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Bonus Episode 3

Must-Know Trends and Strategies in B2B Marketing

Illustration of Jillian White, Media Director at MRM

About This Episode

June 14, 2023

We break down the latest trends in B2B marketing and share must-know strategies for your next winning B2B campaign.

Jillian White | Media Director, MRM

Julian Lo | Sales Director, StackAdapt

00:00

Transcript

Episode Introduction (00:00:00)

So you, you’re saying that’s a lead, that’s great. But that may not mean that in the marketing automation tool that’s actually a qualified lead, making sure that you’re understanding what the usage is, it may be a great awareness channel, because you’re getting people to engage with your content. But if they’re not coming to your website and looking at more information, it may be a more passive engagement rather than an active one because you’re not requiring an action from them. So it’s making sure that you’re understanding the uses of each channel properly, so that you can track back and how things are performing.

How Agencies Thrive Introduction (00:00:28)

But then you think about the social landscape. Research data is hugely significant when we combine all of these different touchpoints. So that long-term loyalty and then diving into the clicks to leads to sales, gotten to a point where it can drive better results and audience targeting and really, is what’s going to set you apart. You’re tuning in to the How Agencies Thrive podcast.

Sneha (00:00:53)

Millennials make 73% of all B2B buying decisions. The majority, that is 89% of B2B researchers gather information about potential purchases through the internet. That’s definitely a bunch of interesting numbers for you to know as Marketo. And in this episode, we’re talking about all things B2B marketing, with a special focus on B2B in the digital space. Hello, and welcome to the How Agencies Thrive Podcast. I’m Sneha Suhas from StackAdapt. With me, I have Jillian White, Media director at MRM and StackAdapt. Very Own Sales Director, Julian Lo. Thank you for joining us, before we jump into more intense questions, Jillian, could you please tell us about your professional background, your areas of expertise and also introduce MRM to the listener?

Jillian (00:01:51)

Yeah, I’m Jillian White, I have been in a multitude of different spaces, starting mostly in higher education, going into business to consumer, and now back in the B2B space, primarily focusing on digital media do have background in traditional media. But really, what I think is fun about B2B is being able to understand the user and their behaviors, and how we can help benefit our customers. And driving leads further down the funnel, and a little bit about MRM. Based out of Salt Lake here, for the MRM West office, we really focus on B2B business, working with a lot of tech companies and helping them drive their sales funnel.

Sneha (00:02:35)

Amazing. Thank you so much. And you, Julian?

Julian (00:02:39)

So as you mentioned, I’m a sales rep here at StackAdapt. I’ve been here for just over three years, been working across a number of different verticals. But one that has really been a focus of my portfolio has been the B2B vertical among, you know, e-commerce, healthcare. B2B has really been a cornerstone of, you know, the clients that I work with working through the pandemic, and you know, different economic changes. B2B has always been a very consistent portion of our book of business here at StackAdapt. And in terms of personal experience, prior to StackAdapt, I also had experience at a large Holdco agency up here in Canada, you know, working across programmatic, social, and traditional ad formats as well, like Out of Home TV, radio, so broadcasts so definitely have experience and a multitude of different parts of the media industry. But obviously, since I’ve joined StackAdapt, programmatic has been my focus for the last few years.

Sneha (00:03:52)

Amazing. Thanks so much for joining us. So my first question to you is, how’s the market for B2B looking so far in 2023? And what are some of the changes or trends you’d say, marketers need to watch out for?

Jillian (00:04:09)

So far in 2023 it’s, I think it’s a difficult position that most companies are in right now. You know, it’s understanding the user behaviours, there’s so much clutter out there in terms of how do you stand out? You know, how do you how do you actually grab the user’s attention. You know, it’s, if you haven’t been in the industry for long, it’s how do you upsell How do you stand out? How do you sell through your business? You know, without being able to be, you know, the top within the top five, you know, it’s, there’s so much content out there and people trying to, or companies trying to kind of sell, you know, what are their benefits, but how do you question that and so a lot of people what you’re seeing in the B2B space, they go to their trusted sources. As they’re talking to their co-workers they’re talking to or listening to their influencers. So who do they people? Who do they trust? So how do you get alignment with those industry thought leaders, I think is really where you’re going to make the difference. Because it’s just so competitive out there. You know, there’s could be were five years ago, there was one or two competitors. And now there’s 15 to 20. So how do you get your selling points across in a white paper that, you know, maybe reads for five minutes where the consumer really only has one minute, you know, how do you shorten and get your point across so fast and try and find your users on a day to day basis? I think is a big issue that people are running into when we’re running B2B marketing. So it’s, it’s really competitive. And it’s so it’s trying to figure out how do we set ourselves apart? And how do we talk about the benefits in a quick, down-and-dirty way?

