The B2B landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. With information so readily available online, the role and respective importance of the Marketer and the Salesperson has evolved.

With Buyers engaging with potential new suppliers later in the purchase cycle there have been some key changes in B2B Sales and Marketing.

 Yesterday’sToday’sSALES had the big budgetMARKETING have the big budgetFocus on ADVERTISINGFocus on CONTENTSpend more on OUTBOUNDSpend more on INBOUNDREACH as many people as possiblePERSONALISATION to target specific prospectsMake a QUICK SALEBuild long-term RELATIONSHIPSSales follow up ALL LEADSSales only follow-up SALES QUALIFIED LEADSMarketing activity is HARD TO MEASUREMeasure ROI on everything

Looking at how the industry has changed, can we predict what the future of B2B sales and marketing will look like?

We’ve already seen personalisation becoming more sophisticated with email marketing and dynamic landing pages. We expect that marketing software will become even smarter, allowing for entire websites to be built around dynamic content and online adverts to show personalised messages.

B2B businesses are starting to dip their toe into Marketing Automation now, but in the future this will become the norm. A business that doesn’t use Marketing Automation software will be seen as living in the dark ages.

Access to data has already become more difficult to source, and this will only become harder.

Therefore the focus on building opt-in databases with detailed information will be key to ensuring that smart personalisation of marketing messages and content can be effectively delivered.

So as it continues to become harder to reach Buyers with traditional marketing and sales techniques the businesses that thrive will be those that recognise the change, are early adopters of Marketing Automation technology and invest in building their data asset.

 

This article first appeared on the 

Beanstalk Marketing blog