The merger fever that started at the end of 2012 with Oracle’s acquisition of Eloqua spilled over into 2013, with Salesforce’s purchase of ExactTarget and Oracle continuing to fill out its Marketing Cloud with acquisitions of Compendium and Responsys. Not to mention Marketo’s IPO, causing many observers to speculate that it was also a takeover target.
But acquisitions weren’t the only thing on the minds of B2B marketers this year. They continued to soak up information about content marketing, social, sales enablement and account-based marketing, to name a few of the hot topics this year.
We count down the top 15 stories from Demand Gen Report this year:
15. Marketing Technologists Play Pivotal Role In Move To Data-Driven Marketing
The delineation between marketing and IT continues to become more fluid as data analytics and advanced technologies drive marketing strategies. The role of marketers has grown beyond simply generating leads to pass on to sales, so there is an essential need to understand how technology fits into the new-look marketing department. Marketing departments continue to look for ways to get projects accomplished without having to waiting in line with other departments for the attention of IT.
14. Navigating Gartner’s Digital Marketing Transit Map
Gartner’s new digital marketing transit map generated a lot of buzz this summer, as savvy B2B marketers are looking for innovative ways to navigate the new marketing landscape, especially when it comes to their relationships with IT and other departments. This struck a chord with marketers, as one of the hurdles of marketing technology is that most organizations have acquired much of their technologies individually, so there is no plan in place regarding how they will connect. The map was developed to help facilitate communication between marketing and IT.
13. Marketers Search For Alternatives To Google Keyword Analytics
Google Keyword Analytics have become the lifeblood for many marketers, so it was not surprising that panic set among some B2B marketers when Google stopped providing keyword analytics. This is still an issue for some as they grapple with a bit of withdrawal from these often relied-upon statistics, and we expect 2014 to be a year when many are still seeking ways to direct online traffic to their web sites.
12. Webinar Registration Remains A Big Challenge For Marketers
Webinars remain a key touch point for generating leads, especially at the top of the funnel. But marketers continue to hone their promotional strategies and content to seek better attendance rates. Since about 40% to 50% of registrants actually attend the live webinar, many are looking for ways to drive attendance with better, more engaging formats and content.
11. Study Reveals Tracking Lifecycle Of Current Customers a Key Priority
While an important part of the job of any B2B marketer is generating new leads, a key component of successful marketing strategy is understanding the entire lifecycle of existing customers, as the Demand Gen Report study, titled: The Next Generation Of Customer Lifecycle Marketing, revealed. When marketers discuss their lifecycle marketing priorities, one item in particular stands out: According to the study, 68% said that identifying their most loyal and valuable customers is a top priority. Another 49% said that they are very focused on capturing and integrating customer data, while 43% said that personalizing customer communications is a top action item. As marketers are increasingly pressured to provide results, many will be looking to their current customer databases to improve their campaign results.
10. Vertical Industry Marketing Gains Momentum But Requires A Learning Curve
B2B buyers increasingly expect more personalized messaging, and this means speaking to their pain points and the intricacies of their particular industries. The marketers who can do that successfully will come out on top, so clearly this is an area they want to learn more about. However, it is evident that vertical industry marketing does take some effort and learning.
9. Sales Enablement In The Spotlight As Pressure Builds To Convert More Leads
It is a reality for B2B marketers that their job goes beyond throwing leads over the wall to sales. It is no longer a question of how many leads marketing can generate, but how they can provide the right content and other resources to sales to ensure that as many leads as possible turn into deals. The pressure for sales-marketing alignment is only expected to increase, so we will be revisiting this topic often in the coming year.
8. The Salesforce.com-ExactTarget Mega-Deal: The End Of The Road For Stand-Alone Marketing?
Clearly, Salesforce is intent on adding to its marketing cloud by bringing a number of applications — email, mobile, social, web and marketing automation — into a single location, as it made clear at this year’s Dreamforce when it introduced its revamped marketing hub. The marketing cloud also is designed to provide a consolidated view of every customer, help businesses manage the customer journey and optimize content for every device. While marketing automation firms such as Marketo, Act-On and Silverpop remain independent, some analysts say they will continue to find it more difficult. Marketo found this out as it was taken off the public portion of the Salesforce app exchange, which is a huge source of leads for many companies.
7. Having A Change Of Heart About Demand Generation
Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for Corporate Visions, captured the attention of many readers with his column urging marketers to view themselves as agents of change. “As a marketer, you aren’t really in the business of demand generation. You’re actually in the business of ‘change generation,’” he wrote. “Every day, you’re asking your target audience to reconsider their current situation and look at doing something different. In effect, lead management is actually more like change management. At the core of what you are doing, the most important issue is changing the behavior of people.”
6. Account-Based Marketing Creates Personalized Engagement
B2B marketers have traditionally been charged with generating volume — the more leads, the better the campaign and department were performing. But in the past year, account-based marketing has captured the interest of marketers looking for a more personalized approach to marketing by honing in on a smaller number of key accounts. The strategy has been talked about at many trade shows this past year, and will likely be a key tactic explored by many in 2014.
5. LinkedIn Exec Shares Strategies For Social Selling
LinkedIn remains a key social network for B2B marketers, so this story and webinar with Koka Sexton clearly hit on many of the themes important to B2B marketers — social selling, demand generation and sales-marketing alignment.
4. The New Rules Of SEO: Quality Content Gets A Lead Role In The Hunt For Sear Engine Relevance
In a world where B2B buyers are increasingly likely to use search as the first step in their research, understanding how to improve a brand’s search rankings is more important than ever.B2B marketers walk a fine line when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. Buyers are continuing to do a vast amount of their research before engaging with sales, so marketers still seek an edge when it comes to being found online.
3. Twitter’s New Lead Gen Cards Appeal To B2B Marketers
Savvy B2B marketers know that social media is key to their marketing strategies, but they are always struggling with justifying social media as a lead generation tool. This new Twitter lead gen card feature generated a lot of buzz as it enables B2B marketers to collect leads directly within the tweet. This elevates Twitter’s status as a lead generation tool and captures information seamlessly for those prospects who are reluctant to fill out lengthy forms.
2. 10 Ways That Sales Benefits From Marketing Automation
It is no longer a matter of the sales team using one system — usually the CRM — and the marketing team using the marketing automation system. Chris Hardeman, VP of Sales for Act-On Software, made the case in this column that marketing automation serves as a sales enabler to help identify, nurture, approach and close new sales. There was a great deal of discussion n 2013 of aligning CRM and marketing automation systems, and it is expected to remain a hot topic in the coming year.
1. Content Survey: Trust Is A Make-Or-Break Issue For Today’s Buyers
Buyers continue to rely on content — all types of content — as they move from research to decision. One thing has not changed is that they want content that informs rather than simply sells, especially at the top of the funnel. B2B marketers continue to seek the right balance and types of content as they look to drive more prospects through the funnel, but a recurring theme from buyers is that they want more than just a sales pitch and a data sheet. They want trustworthy information that is relevant to their company, their industry and their role.
