Our world is more connected than ever, and technology statistics say that B2B marketers are embracing innovation fully:
"70% of survey respondents said they expect their marketing technology budget to increase slightly (50%) or greatly (20%) in 2017." - Walker Sands
However, marketing technology is only one slice of tech that marketers should worry about. B2B marketers should also pay attention to broader technology trends that will shape our industry in 2017 and beyond.
These B2B technology statistics will identify four major shifts that marketers should watch out for.
Analytical decision-making is more important than ever: This study by Worldwide and Regalix shows that nearly 80% of marketers will invest in dashboards for marketing analytics. Furthermore, nearly 65% will invest in SaaS and cloud-based analytics software.
Data is vital to making marketing decisions because it allows you to:
Therefore, B2B marketers must look alive and invest in marketing analytics software. If they don't, they'll find themselves left behind by their savvier competitors.
This German and Experton study points to a worldwide trend — The rise of the cloud. As a result, several new realities will take off. But most notable for B2B marketers is this:
"SasS will move away from one-size-fits-all to regional and industry solutions." - according to TalkIn Cloud.
For B2B marketers in the SaaS industry, this means more deliberate targeting is necessary. Specifically, marketers must collaborate with company executives to determine a vision for targeting and segmentation.
Furthermore, marketers should seek buy-in on marketing technology that lets them adapt messaging to newly defined segments, research buyer personas, segment correspondence, and more.
It's now becoming inevitable: The IoT will shake up major industries, including manufacturing, technology, transportation, and more.
What does mean for technology marketing? B2B marketers may find their industries disrupted or enhanced by IoT, so it's important to stay in the know about the technology.
This is for your own benefit as well as your personas: You may need to explain new efficiencies to your audience. Your buyer personas may even shift towards being tech-savvy buyers. And for some B2B businesses, you will need to overcome the major buyer concerns to adopting IoT, which include those above:
40% of IoT buyers are concerned about data privacy, and another 40% are worried about the security of IoT solutions.
This means messaging must be solid for IoT marketers, and content must address real problems and solutions that an IoT infrastructure presents.
As mentioned before, security concerns are a growing dilemma for enterprises in the era of cloud computing and IoT. Consequently, fears may prevent buyers from innovating past legacy systems:
36% of buyers think the cloud is no more secure, somewhat less secure, or much less secure than legacy systems.
Therefore, marketers involved in digital services, SaaS, or any aspects of cloud computing should partner with tech leaders internally. They must have a deep understanding of security concerns, as well as the solutions offered. This means gathering (and presenting) concrete anecdotes and statistics on security to buyers. Additionally, testimonials and social proof can help appease buyer fears.
Make sure there is no disconnect between the features you're marketing and the real buyer concerns that come up during the sales process. Internal communication between marketers, sales, and IT personnel (and, increasingly, operations management) will help foster a streamlined value proposition. And, moreover, communication will put all teams to work on a unified message about what's really important to the buyer.
Further Reading: B2B Inbound Marketing: Innovative Strategies You Need By 2018
Sources
https://www.statista.com/statistics/622044/leading-marketing-analytics-tools-used-by-b2b-marketers-worldwide/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/459999/b2b-cloud-computing-market-volume-by-segment-germany/
https://talkincloud.com/cloud-services/10-cloud-computing-trends-watch-2017
https://www.statista.com/statistics/690190/iot-adoption-hurdles-and-obstacles/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/541219/united-states-cloud-security-survey-cloud-infrastructure-security-measures/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/541201/united-states-cloud-security-survey-security-perceptions/