The B2B marketing dynamics have changed significantly in 2020, credits to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the disruptions in how buyers and sellers interacted. But, while the implications reflect on the slowing down economy, it is also important to do an in-depth analysis of how the recent events have impacted online marketing for B2B companies.
Online Marketing Stats 2020 Let’s talk numbers first. Here are some of the most compelling stats of 2020 that show how significant has been the changes in B2B marketing this year.
The top marketing objective for B2B sellers in 2020 is conversion. The lack of sales during 2020 has made most B2B sellers desperate for conversion.
72% of customers want B2B companies to offer personalized solutions.
47% of B2B marketers have put personalization as their go-to strategy for increasing sales in 2020 and beyond.
Digital marketing has become the top marketing spend for 56% of marketers in the B2B sector.
63% of B2B marketers still rely on referrals as the most effective source of B2B leads.
Two-thirds of B2B companies effectively rely on marketing automation software.
The B2B eCommerce is expected to grow to $1.8T by 2023.
The average number of online research B2B customers do before engaging a brand is 12.
Content marketing has become crucial since 62% of B2B customers rely on online content alone to make a business decision.
The average open-rate of B2B email marketing campaigns is a staggering 21.33!
B2B transactions can be sped up by 20% when done on mobile.
90% of the B2B customers report that they are more likely to purchase from a B2B brand that provides a superior mobile experience.
Almost 50% of the content created by B2B marketers is designed for potential customers in the early stages of their buying journey.
Three Major Impacts of Online Marketing on B2B Sales
Every B2B business had to cope with three major challenges during the whole of 2020.
Firstly, they had to find ways to navigate through the crisis or fall back on a contingency plan.
Secondly, they needed to create a solid plan for recovery because the pandemic isn’t going to stay forever.
Third and most important of them all, discovering solutions to restore the sales figure by reimagining the new normal. All this led them to experience a change in the following three ways:
Change in Marketing Expenditure
That had to happen. The pandemic left very little control in the hands of the experts because none knew what was to come. The drastic reductions in marketing and sales expenditures across the world only resulted in a weak B2B environment for the better half of 2020. However, by April 2020, large B2B companies already made up their minds to increase their spending or at least maintain it for a course of two weeks. Most importantly, these B2B business owners, if were manipulating their marketing expenditure, were only changing 25% of the total spend! This pattern of changing marketing expenditure was witnessed across sectors like pharma, media, and technology.
Digital Transition and Interactions
The shift to digital was inevitable. We had seen significant transitions to the digital channels in B2C settings and we could witness the same in the B2B arena. The importance of digital channels cannot be understated especially given the technological advancements we have had in the past few years. The importance grew ridiculously more, especially when the COVID-19 crisis hit the ceiling. A lot of this change to digital channels is due to changing customer behavior. Customers have been aggressive with their ‘buy online’ approach that it has become virtually impossible, in 2020, to make them leave their homes and interact with products like how it was pre-COVID-19. The use of online communities and mobile apps to transact has been high across the world for the past few months. The concept of self-service is quickly becoming a trend, something B2B owners should give more attention to.
Remote Sales Model
Remote selling or shift to remote was an essential step to survive the lockdowns. The shelter-in-place orders enforced across the world made it difficult for B2B sellers to go about their work the usual way. Forced to stay at home, they had no other alternative than getting things done from home. Today, almost 90 percent of the B2B sellers are working from home thanks to technologies like video conferencing. This shift is quite prominent in Asia. Sectors like media, technology, and telecom have adapted to work-from-home without much hassle. The shift to remote working in these sectors is almost 100 percent! However, the shift to remote working is quite debatable, especially when we look at how B2B functions. A survey was done by McKinsey showing how effective B2B sellers find the new sales model. 46 percent of the respondents found it less effective, 27 percent hardly found any change, and 27 percent were impressed by the results. Wrapping Up
Online marketing, in general, is a part of any brand marketing strategy that evolves pretty quickly. The changing habits and practices can sometimes disrupt the entire industry like it is doing now. It is in times like these that B2B brand owners should hang tough and trust alternatives that not only will help them fight the downward spiral they are experiencing right now but also future proof their businesses.
Do reach out to our team to discuss how to enhance your online marketing efforts.