What are the newest innovations driving B2B marketing? Our analysts and marketing strategists have identified seven emerging trends that are propelling savvy marketers in 2017.

1. 2 0 1 7 B 2 B T R E N D S

2. We’re here to talk about
7 emerging trends in B2B
marketing

3. The Value of
Thought Leadership
1

4. B2B Buyers Are Scared
B2B is not “rational”, it’s even more emotional than B2C
“Nobody ever
got fired for
buying IBM.”

5. Clients Buy From Vendors That “De-Risk” The Process
Thought leadership gives a buyer confidence in your products
“Buyers don’t buy your products until they ‘buy’
your approach to solving their problems.”

6. That’s Why Thought Leadership Drives Massive ROI
If structured correctly, it can drive leads and build brands at the same
team
MQLNO YES REVENUESALESNURTURE
NO
BLOCKBUSTER

7. The Profitability of
Content Franchises
2

8. The Current Model Of Thought Leadership Is Broken
Only 30% of B2B marketers believe their content “works”

9. So Don’t Imitate Newspapers, Imitate Disney
Studio revenue is up 63% due to a relentless focus on “blockbusters”
S U M M E R
2 0 1 5
FA L L
2 0 1 5
W I N T E R
2 0 1 5
S P R I N G
2 0 1 6
S U M M E R
2 0 1 6
FA L L
2 0 1 6
W I N T E R
2 0 1 6
S P R I N G
2 0 1 7
S U M M E R
2 0 1 7

10. A B2B Blockbuster Monetizes A Brand’s Expertise
A focused approach that markets the same IP across multiple channels

11. The Need for
Touchpoint Consistency
3

12. Nobody Remembers Anything Anymore, Especially Ads
The average consumer sees 5,000 ads a day

13. Pattern Recognition Is How Brands Drive Recall
We see B2C and B2B brands accomplish this every day

14. Blockbusters Enable Touchpoint Consistency
Helping build a memorable brand across an explosion of channels

15. The Rise of
Everyone-As-A-Marketer
4

16. It’s Now Clear That Employees Are The Key Touchpoint
Buyers trust employees significantly more than brands
Employees Are Most Trusted Spokesperson On Every Topic

17. Employees Offer Massive Reach And Engagement
Employee networks have 10X the reach of Company Pages
100
Employee
Shares
96
Profile Views
48
Company
Page Views
48
Job Views
16
Company Page
Followers
32
New
Connections

18. So Make Sure You Have A People-First Strategy
Blockbusters align marketing and sales internally and externally

19. The Death of
Hypertargeting
5

20. Brands Are Obsessed With Ad Targeting
Digital sells itself on the false promise of ‘zero waste’

21. The Problem Is That Targeting Excludes Potential Buyers
Sophisticated B2C marketers are waking up to this expensive truth

22. The Solution For B2B Is “Relevant Reach”
Reach the entire buying committee, today and tomorrow
TARGETED
BUYER
Junior Decision Makers
Extended Buying
Committee

23. The 3 Principles of
Brand Investing
6

24. #1: Obey The “60/40 Rule”
Brands need to balance long and short-term objectives
“Investment in long-term brand and
trust building, combined with short term
brand activations to reap the sales
benefits of those investments”
60/40 RULE

25. #2: Plan For A “10:1 Ratio”
In A Pay-To-Play World, Distribution Is King

26. #3: Budget For The “80/20 Rule”
80% of value comes from 20% of your blockbusters; invest accordingly

27. The Arrival of
Cost-Per-Connection
7

28. Everyone Is “Counting” The Wrong Metrics
Current industry metrics (CTR, CPC) do not correlate with revenue
Not everything that counts can be
counted, and not everything that
can be counted counts.
Albert Einstein

29. B2B Sales Is Still Largely Relationship-Driven
Cutting-edge measurement should reflect the offline world

30. So Why Aren’t We Tracking Cost-Per-Connection?
Start by measuring “Connection Density” which *does* correlate to
revenue
16%
40%
Non-Nurtured Prospects Prospects Exposed To Content
Source: Internal LinkedIn Data : 7/1/2016 – 12/31/2016
*Average email unique click rate: 2.76%. Source: https://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/
Response Rate to InMails Sent By Sales Teams
+150%
14XHigher Than Average
E-mail Response Rate*

31. Great.
So how can my client take
advantage of these trends today?

32. 1 Invest in thought-leadership content
2 Package your thought-leadership into “blockbusters”
3 Use your blockbuster to achieve touchpoint consistency
4 Activate your blockbuster via employees

33. 5 Reach the entire buying committee with your blockbuster
6 Distribute according to the 60/40, 10:1, and 80/20 rules
7 Start measuring “Cost-Per-Connections”