Last month, GCL attended the B2B Ignite event in London, arguably one of the key events in the B2B marketing calendar. The event attracts 500+ sales and marketing professionals from over 200+ leading brands, including guest speakers from the likes of Microsoft, HPE, and IBM, and is one of the main forums to understand and debate the future trends of the B2B marketing and demand generation landscape...
From ABM advancement to AI automation, the event was an encyclopaedia of insights highlighting the evolution of sales and marketing strategies as we progress through to the mid-point of the 2020s.
To summarise some of the key points, we’ve condensed five B2B marketing insights that we took away:
1. The B2B Buyer Landscape is Changing and Evolving
One of the key themes from the event was centred around the change and development of buyer behaviour.
A Frost & Sullivan survey showed that 81% of B2B buyers are looking to self-serve as opposed to interacting with sales reps. Additionally, a Harvard Business Review found that only 6% of B2B buying time is spent with sales representatives.
This migration away from in-person channels demonstrates a stealth-like buying behaviour, one where B2B organisations are having to invest more time in researching the ever-changing needs of their buyers, before proactively engaging with the market.
Paul Russell, Global Customer Marketing Director at Vertiv, spoke about his own recent journey whilst running a 6-month B2B lead generation programme into the APAC market, utilising AI data technology combined with outbound telemarketing. This was a multi-phased programme comprising the following components:
Phase 1
Identification of total addressable market (TAM) supported by the use of AI data platform.
Phase 2
Use of intent data platform(s) to identify organisations showing a greater level of interest in the client’s subject matter.
Phase 3
ABM strategy deployed to map out relevant decision making units and circles of influence.
This involved a combination of LinkedIn and outbound telemarketing contact research.
Phase 4
Once the relevant contacts had been identified within the intent account data, specific messaging was created and tailored for each persona. A programme involving a combination of outbound telemarketing and integrated email outreach was launched to drive qualified sales ready leads and appointments.
The success of this pilot was only possible through a blended approach of keyword targeting, unique URL tracking and a highly targeted B2B lead generation approach. As the speaker noted “Telemarketing was key” in the B2B appointment setting that made the pilot successful.
It’s widely accepted in the B2B market that (dependent on your proposition) at any one point, only 3-5% of your TAM will be in active buying mode. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of your market increases the likelihood of engaging with the right opportunities at the right time.
2. B2B Branding Has Never Been So Important
Another B2B marketing insight that was prominent throughout the event was the importance of brand.
Tejal Patel, Global Digital Marketing at Cisco, emphasised this in her points made upon trust and expertise.
She stated that for the first time, data, comprising of 14,000 interviews from the Superpowers index, is showing that there has been a point of inflection in the B2B marketplace.
Whereas traditionally professional decision drivers such as price, product and compliance were the biggest influencers of B2B buying decision making, now it is personal decision drivers such as “feeling safe when signing a contract,” “aligning with personal values,” and perceiving the clients as “thought leaders” in their respective field, that truly influence B2B buying behaviour.
This B2B market research provides a fantastic insight for best practices as it demonstrates the psychological values of prospective customers whilst giving sales and marketing tips & tricks to implicitly show their expertise during the sales prospecting cycle.
In addition to this, Rob Gould, President of Dentsu B2B, spoke about the increase of buyer inertia in the marketplace, outlining that due to an increasingly research-focused, cautious approach, there’s been an increase in average decision-making time of 54 days since 2021.
The remedy to these delays? Account experience: a lead generation technique which refers to saying the right thing to the right customer at the right time of their customer journey. The Superpower Index outlined that a strong ABX (Account based experience) leads to longer contracts with bigger values, lower/shorter sales cycles, and higher customer satisfaction.
Research from the Superpower Index also proved that a good impression of your brand can reduce decision maker time by up to 16 weeks. Therefore, success depends on standing out; not fitting into the marketplace. But, of course, standing out in right way.
3. AI Doesn’t Mean The “Rise of The Robots”
Lois Smith, Field Marketing Leader at IBM, eloquently reminded us that AI has been around since the 1950’s. However, it is not until now that AI & Hybrid Cloud are truly becoming integral to business practices.
Lois explained that within the last 18 months, IBM has seen a shift from hype towards genuine business value, expressing how AI is now able to glean through several sources and then compute relevant & personal answers to any given request at speed.
Additionally, AI proves to be a fantastic tool to increase productivity and scale. Lois outlined that it’s more about the augmentation of human work than it is about AI replacing it.
In preparation for IBM’s “Let’s Create” campaign, the work was created by a human and then personalised and scaled into over 1,000 assets in a timely manner. In this instance, the technology was able to create the correct “phraseology” for different languages at the same time, therefore reducing time and increasing productivity.
4. You Need a Long-Term Vision
During his conclusions about the future, Tom Head, Founder G3NR8, compared the dawn of AI to the inception of the Internet during the 1990s. He reminded us to look at these technological changes from a long-term perspective.
As it stands, AI is perfect for the completion of repetitive tasks within an organisation. However, with such a monumental gap in the knowledge and with the EU’s AI Act Legislation due to be announced in September 2024, there is still so much to learn moving forward.
5. B2B Telemarketing & Market Research – Some Things Don’t Change
There were over 500+ attendees at the event, and with a range of networking and breakout sessions, it was interesting to meet with experienced professionals in the B2B space.
One of the key points we took away from B2B Ignite this year was that B2B telemarketing and B2B lead generation is still very much alive and effective in the new AI world. It is very evident that targeted telephone-based contact with the prospective buyer, plays a huge part in the journey to ultimately complete the sales process.
Whether you are an advanced level user of AI in your sales and marketing engine, or just starting to dip your toe in the water, GCL is providing its clients with a range of integrated ABM, Lead Generation and other Marketing insight related services, to support your personal preference in relation to AI and marketing.
In Conclusion...
Despite the changes and advancements in the B2B space, it seems the human touch in demand generation is key to us for a complete, intelligent approach to the overall B2B sales funnel.
If you have any questions or would like some more information on how we can support you with your marketing requirements, please feel free to contact us via our website https://gclb2b.com/contact-us/ or alternatively contact us on 0121 452 2020.
