Marketers love trends. They love to talk about them, try and start them and, most of all, try and figure out if they’re worth incorporating into their marketing operations.
But, between keeping up with your industry, your competitors and your audiences, it’s not easy to keep your finger on the B2B marketing trend pulse. And even then you have to understand how a trend could theoretically apply to your ongoing marketing efforts.
To capitalize on a reliable trend, marketers must:
- Tune out marketing and general trend noise
- Maintain focus on the health of ongoing marketing programs
- Understand how trends impact buyers and the buying journey
- Have the know-how to take a trend and mold it so it to fit within the context of your business, goals, and objectives
To help you build and maintain momentum behind trend adoption, we’re hosting our first annual partner summit, MOMENTUM ’22.
During this one-day event, taking place on March 30, we and our partner network will show B2B marketing teams, sellers and professionals of all stripes how to build and sustain momentum behind their ideas and turn those ideas into measurable results.
What’s in store for MOMENTUM ’22? We’re going to explore a variety of topics today’s B2B marketers must master to ideate, create and measure high-quality experiences — and a lot more.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Insights into the data that matters and how you can capitalize on it
- How to drive effective personalization without overwhelming your audience
- Tips and tricks for aligning engagement strategy with your experiences — and turning that engagement into sales-ready leads
- Suggestions on how to unify sales and marketing teams to drive revenue results
Want in? Register for MOMENTUM ‘22 here.
Stephanie Swinyer, Head of Revenue Marketing, Integrate
Q: What’s one thing you think B2B marketers should keep in mind when it comes to industry trends?
Swinyer: At the end of the day, we all care about one thing — the buyer. The buyer has spoken. Today’s buyers do their own research. They expect to connect with you on their own terms, via the channels they choose, and only when they’re ready to engage.
That’s why personalization – probably one of the most discussed B2B trends – is so important.
Williams: It is easy to get distracted by temporary trends, get caught up with the latest shiny object, and only see everything through rose-tinted glasses. A way to distinguish the longevity of a trend is to look at patterns and stay up-to-date with world events.
One reliable way to identify trends with traction is through community – learning and getting feedback from peers in the industry, having open discussions.
Q: Do you have any institutional philosophy when it comes to navigating trends?
Swinyer: Yes! At Integrate, we’ve noticed a lot of organizations are excited about the potential of data, which is good. But siloed, inaccurate data and broad-brush marketing programs can make matters worse.
We solve this problem with an omni-channel, buyer-centric approach called “Precision Demand Marketing.” Using this approach helps us create better, empathetic and authentic brand connections with our buyers.
We evaluate and test trends that help us personalize or enhance connections where needed but our focus on connection is what guides how we decide if we fold a “fad” into our existing marketing strategy or not.
Williams: For us, the question always comes back to engagement. Does this help us connect to customers? Does it help tell our message better? At the end of the day, consumer needs and technology lead the trends and marketers need to stay open to innovative ideas and strategies.
Q: What about applying trends on the strategic level? Do you have any advice there?
Williams: Sure. First, consumer/market needs define marketing nowadays. Understanding the pain points and positioning your solution in a relatable way is as important in B2B as much as any type of marketing.
I start with the “why” of the business. A good marketing strategy isn’t made up of random tactics; it’s a thoughtful plan to bring the company strategy to life. Bridging marketing’s strategy and the company’s vision and values will bring clarity to what is important and worth adapting.
That is one of the beauties of marketing: creativity. It is at the base of adapting a trend. Remembering the main messaging, values, tone, and positioning of your brand will help dictate what kind of adaptation you can make.
It comes back around to the question of why. Why does this matter to our customers? Experimentation is great, but it can be valuable to first test on targeted channels before expanding it to a whole campaign strategy. This helps with the learning curve and future optimization of how to use a trend in a way that works for the company/brand.
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