6 B2B Marketing Trends for 2023

Introduction

B2B marketing isn’t the dry and static routine it is made out to be–it is a dynamic force affected by ever-changing trends. Some of these trends run deeper than the ones that affect B2C marketing because B2B marketing doesn’t concern itself with as many vanity metrics and beautifying tactics.

With 2023 around the corner, here is what a B2B marketer can expect in the coming year:

Top 6 B2B Marketing Trends

1. Analytics is Changing

Out with the old, in with the new. Google announced that it’s retiring Universal Analytics on July 1, 2023. Universal Analytics, also known as “UA” or “Google Analytics,” is what many B2B marketers use to measure engagement. It’s being replaced by GA4. This change is happening as third-party cookies are being retired and the metrics for data analysis are changing, requiring new tools. GA4 uses event-based data instead of session-based data and includes privacy controls such as cookieless measurement, and behavioral and conversion modeling. The property doesn’t only replace the soon-to-be obsolete Universal Analytics but goes leagues ahead to improve consumer experience in a cookieless future, still allowing marketers to continue to gain valuable insights.

2. Videos Will Remain Relevant

As the primary and most engaging form of data consumption, videos will remain relevant for they make the viewer focus multiple senses on your content. Video marketing is made more engaging with good storytelling, the kind B2C marketing relies on, except without the distraction and with straightforward messaging that focuses on the product and the problem it solves. B2B videos, unlike B2C videos needn’t oversimplify the message, but they should still steer clear of overcomplications and jargon. Making your videos attractive and visually appealing will not make your brand seem frivolous. In fact, they may stand out from the crowd of dull and dreary B2B content.

3. Interactive Content Consumption Will Increase

Virtual Reality is the only format that can be even more engaging than a video. With AR/VR consumption increasing, marketers are turning to the Metaverse to showcase and sell their wares. As more people want to engage with content, there is a greater need for such content, especially while the novelty lasts. The novelty aside, VR allows for the virtual demonstration of products.

4. The Popularity of Podcasts Will Skyrocket

As the need to multitask increases, more people are turning to podcasts as a way to consume content. This is good news for B2B marketers. B2B products can be big investments and consumers may need a little more convincing than a 30-second video allows for. Podcasts are an opportunity to present longform content that can take the time to explain. Podcasts, for all their other virtues, are also cheaper and easier to produce than videos.

5. The Resurrection of Email Marketing

With a Cookieless world around the corner, the focus will once again shift to email marketing. Email is a vital channel for B2B marketers to nurture their prospects. This channel is used by most marketers, making it a crowded space but an essential one. With most people checking their email on their phones first thing in the morning, it is vital that you make yours mobile friendly. Email campaigns can benefit from subjects and pre-headers being catchy enough to open, the content easy enough to load and read, and the CTA persuasive enough to follow. Manually, personalization can be a drain on your resources, but without it, the email lacks conviction. Email marketing is made easier with automation, especially if you want to get personalization right and make every reader feel special with emails tailored to their interests.

6. Alternative Tracking/Farewell Cookies

Alternative tracking will increase. Determine your reliance on third-party cookies and find alternatives. If your business uses cookies as a data source, it is time to determine exactly how much it relied on cookies, in order to seek viable alternatives in their imminent absence. Within your organization, you may need new data infrastructure to manage the transition to new forms of tracking. Simplify the system. You are now the data collectors, so you need to organize it efficiently. All the data cookies were providing us with is still available through other avenues. The problems of third party cookies are leaving along with them and we are free to develop a new paradigm of holistic information with context and make marketing more humanized even with automation.

Summing Up

With how far technology has come and how far it has yet to go, we can pass off the technological present as a trend. This year will witness the transition to GA4, the dominance of video, the rise of podcasts and Virtual Reality, the death of cookies, the resurrection of email marketing, and through it all, the underlying importance of automation.

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