DemandWave outlines the top B2B marketing trends for 2017, including renewed focus on mobile with the introduction of mobile-first indexing by Google. Account-based marketing (ABM) adoption will continue to grow but marketers will need to find the right blend with inbound marketing. There will also be a surge in search engine marketing investment due to changes in Google's search results page layout. Content marketing expectations will rise as well, requiring marketers to run content gap analyses, focus on topics aligned with customer intent, and optimize visual content for sharing on mobile.

1. THE HOTTEST B2B MARKETING TRENDS OF 2017
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH AT 1PM ET/10AM PT
LAUREN BLECHER SCHERBA
Director, Marketing

2. WE OPTIMIZE
LEAD FLOW FROM
CLICK
TO
CLOSE
TO DRIVE MORE
SALES-QUALIFED
LEADS FROM DIGITAL.
DEMANDWAVE
IS THE PREMIER B2B DIGITAL
MARKETING AGENCY.
SEO
SEM
CONTENT
DESIGN
ANALYTICS

3. Founded in 2004, we are digital veterans with a passion for demand generation.
We drive revenue growth for the best in B2B.
DemandWave is a trusted Google
Partner, a two-time winner of the Inc.
500|5000 list, and a two-time member
of the San Francisco BusinessTimes’
100 Fastest Growing Private
Companies.
We’ve earned our stripes.

4. RENEWED
FOCUS ON
MOBILE.

5. Source:Think with Google,“The Changing Face of B2B Marketing.”
42% of researchers use a mobile device during the
B2B purchasing process.
49% of B2B researchers who use mobile for
product research do so while they’re in the office.
Mobile matters for B2B.

6. Google is testing mobile-first indexing, a system that will rank listings based on mobile content even for desktop searchers..
Source: Search Engine Land,“Google Begins Mobile-First Indexing, Using Mobile Content for All Search Rankings.”
Mobile-first indexing is here.
ü Responsive or dynamic serving sites should be all set.

7. Source: Search Engine Land,“Google Begins Mobile-First Indexing, Using Mobile Content for All Search Rankings.”
Mobile-first indexing is here.
1
Use robots. txt to make sure Google can crawl the
mobile version of your site.
2
3
Verify both mobile and desktop sites in Google Search
Console.
Mirror structured markup for both mobile and desktop.
§ Mobile-only sites may have a bit of work to do.
4
Make sure your content is the same on both versions of
the site.
Google is testing mobile-first indexing, a system that will rank listings based on mobile content even for desktop searchers..
For example, if your mobile
site has a separate domain
like m.demandwave.com
make sure to double check
for these factors!

8. Image Source: Google,“Mobile-FriendlyTest.”
Revisit your mobile experience.
Mobile-friendly sites rank better in search results.
Audit your website with our mobile-friendly checklist.
1
Check for errors with Google’s Mobile-FriendlyTest.
2
3
Optimize load speed with Google Page Speed Insights.
Test that all navigation is accessible via touch.
4
Make sure all CTAs are easily visible.
Almost half of mobile users
expect websites to load in two
seconds or less.
Source: Search Engine Land “Optimizing for
Mobile Search in 2016:A Continuous Process.”

9. Revisit your mobile experience.
Test the waters with AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).
While this is mostly used by media
and publishers for now, keep tabs
on whether or not AMP starts to
rank for relevant keywords and
give it a try!

10. SEO STRATEGY
WILL EVOLVE
WITH AI.
OPTIMIZING FOR USER INTENT
IS NOW MORE IMPORTANT
THAN EVER.

11. ONE.
AUDIT CURRENT SITE
PERFORMANCE.
71% of business
purchase
decisions start
with a search
engine.
Source: Google/Millard Brown Digital, B2B Path to Purchase Study

12. ONE.
AUDIT CURRENT SITE
PERFORMANCE.
RankBrain is the proprietary
artificial intelligence used by Google
to process and rank search queries.

13. ONE.
AUDIT CURRENT SITE
PERFORMANCE.
User behavior is the next frontier of SEO.

14. Benchmark the four key user behavior metrics.
Google is smart enough to track whether or not searchers like your website based on their behavior.
1
Bounce rate2
Click-through rate (CTR)
3
Frequency4
Pages per session
“Google has designed and patented a system
in charge of collecting and processing of user
behavior data.”
Source: Dan Petrovic, Moz,“User Behavior Data as a Ranking Signal.”

15. Optimize for user intent.
Meta descriptions
Page
titles
Boost organic CTR by optimizing page titles and meta descriptions to win more clicks.

16. Optimize for user intent.
Decrease bounce rate and lift pages per sessions with engaging content.

17. Optimize for user intent.
Clear call-to actions
drive engagement
and conversions.
Decrease bounce rate and lift pages per session with engaging content.

18. Optimize for user intent.
Create standout content on a regular schedule to encourage return visits (frequency).
Google knows which sites
receive multiple visits and
how often.

19. Google is prepping search for the Internet of Things
By the end of 2020, BI Intelligence expects 34 billion “things” to be connected to the Internet.
Source: Business Insider, “How the 'Internet of Things' will impact consumers, businesses, and governments in 2016 and beyond.”
IoT isn’t just for B2C. In fact, 40% of
connected devices are in business
or manufacturing. Use cases include
supply chain analytics and robotic
machinery.
Source: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog, “B2B Beat: Why the
Internet of Things is Crucial for B2B Marketers” by Sean Callahan.