Julian (00:05:58)

I agree with everything Jillian has mentioned so far, I think what we’re seeing a lot is tied to that in terms of increased use, within video ad formats within the space. So as Julian mentioned, you know, usually within this space, within B2B, a lot of marketers and buyers look to the trusted, you know, sources of information, white papers, industry, publications, things like that. But obviously, you know, when we think about advertising businesses, it’s it is different, obviously, compared to, you know, the b2c field, but at the end of the day, you know, we’re still reaching a human being at the end of the day, and, you know, how do we get in front of these people? Right, one thing that I always talk about when, when speaking with clients who are advertising with them in the B2B space is, you know, think about your own media consumption, you know, habits, right, you know, obviously, I’m in the programmatic space, I’m in the advertising space. But how often am I spending every day, you know, looking into content relating to that, right? Obviously, having that contextual alignment is really important. But you know, throughout my day, I consume media, that’s, you know, related to other things, you know, news, recipes, whatever it may be streaming video. So I think that’s one thing that within the B2B space we’re seeing a lot more is, you know, obviously, everybody wants to have that contextual placement and contextual relevancy with their placements. And it’s a lot of, you know, a lot of display a lot of native formats, but video has been growing significantly. I think there’s a stat out there saying that 86% of marketers say that video has helped them generate leads and 81% say that, you know, it’s helped increase sales. So, you know, that’s something that is going to be increasing year over year. And, you know, as you mentioned, Sneha, with millennials making, you know, bulk of the decision, and as the overall population ages, more of those people will be, you know, Gen Z as we move forward, you know, being in front of them across the ad formats that matter to them, you know, Gen Z, perhaps, you know, in-game could be a place, that would be a place that will expand for B2B, in the next couple of years, being in front of people in you know, content adjacent to content that is relevant to them, you know, will be something that we’re going to see more and more of within the B2B space.

Jillian (00:08:32)

The other thing to think about is, you know, we have clients, especially when you get into more product, those sales cycles, you have to think about, you know, what’s that timeline look like? If it’s eight to 12 months, you have to maintain kind of that awareness, that presence within content throughout that entire time. It’s not just reaching someone once or twice, it’s, you know, how can you maintain or retarget them over and over again, you know, to a reasonable frequency, so you’re not over-killing the audience, but at least you have some sort of presence so that when they are ready, you know, you have that first line and decision. So those are things that also, you know, you should think about is, I believe there was a stat that, you know, 95 or 96% of users that we reach in B2B marketing are not in that decision phase yet. So you have to think about you have to be ready, right when they’re ready to purchase or they’re interested in purchasing. So maintaining that top of mind is really important.

Sneha (00:09:39)

Yeah, that’s great. You mentioned tough times. You also mentioned staying on top of mind. So my next question is about combining these two, especially for organizations running on tight budgets right now. What do you think they can do? What are some of the tips that you can share so they can get the best out of every set?

Jillian (00:10:02)

I mean, to me, a lot of it comes down to analytics, making sure that you are working very closely with your analytics team. Because as if you can track where your budget is being spent, how it’s performing, when users get to the website, you know, being able to track that back to which ads are performing well, or which content is performing well, that’ll allow you to optimize your campaign, and ensure that you’re spending the budget properly. So setting those KPIs up, making sure that everything is set up properly on the website, I think is really important to understanding the user’s journey, and what actions they’re taking until they get to conversion.

Julian (00:10:39)

I think on my end, the programmatic and what we’re seeing is that, you know, the foundation for the success of a B2B campaign is really the how precise we’re able to leverage available data and signals to target exactly, you know, who we need to reach, you know, using Account Based Marketing Solutions, you know, firmographic data, Technographics signals, and having the right partner to be able to basically action on those different data signals is really key. Given the current market factors, media buyers are ensuring more than ever, that, as you mentioned, like they need to make sure that whatever they are investing, they’re getting the most out of so with really robust targeting, and then having a complementary measurement or analytic solution on the other end completes the circle. And make sure that, you know, none of these dollars are going to waste like we’re tracking it from start to finish to see you know, what type of ROI we’re bringing within the space.

