands/companies and consumers overall too!
● Long form is more likely than other types of media like Facebook Instant Articles where users don’t have full control over what appears next according to where they click on each page within those first few seconds after opening up their browser window before moving onto something else entirely different instead.”
As digital technology keeps advancing, B2B businesses should stay on top of the latest trends to be competitive and profitable.
As digital technology keeps advancing, B2B businesses should stay on top of the latest trends to be competitive and profitable.
One way to do this is by using a digital marketing automation platform that allows you to customize your campaigns with advanced targeting tools.
As a B2B business, you know how important it is to connect with your audience. You want to convert leads into customers, and close sales. You can also choose solution providers like SocialEpoch which provides social selling solutions for B2B businesses to scale and grow.
Conclusion
This industry is one of the most competitive in the world. In order to make it in this niche, you need to be up to speed with other companies that are looking to expand. A Business leader reading this article should be able to come up with their own set of strategies and tools according to their company’s needs, no matter what year a particular business is in.
