B to B Marketing Trends for 2013

Each new marketing year brings a reflection on the past and a look at ways to improve during the months ahead. Predictions abound, so it is incumbent on us as marketers to sort out the most useful and promising information. What we are seeing so far includes a more strategic use of social media, more focus on mobility, and a new level of precision in content management.

Repurposing Social Media
Content Marketing was among the big buzzwords for 2012 and content distribution via social media the focus. According to Eloqua, “In 2012 87% of marketers used social media to distribute content.” This is a sharp rise from the previous year.

During the coming year it is predicted that marketers will refine this strategy and focus more on driving interaction with the right target audience – not simply disseminating relevant content. When it comes to social media the mantra Content is King will transform to Interaction is King. Listen to what Brian Brown of Silverpop has to say about it:

[VIDEO GOES HERE]

More Focus on B2B Mobile
BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, is fast becoming a prerequisite for the workplace, and more employees are connecting their smartphones and tablets to the company network every day. However, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau, a large percentage of businesses still do not have mobile friendly sites. In 2013 more businesses will be using responsive design to launch fully mobile optimized versions of their sites for smartphones and tablets. If only for competitive parity, mobile platforms for websites and cloud applications will become mandatory.

Increased Adoption of Content Management Tools
“Big Data” is only going to get bigger. Strategies to reach a more precise target audience may include:

Enhanced social media presence
Increase timed emails in the funnel
More advertising in the mobile environment
All of this translates to more available data coming in than ever before.
This will lead marketers to look for programs that can manage and effectively analyze this increased data, effectively converting it into measurable ROI.

Direct Mail Marketing Will Increase
No one is saying that direct mail will return to what it was before the digital age, but it will increase in 2013 because of the digital age. There is so much “noise” out there that limited, carefully crafted and highly targeted direct mail campaigns—with timed follow up—will bring high percentage results and easily measured ROI.

Stronger Alignment with Sales
The digital interaction and content marketing initiatives of marketing departments are moving the sale farther down the funnel than ever before. Marketing will align even more with sales. Increased visibility into key tasks such as lead generation and offer management will result in the need for closer cooperation with the sales team.

Engaging a precisely targeted audience through a more dynamic management of content will be one of the keys to marketing success in the coming year.