Sneha (00:11:43)

Amazing. Jumping right into the next question. Data Integration and alignment between marketers, and the sales team is crucial to achieve revenue growth expected from both. But there might be gaps in this. So how do you make sure that the leads generated through marketing are actually qualified leads, and that they are being used to generate revenue?

Jillian (00:12:08)

That’s a loaded question. Like because it is going to vary by client, it depends on how their internal infrastructure is set up, you know, what tools that they’re using a lot of the time, it’s ensuring that, you know, depending on what CRM they’re using, it maps to their marketing automation tool, which then can connect to the social channels or the display channels, you know, and having that feedback loop going with both the sales team and the internal marketing team, it’s really helpful to kind of provide that feedback back to the campaign’s just so that we know exactly what’s happening, once they get further down the funnel, you know, you could be generate a lot of leads with content syndication, you know, and to you, you’re seeing, that’s a lead, that’s great. But that may not mean that in the marketing automation tool, that that’s actually a qualified lead, you know, so it’s kind of making sure you understand the usage of each channel, you know, I kind of think of content syndication, as more of a top of funnel channel, because the user isn’t necessarily coming to the website, and downloading content directly from you know, the client. And so it’s making sure that you’re understanding what the usage is, it may be a great awareness channel, because you’re getting people to engage with your content, you’re educating them on your product. But if they’re not coming to your website, and looking at more information, it may be a more passive engagement rather than an active because they’re not, you’re not requiring an action from them, necessarily on your site. So it’s making sure that you’re understanding the uses of each channel, you know, making sure that again, you have all of the proper tracking setup. UTM is in place, or whatever, you know, analytics tracking tool you have, making sure that that all flows through properly, so that you can track back and get that feedback on how things are performing.

Julian (00:14:03)

I think, from StackAdapt. And what we’ve done quite a bit with understanding, you know, how we fit within the overall sales funnel with B2B advertisers and agencies is really just having constant communication with our clients. Because, you know, we understand that we’re one piece of the overall puzzle of the overall tech stack, right. Specifically, we fall into the advertising piece of the marketing stack, and specifically digital and programmatic. So we have a limited point of view, if we’re just focused on what’s right in front of us and obviously, you know, we’re going to drive to reach the KPIs and goals that have been set out for our particular piece of the overall equation, but having constant communication with our agency clients like Jillian And you know, even if possible having that communication with the end client and the advertisers to understand, you know, what is their overall strategy? What are they doing with the individual pieces really gives us additional context to say, hey, you know what, looking at programmatic, we’re doing great in this this area. But what else can we do to contribute to the success of the other portions of your overall marketing strategy? So I think, you know, having that communication and transparency between, you know, us, as the DSP and agencies and the brands is probably the key piece that that we can do to help this whole process.

Sneha (00:15:44)

Here’s a question on the final stage of the marketing funnel, can you tell us a little about personalized targeting and use of creatives that leads to conversion when it comes to B2B?

Jillian (00:15:56)

So when we talk about personalization, I think we all kind of get a little standoffish. You know, I don’t want to know that you know, everything about me. And I think that that’s pretty true for, you know, a lot of our clients a lot of their potential customers, I like to think about personalization, and that you know, what kind of content I like to consume. So maybe thinking about it more in a sense of, you know, that I want to read more about, say, I’m a bank and I, you know, want to get more HELOC customers. So it’s serving up content that’s most relevant to them, and advertising and sending them to pages that are most relevant to their journey. I don’t think that it’s necessarily, hey, Julian, I have a HELOC loan for you. That’s probably a little bit too personal. But when you think about what content they’re engaging, are they visiting your competitors websites, serving them up relevant information, I think is the level of personalization people are looking for right now.

Julian (00:16:59)

I agree. And I think one thing that we’ve seen success with in terms of personalization is from a creative aspect. I think about like the products within the B2B space, you know, there could be products that can be used by a variety of different types of people, you know, whether their job functions vary, or whatever it may be, or maybe there’s a product that requires the acceptance and approval across different departments of a company. And, you know, if we are to put together a strong and granular targeting strategy and have that work in lockstep with your creative messaging, that is something that I’ve seen, has been, you know, very powerful in driving users down the conversion funnel, right? Because there’s nothing worse than you know, being targeted with an ad, even if you are the right, right target with messaging that isn’t relevant to you. So having the right targeting and using the appropriate creative resources to, you know, get that relevant message in front of these users, is one that I think is, is one way to kind of really personalize your ads to see some positive ROI.

