How B2B Tech Brands Can Stand Out in a Cluttered Digital Environment
The B2B marketing landscape is more competitive than ever.
Economic instability and the emergence of new players mean more vendors are competing for tighter budgets.
And more than half of business and IT decision-makers plan to consolidate the number of vendors they work with to streamline their environments. If you want to make the cut, you need to stand out.
To help B2B marketers navigate these challenging waters, we surveyed 500 business and IT leaders across North America to learn about their marketing preferences and what they look for from vendors.
Here are five findings that can help you gain an edge in today’s hyper-competitive B2B market:
1. AI can make your marketing efforts more efficient and impactful.
The availability and accessibility of user-friendly AI tools is transforming how marketers work and engage with customers. Here are a few ways you can leverage AI:
With AI technology developing so rapidly, there are many potential processes to implement within your marketing and sales teams.?
2. B2B buyers want more content, but it better be personalized.
More than 60% of B2B buyers will ignore content that isn’t personalized to their interests, industry, or role. If your content is generic, they won’t pay attention.
You must understand who is looking at your content and what information they require during each stage of their buying journey. You also need to consider everyone involved with the purchasing process and their content needs. B2B buying teams include members across departments such as IT, finance, procurement, and operations. Each decision-maker looks for different things when making a purchase.
The Nology report found that business buyers are interested in perspectives on the future, straightforward tutorials, actionable takeaways, and professional development content. As an example, IT buyers want analyst insights, industry trends, and product information. To win business, you must address each buyer’s specific needs in your content.
But creating content for all these audiences may not take as much time as you think. New tools, such as generative AI, enables content personalization at scale. AI can assist with new content creation or adapt your existing content for different personas.
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3. Shorter content isn’t always better.
You’ve likely heard that B2B buyers are busy and don’t have time to read an e-book or watch a lengthy video. Despite the rise of short-form content, most B2B buyers still prefer longer content. They sometimes perceive shorter content as lower quality, while longer content as more educational.
We asked business and IT leaders about their content length preferences, and this is what they told us:
4. Webinars are becoming more interactive and data driven.
B2B buyers still look for and engage with webinars. But their preferred webinar format has shifted. Instead of listening to one presenter, they prefer multiple speakers or panels since different viewpoints give them a greater understanding of a topic. They also like practical insights, deep dives into topics, and customer success stories that show them how to apply a solution in real life.
Interactive elements—such as polls and breakout rooms—can help you engage webinar audiences. And new technologies, such as AI, are transforming the webinar experience. You can use AI tools to track audience sentiment throughout a webinar and identify which moments are the most engaging. This data can help you improve future webinars to make them more appealing to B2B buyers. AI tools can also produce captions, subtitles, summaries, and transcripts to give audiences a better experience. Another trend is global webinars. Opening your webinars to a global audience can help you reach more customers and expand into different regions.
The preferred webinar length is between 30-60 minutes. Any longer is too long, and any shorter may not provide buyers with enough value to tune in. ?
5. Enable sales reps with the content that B2B buyers want.
B2B buyers no longer rush to speak with a sales rep when they have a need. According to Gartner, they only spend 17% of their time meeting with suppliers. The bulk of their buying process includes independent research followed by reviewing potential vendors with their buying committee. A buyer will only reach out after they have done their research and are getting ready to make a decision. ?
When B2B buyers reach out, they expect certain types of content to help them make an informed decision. The top four types of content that B2B buyers want from sales reps include:
You must align with your sales team to learn and develop the types of content that will help them close more deals.
Competition in the global B2B tech space is fierce. Not only do you need to differentiate yourself from other vendors, but you must overcome the status quo.
Intercept can help you stand out and deliver relevant content to the right buyers at the right time.
Ready to engage global B2B tech buyers? Get in touch with us now.