The B2B marketing world is constantly changing and adapting new methods of operation, technology, and trends. Therefore, your business must keep up with the latest developments to succeed. Your teams must continuously monitor marketing statistics and internal trends among your clients. 

We’ve put together some of the biggest B2B trends we anticipate in 2022 and how they will help you improve your business this year.

1. Account-Based Marketing

A LinkedIn poll has shown that Account-Based Marketing will be a top marketing trend in 2022. 

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is where the marketing and sales department uses targeted campaigns to engage specific accounts. It basically flips the sales funnel upside down.

These campaigns are designed for targeted interaction based on specific needs and attributes of each account. ABM goes beyond lead generation. It is also appropriate for cross-selling and upselling to get more value from the larger accounts.

This year, you will want to adopt this strategy to ensure the best customer experience for your clients. 

How Do You Implement ABM?

Step 1: Identify your high-value target accounts

These are those critical accounts with the potential to generate the most revenue for your company. You can identify these quickly through your CRM system. The system helps you keep all customer-related information in a centralized database for analysis. 

In so doing, you could also take time to understand their needs and wants across the whole journey.   

Step 2: Develop customized marketing campaigns

You should develop creative and specific strategies and tactics that address your intended audience's needs and wants based on your research. Then, launch and run the campaigns.

Step 3: Measure your customized marketing campaigns

Even with account-specific marketing and sales campaigns, you must constantly measure your results. The data would ideally help you identify weak points in your tactics and those that work well.

2. CRM Solutions

CRM use will continue to grow, with its global market reach poised to hit around $113.46 billion around 2027. Reportedly, 65% of sales professionals use a CRM, while 97% consider sales technology "important."

This shows that more than ever, CRM is critical, especially for B2B businesses. Therefore, your business should adopt and implement an effective CRM system this year. Otherwise, you risk losing your valuable clients to the competition. 

Some best practices for implementing your CRM:

Train Your Workers

Even though it runs as automation, your team will have to manage your CRM system. So, you must train them adequately. For most businesses, it helps to host periodical training courses with your CRM provider to show your team how it works.

Since there are often new updates, you could arrange to have a support agent on standby to keep you up to speed. 

Find Good Systems

Your CRM strategy is only as effective as the system you adopt. So, you must take the time to identify the best approach for your business. Ideally, this will depend on:

• The size of your team

• The average number of leads and prospects

• Your set goals and objectives.

Ideally, you also want to decide whether a niche or all-in-one system works for you.

Initially, it helps to test different functions and features to figure out what works for your business. That might also help you customize your chosen CRM system to suit your needs efficiently. 

Understand your target audience

To get the best out of your CRM, you must study your customer needs and interests. That way, you can design effective tactics and strategies that drive the kind of engagement you need. 

3. Increase in Millennial B2B Buyers

B2B buyers have largely evolved, with up to 73% of millennials now involved in the buying process. What does this change signify? Your sales method might need to adjust to your new breed of buyers. 

This customer category often poses new marketing challenges, like communication, different interests, and others. Some new ways your business can adapt to millennial B2B buyers include:

• Millennials seek more information through multiple avenues. So, your business should increase access and availability of this information to reach this cohort. For example, boosting SEO, social media, and others.

• Personalization is key. Such consumers are statistically drawn towards more personalized experiences. So, this should be an integral part of your strategy. Marketing automation can help you here since it makes segmentation, targeting, and personalization easier. 

• Live chats, and quick feedback is essential. Like many other groups, millennial customers expect quick responses and solutions. So, you must invest in efficient customer care service, social media customer service, etc., to maximize engagement and encourage purchase in 2022. 

4. AI and Chatbots

By 2022, 25% of businesses will launch Augmented Reality(AR). Also, over 70% are likely to experiment with it. Needless to say, AR and AI are here to stay.

What does this mean for you? AI could become more of an expectation for customers in 2022. Whereas they expect personalization, they know this is not 100% possible. So, using AI properly would improve your brand image, as you appear up to date with trends. 

You will need an effective chatbot strategy that addresses your audience's needs yet also helps your business save time and resources. 

5. Adoption of Digital and Less In-person Events

There has been a massive increase in online events and communication. In-person events decreased to 42% over the last 2 years. Meanwhile, virtual events/webinars and online courses increased to about 67%. 

What does this mean for you? Customers have moved with the trends and are more willing to do online events. Therefore, you might want to restructure your communications and content to meet this need.

• Invest more in live streams and events that encourage on-time engagement and remote participation. Many platforms now allow for live streaming, which has proven more effective than pre-recorded meetings.

• Webinars will also be an essential factor in lead generation, even for small businesses. Since video content still reigns, webinars will be even more popular for customers that need quick, comprehensive information in a less boring way.

Conclusion

The B2B space promises to be even more competitive this year. So, you must prepare your business with the right strategies to not lose out to the competition. Key to note is that automation and digitalization will continue to rule. With the right automation tools, you will maximize returns on your marketing strategies.

SharpSpring is a comprehensive automation system with multiple features customizable for businesses of any size. Get a free demo today and see how it can work for you.