B2B marketing: Creative trends for 2023
Dave Corlett
Business Director at Shaped By | Helping B2B tech firms build bolder brands ?? | Host of The Changemakers podcast ??
With the holidays rapidly feeling like a distant memory, all of a sudden we’re halfway through January. 1/24th of the year gone already. How did that happen?!
It’s shaping up to be a year of challenges for us all, as the ramifications of yet another tricky macro climate rumble on. But from adversity comes triumph. And with a little optimism and a lot of hard graft, I’m convinced we can all work our socks off and turn those challenges into opportunities. Great things lie ahead for us – I’m sure of it.
On that positive note, I thought I’d share some creative themes and trends rearing their heads right now that might help in making your 2023 a success.
Evolution not revolution
One noticeable shift we’ve seen recently is the increasing lack of appetite for extensive brand projects. It’s completely understandable. Even if it’s fairly obvious that a firm has outgrown its current brand, or its identity is no longer fit for purpose, the notion of spending big on a rebrand isn’t especially palatable in the current climate. Particularly in tech, where major layoffs are still occurring and spend is being uber-scrutinized.
But brands do need to be kept fresh and relevant. So what we’re witnessing is the rise of the brand refresh. A subtle cosmetic facelift, with new visual languages and revitalised design elements but without the procedural and political complexity of a full-on rebrand. (And rarely touching the logo, you’ll be glad to know!)
We’re even being asked in some cases to help marketing and brand leaders to sell in the idea internally that this absolutely 100% is NOT a rebrand. That’s how politically sensitive the word seems to be at the moment.
Content innovation
Another movement that seems to be gathering momentum is experimentation with new formats for reports, whitepapers, customer stories and other staples of B2B content marketing.
The word we keep seeing crop up time and time again is “interactive”. (Along with the phrase “over-reliant on PDFs”). Marketers are recognising that although there’s a time and a place for the humble PDF, the prevalence of other more dynamic options means there are lots of opportunities to create richer and more engaging experiences.
We’re seeing a real shift towards super-dynamic landing pages and microsites at the top end, down to simpler options such as hosted page-turners (which we've been playing with ourselves) that allow for extra flourishes of animation.
And with new platforms and advanced options cropping up all the time, this is less a trend and more a sustained, natural evolution in content design.
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Quality over quantity
This kind of feels similar to the last one, I guess. But it’s goes beyond just content marketing.
The reality of many marketing functions at the moment is that they are operating with leaner headcounts, tighter budgets and fewer resources – but are still expected to drive the same results or better.
This is leading many teams to double down on what really moves the needle, and cull what doesn’t. Focusing on quality and impact over volume certainly seems to be the name of the game.
From a creative point of view, the challenges we’re advising on are threefold:
On the plus side, hopefully it’s the beginning of the end for the churning out of endless blog posts and low-engagement content.
Becoming “a media company”
If you’ve been anywhere near B2B marketing over the last six to nine months, you’ll have witnessed the debate around whether or not B2B companies should be thinking less like businesses that “do content marketing” and more like media companies that happen to sell B2B products or services.
I’m not educated enough on the subject to plant my flag on either side of this debate. I definitely see the benefits of owning your audience’s first-party data and building that audience into a community. But then again, becoming the Netflix of fintech or management consultancy is far easier said than done.
But what I like about those who are embarking on that journey is the attention they’re giving to how their brand comes to life within these new environments. Idents, logo animations, title sequences, lower thirds, studio design, even original series branding (I see you, Salesforce+...).
It all needs careful consideration, and is a major departure from how a lot of creative teams and agencies think about the ways brands typically come to life. So it’s great to see some trailblazers already out there showing how it can be done.
Anything I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments. I did toy with the idea of mentioning AI-influenced design. But I think designers and creatives are still figuring that one out, especially in B2B. Got a feeling I’ll definitely be covering it this time next year though…
B2B Marketing Consultant & Fractional CMO | FCIM DipM Chartered Marketer | Ceramicist
2 年Good Read, Dave. Firstly, I think the rebrand is an interesting one. My view is a rebrand is the very last option. As i've said before, if its weak, give it a tweak. Go back to basics, rediscover the roots of the company, brand and go from there. When you play around with established memories structures, there are't many upsides to essentially starting again by rebranding. And secondly, the media-company thing. It doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather my marketing team focus on actual marketing rather than try to think like something it isn't nor try to be. Nevertheless, the next 12 months should be pretty interesting.