Sneha (00:18:22)

Amazing. I have fun final question. If the person listening to this is just starting off in their career, what is a piece of advice you’d like to give them? And do you have any recommendations for resources that they could use to keep themselves updated? And how do they go about this?

Jillian (00:18:42)

Um, I mean, my biggest thing that I tell my team all the time is question everything. You know, it’s what works for one campaign could not work for another. So always poking into, you know, what’s that next level? Looking at the domains? are the domains doing what we want them to? Or are they performing? Is the audience engaging in the way we want them to? If it is, what’s that not one step further, that we can push the campaigns to kind of hopefully exceed our client’s benchmarks. I mean, read as many blogs, and websites as you can. I mean, I have my tried and true that I like to read. But again, I sign up for any blog, I can, and just do the top five headlines each week, just trying to make sure that I’m understanding what some trends might be. But also knowing your gut and trusting, you know, the data is going to tell you what it’s going to tell you, and you can’t question it. So, you know, always just being curious and questioning the media performance, making sure that you’re working closely with your partners, and you know, trying to troubleshoot with your creative team. Collaboration is huge. I think that you know, we’re in an age where we all work from home At least 50% of the time, some a little more, some a little less. So we might have lost that collaboration with some of our creative or strategy teams with our sales teams. So making sure that you’re following up with people and making sure that you’re relaying the results across all the different disciplines so that you can optimize the campaign. You know, they may, you know, I can put a media plan together completely different from Julian. But we may get to the same end result, but what we learn along the way can vary. So I think just always question and always read, you know, think about your daily usage habits, even if you’re not the end user, or the end goal user, making sure that you’re thinking about how you use media could be very similar.

Julian (00:20:47)

I think from my end, what I would recommend is, speak to as many people as you can, you know, if you’re currently in a company, that or an agency or a company’s marketing department, I would speak to anyone that you can and kind of just get their perspective on things, you know, prior to being a StackAdapt, which is obviously, you know, programmatic DSP, you know, I worked across a number of different departments when it comes to media, as I mentioned, you know, broadcast social partnerships, things like that. And not that I was, you know, heavily integrated with, with every department, but I think what I’ve learned across these different parts of the media business gave me more of a holistic understanding of, you know, what do buyers want from, you know, programmatic vendor, right, because nothing is ever going to be in a silo, right, you know, programmatic is going to be a piece of a larger strategy, which is part of another larger strategy. So getting different perspectives, and, you know, not specializing right off the bat, I think, would be my advice. And, you know, I guess this is probably a very cliche thing, but I think it’s true is reach out to people within the industry, that you know, you look up to, or people that you find on LinkedIn, if there’s someone that you know, has the position or is working in the field that you want, one day be in, you know, feel free to reach out to them and get their thoughts on, you know, what would be something that you could develop or learn to get to, you know, one day where they are, I think that’s one thing that’s really helped me out when I was earlier in my career, just, you know, reaching out to people and getting their perspective, you know, and maybe you might find out what they’re doing might not be something that you want, but it could put you into a trajectory of the path that is truly, you know, the right path for you. So, I would definitely suggest reaching out to you know, anyone that you think would be relevant to learn from on LinkedIn, and expand your network.

Sneha (00:23:07)

Amazing, a lot of takeaways here. And that brings us to the end of this episode. Great input from Jillian and Julian, thank you so much for joining us and being great guests. And thank you for tuning in. We have episodes releasing on alternate Wednesdays so make sure you follow the podcast. If you want to catch the episode, right when it drops, subscribe, follow. If you want to get in touch with us. We’re at academy@stackadapt.com That is academy@stackadapt.com. This has been the How Agencies Thrive podcast. See you in the next episode.

Episode Outro (00:23:45)

Thank you so much for tuning in. This has been the How Agencies Thrive podcast. If you like what you heard, then there’s three things that you can do to support the show. Number one, subscribe. Number two, leave us a review. And number three, share our podcasts on social media or with anyone who might find value in this content. If you have questions or feedback or just want to learn how agencies and brands work with StackAdapt, you can us at StackAapt.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

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