“May you live in interesting times” is an ancient Chinese curse, yet it’s tremendously relevant today. As we plan for 2024 and beyond, there are many “interesting” external impacts to consider, including:
- Political landscape – 2024 is a national election year, ripe with all the vitriol that it stirs.
- Economic stability – While most economists no longer predict an imminent recession, many questions remain about inflation and interest rates.
- Consumer confidence – This will be a mixed bag in 2024, depending on your political leanings and how the political ads will incite us to action, often through fear tactics.
- Supply chain interruptions – Some market segments continue to experience hiccups.
- Skilled labor shortages – Boomers continue to retire; who will replace them?
So what’s a forward-thinking B2B marketer to do? We must deal with external impacts while incorporating new technologies and strategies into our marketing approaches. As we plan for the future, certain fundamental techniques have emerged as indispensable.
Here’s our four-point guide to developing a robust approach for 2024 B2B marketing success.
1) Branding: Win business with your attributes, and not just price!
Branding is the bedrock of any marketing initiative, encapsulating your company’s identity and value proposition in the market. In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, seating a compelling brand narrative is imperative because consumers want to believe in the brands they support, and they hate inconsistency and hypocrisy.
Maintaining alignment of outbound marketing and your brand image has never been more difficult or more important. Consumers react quickly to perceived grievances regarding many social issues, and social media allows this to spread fast. Here are some tips to staying aligned:
- Establish brand standards. These should be written, ironclad and widely used throughout every organization.
- Leverage consistent design elements to ensure consistency of visual and contextual narrative across all touchpoints.
- Evaluate content and sponsorship opportunities to determine if they are aligned with your brand.
- Implement advanced text-editing technology to ensure content matches your brand’s voice and resonates with your customers and prospects.
2) Strategy: Use new digital tools to talk WITH prospects, not AT prospects!
Holistic planning remains central to B2B success, anchored by a strong alignment between sales and marketing. Implement Account Based Marketing (ABM) or hybrid programs.
- Utilize organizational tools that bring together various teams to integrate thoughts and to meld common strategies and needs.
- Use comprehensive CRM programs to harmonize sales and marketing efforts, streamline lead tracking, automate outreach programs, and track interest. Develop alignment and clearly define what constitutes a MQL vs a SQL. Use ABM platforms to pinpoint high-value accounts and to craft tailored content.
3) Execution: Keep your message consistent across all platforms and channels!
Flawless execution differentiates market leaders from all others. Every touchpoint, from social posts to corporate websites, from distributor collateral to influencer marketing, should be aligned and exude excellence.
Apple and Southwest Airlines generally excel at execution. This has greatly benefited each company with customers excusing their occasional missteps.
- Monitor emergent industry trends and create/optimize content that aligns with it.
- Use website analytics to ensure seamless sales journeys for prospects.
- Craft consistent and compelling presentations, sales sheets, and other materials.
- Adopt conversion tools to optimize user interactions and to initiate and foster conversations (with either real or AI-based “people”).
- Utilize email automation to establish a consistent and value-driven communication cadence with your target audience(s).
4) Monitoring: Measure what matters and work to improve results!
Decipher actionable insights from captured data, leading toward continuous improvement.
- Utilize real-time analytic platforms to track, manage, and refine your brand’s online presence and lead gen. Learn all there is to know about your prospects.
- Stay abreast of digital mentions, engagements, and industry shifts through advanced media monitoring tools.
- Decipher the campaign ROI, ensuring optimal resource allocation and maximum impact.
- Use UTMs to track responsiveness to specific campaigns. Adjust campaigns on the fly to reward those that perform best.
In Conclusion
The era of “set it and leave it marketing” are gone. To thrive in 2024 and beyond, smart marketers must constantly refine their tool chest. With the future unknowns, adaptability, continuous learning, and leveraging actionable feedback are lynchpins for B2B marketing success.
Studio/D is a full-service marketing communications firm working with mid-market industrial and manufacturing clients, together with companies that support the manufacturing ecosystem. We’re a team of “makers” who simplify complex communication challenges with messaging that engages and drives results. Learn more about us at StudioD.agency, or call our president, Scott Dieckgraefe at 314-200-2630.