Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Top 10 Marketing Trends For B2B Marketers In 2007
byB2B Magazine has listed ten important trends for business-to-business marketers in 2007. While this list is similar to other 2007 marketing predictions we’ve mentioned here recently, the B2B story makes it clear that marketing is becoming increasingly dependent on new media creativity and sophisticated data-driven insight to succeed. Here’s the list:
1. The rising influence of CMOs. Marketing’s importance is on the rise and B2B Magazine reports a new third generation of CMOs will arise with “much higher levels of accountability and influence.”
2. Web 2.0 will continue to explode. The opportunity here for B2B marketers will be “to connect with customers and build loyal communities of users.”
3. Global expansion (see yesterday’s post). There’s a world of opportunity with much of it made possible through the Internet.
4. Growing importance of online video ads. While online video advertising will still represent only a small portion of all advertising for B2B marketers, it will easily be one of the fastest growing segments. Traditional advertising methods are declining.
5. Measuring engagement. Brand awareness is no longer enough in marketing and branding. Increasingly, brand engagement is becoming the goal in which marketers try to create a dialog and interaction with the people they are trying to reach.
6. More sophisticated search. As search engine marketing (SEM) becomes more competitive, look for improved sophistication in methodologies that will maximize SEM investments.
7. Need for leads. Leads are the number one priority for most B2B marketers, and 2007 should see the implementation of more sophisticated lead generation efforts that are often dependent on Web-based systems.
8. Behavioral targeting hits the spot. Behavioral targeting has been around for a while, but it should really catch stride in 2007 thanks to research and increasingly sophisticated online metrics/analysis tools. This should lead to even more effectiveness in online campaigns.
9. Trade shows make a comeback. Exhibition marketing has made a strong comeback since 9/11, and it will continue to be of critical importance to B2B marketers in 2007.
10. E-mail still going strong. E-mail has its problems, but it nevertheless is a strong component of many B2B marketing campaigns and generally enjoys a better success rate than direct mail.