20. Here’s an example with Google Home from Moz.
Source: Moz, “How to Boost Your SEO by Using Schema Markup.”
Featured snippets will be important for IoT and voice search.

21. SURGE IN SEM
INVESTMENT.
NEW ADWORDS FORMAT
MAKES INTEGRATION OF PAID
AND ORGANIC SEARCH
STRATEGY CRITICAL.

22. Here’s the change in a nutshell.
Right rail paid search ads are history.
Source: WordStream, “3 Weeks After Google Killed Side Ads, Here are Five More Takeaways
Ad Position 1
Ad Position 2
Ad Position 3
Ad Position 4
Ad Position 5
Ad Position 6
Ad Position 7
Ad Position 8
Ad Position 9
Ad Position 10
Ad Position 11
Before
Feb. 2016
10 organic search results

23. Here’s the change in a nutshell.
Source: WordStream, “3 Weeks After Google Killed Side Ads, Here are Five More Takeaways.”
Ad Position 1
Ad Position 2
Ad Position 3
10 organic search results
Ad Position 4
And
after!Ad Position 5
Ad Position 6
Ad Position 7
Right rail paid search ads are history.

24. The update may actually impact organic search strategy the most.
The 4th paid search ad takes the
spot of what was once the first
organic position.
Right rail paid search ads are history.

25. ABM WILL
MATURE.
B2B MARKETERS WILL
DISCOVERTHE RIGHT MIX OF
ABM AND INBOUND.

26. ABM.
SO HOT RIGHT NOW.

27. Source: Demandbase, “SiriusDecisions 2016 State of ABM Study Finds that ABM Adoptions Continues to Accelerate.”
“70% of B2B companies have staff
that are fully or partially dedicated
to driving ABM-specific programs.”
“58% have a pilot or
test [ABM] program
and 41% have a full
program in place.”
“…58% of companies
planning to invest in
[ABM] services or
technology in 2016.”
B2B marketers have moved swiftly to ABM.

28. Source: Demandwave, “2016 State of B2B Digital Marketing Report.”
Yet, ABM ROI is not entirely clear.

29. The explosion of ABM-specific technology and analytics has allowed marketers to take a more data-driven approach.
Confidence in ABM measurement will be a game changer.
Source: Chief MarketingTechnologist Blog,“The Buzz Around Account-Based Marketing at MarTech.”

30. ABM & Inbound are not mutually exclusive.
Just like a good cup of coffee, you need to find the right blend of both.
Encourages complete alignment
between Marketing and Sales.
ABM Pros
1
Focuses on quality of leads over
quantity.
2
Increases deal-size and client
retention.
3
ABM does not capture leads
based on behavior.
ABM Cons
1
By definition,ABM is limited to
a finite number of accounts.
2

31. ABM & Inbound are not mutually exclusive.
Just like a good cup of coffee, you need to find the right blend of both.
Captures leads based on behavior.
Inbound Pros
1
Produces a steady funnel of
leads.
2
Let’s the buyer decide how and
when they’d like to engage with
your brand.
3
Inevitably produces a portion of
unqualified leads.
Inbound Cons
1
Sales sells to accounts, not
leads.
2

32. Organize accounts by tier based on priority and team resources.
Fine-tune ABM with a tiered strategy.
Source: Engagio,“Engagio’s Clear & Complete Guide to ABM.”
We highly recommend
reading this eBook cover
to cover!
This is an incredibly important point!

33. RAISING THE
BAR ON
CONTENT
MARKETING.
OUTSTANDING CONTENT IS
NOW EXPECTED.

34. Content competition is steep.
Over 27 Million pieces of content are shared each day.
Source: BrightEdge, “The Three Essential Elements of Content Performance Marketing.”

35. Know the formula for consistent, outstanding content.
Supplement keyword research to discover topics that truly resonate with your target audience.
Solves a challenge.
Makes them laugh!
Highlights a risk.
Helps with career and/or
personal growth.
Buyers like content that: Marketers can source this data from:
Customer surveys.
Interviews with the top performers in Sales.
Organic search queries.
Social shares.

36. Run a content gap analysis. Do you have enough content to cover each stage of the buyer’s journey?
Awareness
Consideration
Comparison
Conversion
Retention/Upsell
Website visitor
Form fill out (MQL)
Ready to talk to sales (SQL)
Closed-won deal
Customer considers investing
more.
%
%
%
%
Start with the search data.

37. Check if your content topics align with Google’s interpretation of intent by simply searching.
“cloud security” “cloud security solutions”
Start with the search data.

38. Analyze search volume. Focus on long-tail, high-converting keyword themes first and work up to competitive, high-volume terms.
SearchVolume
Keyword Length
High competition;
informational searches
Low competition;
transactional searches
Low
High
Short Long-tail
Start with the search data.

39. Create content buyers actually like.
Buzzsumo is a great tool to help quantify this with social share insights.

40. Be the best answer!This packs a double punch when optimizing for semantic search.
Create content buyers actually like.
40% of people will respond better
(and faster) to visual information than
with plain text.
Source: LinkedIn, “The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Content
Marketing..”

41. 1
2
Prepare for mobile-first indexing now.
Focus SEO efforts on optimizing for user intent.
Have your best marketing year yet in 2017.
3 Integrate paid and organic search strategies.
4 Find the right mix of ABM and inbound for your team.
5 Master the formula for consistent, quality content creation.

42. 800.619.1570 results@demandwave.com
Talk to our team to start driving more sales-qualified leads today.
Get a free B2B marketing consultation.