2 0 1 7 B 2 B
M A R K E T I N G T R E N D S

Peter Weinberg
Strategist, Agency and Channel Development
LinkedIn
P R E S E N T E D B Y

Let’s talk about
7 emerging trends
in B2B marketing

These Trends Can Be Applied To Your Marketing Today
Each trend fits neatly into this traditional marketing framework
01
02
03
04
Creative
Content Franchises
Touchpoint Consistency
Distribution
Everyone-As-A-Marketer
Hypertargeting
Brand Investing
Audience
Thought Leadership
Measurement
Cost-Per-Connection

The True Value of
Thought Leadership
1

B2B Buyers Are Scared
B2B is not “rational”, it’s even more emotional than B2C
Jon Miller
CEO & Co-Founder at Engagio,
previously Co-Founder at Marketo
“It’s not a big deal if you
buy the wrong can of soda.”
Don Draper
Creative Director at Sterling Cooper,
fictional character on Mad Men
“Nobody ever got fired
for buying IBM.”

…believe it increased trust
in the organization
83%
Business
Decision Makers
81%
C-Suite
Executives
…believe it builds trust in our
organization among potential clients
49%
Thought Leadership “De-Risks” The Buying Process
It establishes trust, which leads directly to sales
Among Creators of Thought Leadership… Among Decision Makers…

Thought Leadership “De-Risks” The Buying Process
It establishes trust, which leads directly to sales
…believe it gets them more RFPs
17%
…believe it invites the organization
to propose on a project
63%
Business
Decision Makers
64%
C-Suite
Executives
Among Creators of Thought Leadership… Among Decision Makers…

Structure Your Thought Leadership To Drive ROI
“The Sophisticated Guide” has been our #1 driver of sales 3 years in a
row
MQLNO YES REVENUESALESNURTURE
NO
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP

The Sustainable
Profitability
Of Content Franchises
2

The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is Broken
The “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize
Nearly 1 In 2 BDMs Are Disappointed With The Quality
Percentage of the time I gain
valuable insight from thought
leadership
44%
Percentage of survey respondents
who are disappointed by this
51%

The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is Broken
The “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize

The Current Approach To Thought Leadership Is Broken
The “Newspaper Model” is difficult to scale and even harder to monetize

Instead, Imitate Disney’s Blockbuster Strategy
The first studio to make $6B, all thanks to “familiarity” and “extensibility”
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

Instead, Imitate Disney’s Blockbuster Strategy
The first studio to make $6B, all thanks to “familiarity” and “extensibility”

A B2B Blockbuster Monetizes A Brand’s Expertise
A sustainable approach that monetizes multiple channels with the same IP

The Growing Need for
Touchpoint Consistency
3

Nobody Remembers Much Anymore, Especially Ads
The average consumer sees 5,000 ads a day

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

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

The Promising Arrival of
Everyone-As-A-Marketer
4

Employees Are Your Most Valuable Touchpoint
The most trusted spokespeople to sell culture, product, and news
63%
Trust people like
themselves
45%
Trust Institutions

Employees Offer Better Reach And Engagement
Employees have 10X the reach of a LinkedIn Company Page
100
Employee
Shares
96
Profile Views
48
Company
Page Views
48
Job Views
16
Company Page
Followers
32
New
Connections

So It Is Imperative To Develop A People-First Strategy
Feature your brand characters in your content, distribute through
employees

The Sudden Death of
Hypertargeting
5

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

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

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

The New Principles of
Brand Investing
6

#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

#2: Plan For A “10:1 Ratio”
In a pay-to-play world, distribution is king

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

The Economic Case for
Cost-Per-Connection
7

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

Cutting-Edge Measurement Reflects The Offline World
“Connection Density” does correlate with revenue
8.2%
5.1%
4.8%
3.9%
3.5%
Most-Connected Metro Regions
2
3
4
Least-Connected Metro Regions
More Connections, More Job Growth
(Average Job Growth, 2010-2014)
*Based on index of connectedness. 2014 employment based on first nine months of year.
Data: LinkedIn, Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Mountain Economics LLC

Marketing Helps Sales To Nurture Connections
“Cost Per Connection” is a leading indicator of ROI
16%
40%
Non-Nurtured Prospects Prospects Exposed To Content
Response Rate to InMails Sent By Sales Teams
+150%
14XHigher Than Average
E-mail Response Rate*

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

1 Invest in thought-leadership to drive sales
2 Package your thought-leadership into “blockbusters”
3 Use your blockbuster to achieve touchpoint consistency
4 Amplify your blockbuster via employees

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”