The digital landscape for B2B marketing is shifting. Part of that shift is due to recognizing that even though we are professionals advertising to other professionals we are also all human. The fact is neither professional development nor improving our companies are time bound. Everything doesn’t stop at 5pm. Hence, we are seeing new potential and opportunities for social media and off-site publishing as well as more focus on customer experience and coaching of team members rather than managing people.

Many companies are seeing the value of spending more on social media and specifically Facebook. Facebook ads and tools can nurture and close more qualified leads for both B2B and B2C customers. Facebook messenger is the perfect way to keep conversations going with prospects as well as providing an easy way to direct those customers to the right person or the right place when they are ready to buy or engage more actively with your brand.

Technology Shifts

Off-site publishing is getting more attention because it helps you reach an entirely new audience who may have never heard of you before. In the case of mobile users, the majority of people use apps rather than a browser, so those searching for content are more likely to use an off-site publishing app like Medium instead of searching on Safari or Google Chrome. This is changing content marketing and SEO plans in order to be found and considered a thought leader on a new platform.

Incompleteness

There is something called the Zeigernik effect that states people get uncomfortable with a feeling of incompleteness. This is why companies like Netflix are so popular. People feel like they need to finish that TV show. This same principle can be applied to writing content. It is important to get your readers started by giving away the ending of a content piece in a more general, exciting manner. This can be done in an email or a short video clip and then lead them to your blog to get the complete story. When writing content pieces play up the fear of missing out on something. It can be a powerful motivator to keep your readers engaged.

Develop a unique style-something that will help your content stand out. It may be a unique style or a humorous approach but focus in on something in your content that helps it stand out.

Customer Experience

Customer experience has risen to the top in marketing. It is crucial for organizations to provide enhanced customer interactions. Personalization, virtual assistants and bots all go towards creating memorable, personal customer experiences. Pillar pages and cluster content based on a looser topic and then broken down into more in-depth articles are another good way of enhancing customer experience. They can get some higher-level information and then dig down deeper into specific related posts that more closely match their specific need or interest.

In conjunction with enhanced customer experience a lot of companies are investing more into training and coaching for their sales and marketing personnel so they can deliver enhanced customer experiences that brings joy and excitement to their customers rather than pain and frustration. 

It is a brave new marketing world. Each year brings raised expectations around personalized customer experiences and engagement with a brand. How you approach and interact with your customers through inbound marketing channels can have a significant impact on your business’s success. We all need to take our inbound and outbound marketing seriously. If your strategy isn’t working it may be time to re-examine your goals and your programs to better align with the customer experience you want to deliver.