Marketing to businesses has changed significantly over the past few years. Impacted directly by technology, the overload of marketing messages, and changes in the workforce (which now includes five generations)—reaching B2B decisionmakers can be a challenge. The good news is that with the right strategy and tools, companies can harness current trends to be even more effective at winning other business clients.

5 B2B Marketing Trends

Here are five trends we believe will impact B2B marketing in the coming year. While they are not new, they have grown in significance and will be central to effective B2B marketing in 2020.

Use of Personalization

While initially only affordable for larger companies, personalization is now within reach of all businesses and has become mainstream. Marketing software simplifies the creation of micro segments for use in personalizing messaging to the specific interests of your prospects. Recent studies show that personalized emails have a 26% higher likelihood of being opened than generic emails. If you have been sending generic emails to your prospects, 2020 is the
year to change your approach.

Increased Use of Chatbots

Chatbots have become a standard for many websites and enable businesses to capitalize on all interactions, including those that happen after office hours. In addition to saving time, they increase customer satisfaction by always being available to help, delivering immediate service.

Strategic Content Marketing with Interactive Media

Well written, substantive content continues to grow in importance, both on and off the web. The ever-shortening collective attention spans of busy business people dictates that when you have successfully captured the attention of a prospect, you must have content of value and relevance. The addition of interactive media provides more interest, captures attention, and further engages the prospect.

Consolidation of Marketing Tools into a Single Platform

The explosion of online marketing software services has enabled a new level of access to businesses; it has also splintered efforts as companies work with a range of products to achieve marketing goals. In 2020, as in this past year, we’ll see more of a consolidation, as the bigger software platforms have integrated features and automation to provide an “all in one” service. Most have modified their pricing to provide tiers that are affordable for smaller businesses. These fully integrated platforms, like Hubspot, Marketo, and Sharpspring enable better decision-making and will streamline marketing efforts.

Increased use of UGC (User-Generated Content)