Niche & Proud in B2B – July 2024

This is our regular ICYMI round-up for B2B marketers who target niche audiences. We share thought leadership, announcements and research that matters – particularly for those working in the industrial, professional services or technology sectors.

Starting life as an internal resource for the Velo team, now, anyone is welcome to subscribe!

Latest from the Velo team

What Google’s U-turn on 3rd-party cookies means for B2B marketing

No doubt you'll have seen the news: after years of anticipation and multiple delays, earlier this week, in a surprising – or, perhaps, unsurprising – move, Google announced the decision to scrap its plans to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome.

Having shared a roundup of recommendations to help B2B marketers prepare for the seemingly imminent cookie-less world, our team has now refined these in line with the evolving landscape. The good news is, despite Google pulling the plug, much of these still ring true. Catch up here.

Parallax and SEO: A Guide to Balancing Visuals and Visibility in B2B marketing

With the ever-growing trend of using the parallax technique for B2B website design to create a dynamic and engaging user experience, Diwakar Redhu explores the challenge of balancing the art of design with the science of SEO. From page load time to accessibility, read our recommendations for how to optimise parallax websites for SEO here.

Your competitors may be unwittingly cutting off their noses to spite their face

The latest Gartner CMO survey reveals a 15% drop in marketing budgets

With an increased adoption of AI and ongoing economic uncertainty, many B2B markers are tasked with cutting budgets – but are your competitors cutting costs in the wrong places, sacrificing long-term gains for short-term savings? Paul Crabtree shares how to avoid this trap and stay ahead in uncertain times by focusing on brand building, optimising MarTech and maintaining strategic marketing investments.

In other news

Make sure you didn't miss:

New research

• In an interview with 麦肯锡 , Charlie Gottdiener , CEO of Velo client Anaplan , explores the value of enterprise connectedness and its impact on competitive advantage. Key areas include the importance of customer-driven innovation and the impact of decision excellence. Read the full interview here.

Audience insight

• For Facilities Managers, ABM UK 's latest report on Smart buildings: transforming FM in the digital age is not one to be missed. As smart building adoption surges, facilities managers face unprecedented opportunities. The report explores market trends, benefits and predictions for future technologies to elevate building performance and occupant experience.

B2B Creative

• In a recent article published by LBBonline - Little Black Book , Paul Hirsch predicts that B2B marketing is on the brink of a creative shift. Faced with the reality of cuts to marketing budgets, he encourages B2B marketers to think creatively within smaller budgets and explores how small-scale projects, cultural engagement and bold approvals can ignite change. Read more about his take on embracing creativity in B2B marketing here.

Optimising tactics

• Is it time to charge for B2B marketing content? Kimi Brown poses the question over on The Drum , highlighting the rising costs of content creation and discussing the potential benefits of paywalls vs the ethical considerations. Could paid content encourage quality over quantity in B2B marketing? Follow the debate here. We'd be interested in hearing your take!

B2B strategy

• Published by The B2B Institute , "How B2B Tech Brands Grow" by Derek Yueh , with foreword commentary from Ehrenberg-Bass Institute 's Nicole Hartnett , highlights the importance of mental and physical availability in marketing when it comes to long-term brand growth. The publication explores the limitations of product-led growth (PLG) as a strategy and discusses how key marketing laws, such as Double Jeopardy and Duplication of Purchase, come into play. Put the kettle on and read the full report here.

MarTech

• It's no secret: AI is here – and it's here to stay. As with measuring success in any campaign, it requires defining clear project objectives and associated KPIs. MarTech shares its guide with recommended key KPIs for evaluating generative AI's effectiveness in marketing. The guidance includes insights on: productivity, engagement and creative quality metrics, illustrated by real-world applications like Intel’s AI art installations and a personalised AI chatbot. Well worth a read here.

Until next time!

About Velo

Velo is a specialist B2B marketing agency that’s built on recommendation

Focusing on reaching niche audiences, we craft marketing to be proud of for clients in the technology, industrial, and professional services sectors.

By composing emotive brand comms, savvy integrated marketing campaigns, and powerful storytelling, we help our clients to be at the top of their game.

As an award-winning team of specialists like you, we thrive on finding new ways to rise to the challenge of B2B marketing to a niche audience, driving results we’re as proud of as you are.

To find out more, or for more articles, visit: www.velo-b2b.com