Patricia Yeager

Peter Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, says B2B companies tend to lump too many customers and prospects together and fail to see those buyers who are the most serious about establishing long-term relationships. Changing the equation requires marketers to get a better read on the definition of customer lifetime value.

Voice assistants present B2B companies with an opportunity to bolster their marketing efforts, spread their creative wings, and develop new revenue streams. But in their pursuit of getting their message out via chatbots, marketers must be careful that they develop a consistent tone and can distinguish their brand from the competition.

The pandemic has altered the map when it comes to where people spend their money, with more and more dollars flowing locally. Brands can easily tailor a national message to local markets, of course, thanks to geotargeting and other online tools. But a new study shows that national brands tend to underinvest when it comes to guiding local partners about how to improve their online marketing strategies.

As brands and organizations gear up for Women's History Month in March, marketers are viewing the celebration though a long lens and delivering ad campaigns showing women succeeding in roles traditionally associated with men.

Over-the-top (OTT) media services, which entail streaming TV, are not exclusive to sexy consumer-facing brands. A growing menu of programming catering to the business crowd — and more and more decision-makers working from home due the pandemic — makes it increasingly harder for B2B marketers to ignore the opportunities presented by OTT.

B2B marketers were betting that the economic impact of the pandemic would be short-lived. It hasn't turned out that way, and now they're facing major budget cuts. With fewer dollars to demonstrate returns, marketers are turning to pure-play channels — encompassing paid, earned, and owned media — and moving more of their work in-house. Lead-gen programs are also taking precedence over branding efforts.

A recent survey shows that the right hand seldom knows what the left hand is doing when it comes to melding virtual and in-person B2B events.

The pandemic has forced many B2B marketers to reevaluate their overall content marketing strategy, what with buyers’ needs changing at a rapid clip. Amid the last gasps of ‘spray and pray,’ B2B companies seem to be finally moving toward developing more personalized messaging that seeks to solve customers’ problems rather than just provide them with information.

Most B2B professionals taking part in a recent survey say that building a human connection with their buyers has become more important to closing sales since March 2020, when the pandemic hit. Nevertheless, many B2B marketers continue to struggle with cultivating a personalized approach to getting their message out.

At the height of the pandemic, B2B marketers placed a much bigger emphasis on supporting existing relationships and cultivating lifetime value. As things start to ease up and acquisition-level marketing commands more budget, it’s crucial that marketers not lose the momentum they built up over the past year with their long-term customers.