I admit it – I’m a fan of holidays! And yes, I was on the water this past weekend! Hope you got to take a breather too. To get you back into the B2B swing of things in the office gently, listen to this ’90s Alt-Rock classic from Jane’s Addiction as you read on.

Here is what the experts are saying, and some takeaways from the past week:

B2B Tech Marketing Trends On the Rise In 2020: Forbes Report

Forbes Communications Council took a look at rising B2B marketing trends. Let’s review a few of their findings:

  1. Mastering The Soft Sell. In the current environment, compassion and understanding are key to connecting. At Virtual Causeway, the funnel activities we find most effective are educational or thought leadership materials – this is not the time for the hard sell.
  2. Click Segmentation. John Orlando from Constant Contact notes that “by automatically segmenting email lists based on what people click on, brands are seeing higher open and click-through rates, to lower unsubscribe rates.” Is this something you are doing?
  3. Podcasts Being The New Normal. In our work with clients at Virtual Causeway, we see the rise in the consumption of webinars and podcasts by sales leads. It can be consumed on-the-go or by the multi-taskers! The key is being relevant to the listener.

It’s time for nimble marketing! What are you trying out?

What B2B Buyers Crave: Forrester Research

This Forrester report offers a view into how B2B buyers are changing and in many ways becoming more like a consumer buyer. “Your buyers now expect a fundamentally different relationship with your company,” the report says. “Customers now control more of their buying journeys—and they know it. Your job is no longer to convince them to buy, it’s to help them buy.”

The growing expectation is that B2B sellers need to be proactive in the buyer’s journey. “More than 60% of buyers now say sellers who are knowledgeable and address their needs have the most positive impact on their buying decisions,” the report says. So how are you going to help your customers buy?

Don’t Quit: Drive-In Music Festival

As I’ve mentioned previously, there has been a resurgence at Drive-Ins given the lockdown. But it brought a smile to my face as a musician when I read that Road Rave is set to be the first North-American drive-in EDM festival of its kind. Don’t quit – just adapt!

That’s my continuing mantra heading into the summer: don’t quit – just adapt. What is your most urgent sales or marketing challenge? How are you adapting to better engage your market?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat | President | Virtual Causeway | 519.866.1600 x622