B2B Marketing Trends for 2016 

B2B marketing practies are in the midst of profound change, driven by three powerful trends:

  • Changing expectations of buyers:  as Baby Boomers retire and Millennials move into and up within the ranks of B2B enterprises, buying processes are fundamentally changing. The first generation of digital natives expects to be able to complete most of their selection process through their own research, without talking to sales—until late in the journey. They expect content to be relevant, easy to find, and mobilefriendly. And they expect an optimized customer experience from end to end.
     
  • Pressure to demonstrate ROI: the great recession and subsequent slow recovery have forced B2B marketers to do more with less, and do a better job of linking their efforts to measurable business results. Never flush with cash in the first place, B2B marketing groups have been forced to get even leaner and meaner over the past eight years.
     
  • New tech tools and big data:long gone are the days when a marketing executive could say "Half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half." Everything is now measurable. B2B marketers are expected to use that data, in combination with new tools for content distribution and lead nurturing, to more effectively communicate with prospective buyers at each stage of funnel.

 

To get a more granular view of how B2B marketing professionals are adapting to these trends and pressures, we asked 25 leading influencers to answer the question: "What do you expect to B2B marketers to be doing more of or differently in 2016?"

 

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