There is a great deal of change within the B2B marketing landscape. In general, we are all aware that these changes happen fast. The greatest forces of change are the buyers and their buying habits. It is therefore of great importance for B2B marketers to know what the expected trends will be for 2017 and subsequent years. If you know what to watch out for you will also know how to adjust your marketing habits .
Natascha Olofsen and Shimon Ben-Ayoun of SPOTONVISION, interviews both national and international thought leaders on their vision of marketing trends for 2017.
The number 1 trend: Account-based marketing
In the trend report “Beyond the Hype”, which will release in March 16th 2017, you will get a glimpse of the most important trend: account-based marketing (ABM). At this moment, ABM is already mainstream, but it will become even more important in the upcoming years. In the trend report, thought leader Jon Miller (Engagio) explains why marketers need to take ABM into account. Other respondents also spoke extensively about the rise of account-based marketing.
“Besides ABM, artificial intelligence (AI) will also continue to move to the forefront of marketing practices in the upcoming years”. According to the researchers, AI gives marketers insight into the future and will make marketing processes more productive. In the trend report, David Raab (Raab Associates) gives an example of how artificial intelligence can be applied.
The customer must be centralized
The client will also have to be moved into the spotlight in 2017. Although we all know that we need to focus on the client during marketing and sales processes, it still does not happen enough according to the thought leaders we interviewed. Gaining insights into the touch points of each prospect or client is essential. The trend report -Beyond the Hype- will provide an overview of the most current marketing topics. Like account-based marketing, the customer journey, sales enablement and customer advocacy.