As we go into 2015, there are lots of positive voices in current headlines around economic outlook next year.
Like:
- Kiplinger’s: “Hiring is on the rise, job openings are at a near-record level, and layoffs are scarce . . . ”
- Barron’s: “Born in March 2009, today’s bull market is the fourth longest in history—and it isn’t about to end, despite last week’s shellacking. That’s the word from Wall Street’s top strategists, who expect the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index to rise 10% in 2015 . . .”
- Bloomberg Businessweek: “The U.S. as a whole is emerging as the most likely candidate to power world growth in 2015…”
For B2B marketers, a chorus of positive economic predictions for 2015 should mean that we B2B marketing leaders “keep our heads low and work the program,” right?
B2B Marketing Trends 2015:
New year, new approach
That would mean more of the same—more content marketing, more automated marketing campaigns, more people sent to the same trade shows, more investments in search marketing and display advertising.
Don’t be fooled. That’s not what we predict for 2015 b2b marketers.
2015 is going to be a watershed year. Top B2B marketing leaders are going to make bold moves that separate them from the pack of mediocre performers. They may well feel like outsiders among the B2B marketing folks grinding out the same-old, same-old. They’ll be outsiders like the Vikings were outsiders: victorious ones that are settling new territory. Get ready to get uncomfortable if you’re in b2b marketing in 2015.
Before we share our top predictions for the B2B marketing trends of 2015, want to share yours? Yes . . . we really want to know!
What’s your top B2B marketing trend prediction?
Tell us on Twitter @write2market or in the comments field below.
Here are our predictions for the top b2b marketing trends of 2015.
Top B2B Marketing Trends 2015
- Content as we think of it now becomes a commodity.
- Content emerges as a proxy and pathway for culture and social proof.
- Distribution strategy defines dominance for content marketing.
- Search marketing returns to center—but in a new way.
- App universes influence b2b buying decisions more—and demand new types of calls to action and new marketing approaches.
- Thought leadership authority moves further from b2b trade associations to content-rich b2b companies who support (and sometimes own or create) trade associations.
- Analysts are further marginalized as insight providers and find their value in introductions.
- Marketing agencies, because of their ability to deliver rapid iteration through a lens of broad experience, become more central to successful growth strategy for breakaway business leaders.
- Scandal gets more acceptable. Unfortunately.
- Partnerships or “relationship marketing” overtake events as a top referring source of qualified leads in B2B.
We’ll go into details on each one in upcoming posts–feel free to let us know which one you like the most or disagree with in the comments section.
Join the conversation @write2market on Twitter or in the comments section below.