B2B Technology Marketing Trends in 2021

B2B digital marketing is constantly changing. The ways we create content and approach the audience are different than they were even two years ago. Such is the nature of changing marketing trends. It requires marketers to stay on top of continuously evolving trends and tools.

Timing is of the essence. If you follow your 2020 marketing  blueprint in the next year, you will inevitably fall behind the innovators.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the most promising marketing trends in the tech industry for 2021. 

1. The art of compassion in sales 

Today is the time for compassion and understanding of your customers. The time of hard sales has gone.  As the world is reeling from a global pandemic, B2B marketers need to promote their products and services with empathy. 

Do not push tech solutions. Rather, it’s best to create educational how-to guides to help customers make the right choice. 

The businesses that master a compassionate approach to selling will be the ultimate winners of 2021.

2. The dominance of interactive visual content 

Humanizing B2B businesses has been a major trend for a while already. It will only spread more and more in 2021. Personalization is what clients expect from tech brands. 

In B2B markets, your potential customers don’t have the time to read as they’re bombarded with too much content. That is why interactive visual content is an effective method to deliver messages.

Content marketing has been a must-do in B2B marketing for more than a decade—and rightfully so. B2B companies should keep investing in creating relevant, customer-focused content. 

In 2021, marketers should turn to interactive, visual, and video content to engage with the audience in a greater way. More than 90% of B2B customers say they prefer interactive and visual content to static content. 

3. Immersive live events

Live events have been a staple in B2B tech marketing trends for decades. Despite the growing number of digital touchpoints in the buyer’s journey, live events are still one of the greatest performing strategies for converting prospects into clients. 

To succeed, companies need to give the clients memorable moments that will evoke emotions and build trust in relationships. 

4. Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics enables you to tap into customer behavior based on their usage of your product. Eventually, this helps to improve customer experience. To understand how it works, you can take a look at Netflix. 

Netflix is the most popular streaming service for movies and series. Have you ever wondered how Netflix knows what you should watch next after you’ve just finished watching a movie or series? Thanks to certain algorithms and data analysis, Netflix is able to predict the shows, movies, or series you would prefer watching. In fact, the service is a major data-driven app that analyzes user behavior and predicts it. 

Predictive analytics help marketers adapt their spending, choose marketing channels, and create a data-driven strategy. 

5. Data privacy

There is probably no bigger shift happening in tech marketing than the data privacy landscape. Privacy is becoming a reason for people to purchase the product, in the same way that “organic” or “cruelty-free” labels motivated people to buy.

B2B marketers are used to leveraging a lot of user data in promotional campaigns. Now, B2B companies are forced to control how they collect and store the data. 

Tech marketers need to pay close attention to how this trend impacts their strategy in 2021. To increase customer trust, you need to make sure that people feel comfortable buying from you. 

6. Podcasts 

In B2B, podcast listenership keeps growing year on year. Apple Music, Spotify, and other platforms feature podcasts on their homepages which make them extremely popular. 

Podcasts offer a great opportunity for collaboration with influencers, reaching a new audience, and better engagement with the audience. They can also give you a fresh vision of common topics.  

What you can start with is to choose a B2B tech marketing hot topic (AR, ABM, or AI-led automation topics are on the rise), talk to experts about it, record, edit, and publish. 

You can also transcribe the podcast to create more content on the trend. 

7. Advanced segmentation 

Only about 50% of companies employ data-driven email targeting. About 15% of surveyed marketing teams use segmentation and personalization to deliver relevant, highly-tailored email messages to prospects and clients.  

There are great opportunities for AI and ML in 2021 — to find meaningful patterns in Big Data and use those patterns to create customer segmentation. This will help marketers optimize email campaigns and other marketing channels. 

This approach should include PPC and marketing campaigns where ML can help you identify the best patterns that will increase engagement and ROI.

8. B2B influencers

For a B2B influencer marketing campaign, it’s important to find new ways to target those bloggers who have deep industry knowledge. The kind of people who can influence corporate customers and tap into B2B conversations.

What can B2B influencers offer”

• a new audience that will be potentially interested in your product; 
• a unique point of view that resonates with your target audience;
• professional credibility that can help address the pain points of your prospects and clients.

Influencer marketing is one of the most promising tools available to B2B marketers in 2021. It can also help you engage with other businesses on a personal level.