This blog is part of our Tech In Review: 21-22 report series. Head to the hub to access the reports, insight and analysis.
After the seismic events of 2020, 2021 brought fresh challenges to the technology market – and saw the unwelcome return of some old issues.
Our Navigating Tech Marketing report focusses on specific aspects and what they mean for you as a marketing professional. We’ve drawn key highlights from our report below.
Understanding the big picture is key to creating better campaigns with content that resonates, and strategies and tactics that drive customer behaviours.
Moreover, comms and marketing have critical roles to play in how the rest of the world perceives the tech sector.
The changing nature of B2B buying
The reality of B2B buying has become so far removed from what it involved pre-pandemic that CMOs will have to adapt significantly in 2022 to keep up.
In 2022, B2B marketing can up its game to both supercharge its marketing and empower the sales team.
Marketing has to do a lot more heavy lifting as buyers get used to a self-service sales environment, in which they can spend more time researching online before booking a sales meeting.
More information is available than ever, but consumers want to engage with brands, receiving information that is relevant to their needs.
For B2B marketers, this can be a demanding process.
Providing the assets and managing the data businesses need to increase sales, customer satisfaction and retention are all key priority areas.
Three priorities for 2022
1. Adapting to privacy expectations
Government legislation and customer demand are driving the implementation of privacy first marketing, with Apple’s 2021 Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) changes marking the ramping-up of this trend.
While surviving the new environment will re- quire a rethink of campaigns and tech stack, marketers who can adapt their approaches and build trusted brands will be able to establish closer, more beneficial relationships with their customers.
As the digital landscape becomes ever more cluttered post pandemic, aligning marketing efforts with new privacy expectation will better personalise content and experiences.
2. Bridging the trust gap
The pandemic has accelerated the slump in trust levels in institutions, politicians, and the media. Moreover, consumers now expect brands to step up, share in their values, and compensate for these failings elsewhere in society.
Marketers need to set out strong ethical frameworks for their brands and share these effectively with customers. Building need not necessarily be a big-budget activity, however; and your customers will be suspicious of activities they perceive to be ‘value-washing’.
Ensuring that businesses abide by the values they set, and being open and transparent when things go wrong, should be marketing priorities.
3. Preparing for an influx of content
As B2B buying moves online, buyers will spend more time researching before engaging with sales teams.
Consequently, marketing content is going to have to work a lot harder to guide potential buyers through the sales process. The result of this will be more brands creating more content – especially content positioned as thought leadership.
Cutting through this noise is going to re- quire marketers to create better, more varied content that will attract and retain consumer attention as they research.
Thought leadership must convey striking, original viewpoints and be strategically positioned so that it stays afloat in a sea of similar opinions.
For all our marketing insights, analysis and actions, download the report below.
