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

How C-19 Impacted Business in Q2: HubSpot

HubSpot provides an interesting view of the market in Q2 as it reacted to the pandemic impact. Interestingly, it appears overall that marketing is doing better with increased engagement, while sales is working hard to capture interest. Let’s review a few of their findings:

1. Buyer Interest – Site Traffic: Global site traffic increased by 16% during Q2 compared to Q1.
2. Buyer Interest – Customer-Initiated Chat: Total chat volume in Q2 outpaced Q1 by a notable 31%.
3. Buyer Engagement – Email Marketing: Email open rates have hovered around 10-20% above the benchmark throughout Q2.
4. Buyer Engagement – Sales Emails: Response rates dropped 24% in Q2, even as email volume fluctuated throughout the quarter.
5. Buyer Engagement – Call Prospecting: While both marketing and sales email volume went up globally, call prospecting plummeted, falling to a low of 27% below the benchmark by the week of April 6. But this has been trending up since that time.

So how do those findings stack up with what you experienced in Q2? Our clients certainly experienced an initial pause of some activities, but have become more active, driving outbound B2B marketing programs as time has gone on.

Redeploying Marketing Skills: Forrester Research

What do you do with your marketing team if the market has significantly changed or eliminated some of your previous marketing avenues? The easiest example is the dedicated events team that suddenly has no events to plan or execute. Now what?

According to Forrester’s research, companies should take a step back to assess skill sets and then redeploy to address two major areas:

1. Stalled initiatives: What has stalled but still needs to get done (data and analytics, customer journey mapping, and customer reference development)?
2. Shifting priorities: Given the changes in the market, as seen in HubSpot results above, where can you shift team members to grow your capacity in another needed area?

It’s almost impossible to predict the future so we all want to optimize and retain good marketing and sales talent. Are you rewriting your plan?

Opportunity: The Music Industry Needs The Video Gaming Industry

Necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes. And that’s what came to mind as I read the article, Why The Music Industry Needs The Video Gaming Industry’s Help To Scale Virtual Concerts.

In 2019, Fortnite held a virtual concert that proved music and gaming can go hand in hand. The show featured the renowned DJ Marshmello. Even though it only lasted ten minutes, the live music streaming event attracted 10 million viewers. Testing out a new avenue of connecting with an audience resulted in tremendous success.

In this unusual time of soaring temperatures, C-19, and no live music events, we have to look for opportunities and take a chance. Maybe take a small risk on something new and see what happens.

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

The post Scanning the B2B Landscape appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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

The post Don’t Quit Now! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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

Should We Rethink the Restart?

As many of us focus on how we will come out of lockdown, businesses need to think about what a post-lockdown world will look like for them. According to B2BMarketing, the big question in B2B is existential – is your business a Tesco, an Airbus, or a British Airways? No matter the size of your business, I think the principles still apply in terms of where we all are on this continuum.

Here at Virtual Causeway, we didn’t stop! We’ve been helping our clients rethink their ICPs and adjust their strategies based on market demand and impact. We’re constantly listening, watching and adapting.

Deal Volume Continues to Rise – HubSpot Data

The first week of June showed deals created and deals won almost at pre-COVID levels! Construction, Manufacturing and Computer Software continue to lead over other industries. North America and APAC lead in terms of regions. Those are encouraging signs that I hope translate for all of us. Report details here.

Pandemic Aftershock: 90% of Indie Music Venues May Shut Down

I think we’re only beginning to see some of the unfortunate aftereffects of the extended closure. Some grim music news I read this week – according to a survey by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), 90% of independent music venues will shut down (or not reopen) without additional financial assistance. For those of you that love live music, this is a scary thought!

Will this also impact venues for B2B events? I’ve been thinking about the potential shift towards more permanent work-from-home arrangements and how that will impact corporate real estate and public venues. But I miss those quick hallway conversations. Bob Dylan is still right: The Times They Are A-Changin’

What do B2B Marketers Do Now? With VanillaSoft…. Webinar Replay

In case you didn’t catch it live, this webinar replay is a timely interaction with Darryl Praill, CMO of VanillaSoft and is available on-demand! Check it out here, as we learn firsthand how Darryl and his team navigated a shift in ICP and focused on key growth areas to move forward.

As we head into summer, I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy a ‘new normal’ summer vacation! Will B2B slow down over the summer? Will people be working extra hard to make up for the lockdown? I don’t know but I do hope to spend time on the water (not under it)!

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

The post Rethink the B2B Marketing Restart? appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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

North America’s Economy – OPEN FOR BUSINESS?

My clients have all been reporting that sales and marketing activity (and more importantly – client/prospect engagement) has been picking up through the month of May. What do the experts say? Hubspot shows that deal creation and sales activity (particularly in the US) continues to increase as the economy opens up.

However, while sales results are incrementally improving week-over-week, the data shows that salespeople are still spending a great deal of time reaching out to poor-fit prospects. The deal pipeline metrics are an encouraging sign that more businesses are re-entering buying processes, but it’s still too early to tell how much of this growth will be sustained. Your sales team should continue prioritizing high-interest, good-fit buyers rather than indiscriminately prospecting – and focus on moving people through the buying cycle!

B2B SaaS Job Market

The Bridge Group recently conducted some interesting research into the B2B SaaS job market and how it’s been impacted by the pandemic. The good news? It seems like the worst could be over, and hiring is ramping back up. The bad news? Late March was brutal, and roughly 30% of companies surveyed laid-off sales personnel through late April and froze their hiring.

See the whole report here.

Shifting from Live to Digital Events

I’ve previously shared data and research from TOPO and SiriusDecisions about shifting from live to digital events in a COVID world. And last week, I shared some additional commentary on the music industry. I thought this article from Dave Grohl on the live music scene was appropriate and quite well written and speaks to the need for live events and interaction.

We all have seen some shoddy attempts at digital recreations of live events (both musically and within B2B). I think we’re all agreed that live music will come back – not sure when, but it WILL come back. But how about the B2B space? What do you think? Are we all itching for some great LIVE B2B events and tradeshows?

Shameless Plug – Webinar featuring VanillaSoft

Reminder that the first of our new ‘What do B2B Marketers Do Now? (in 29 minutes!)’ webinar series happens on May 27 at 2pm ET. We’ll discuss marketing and sales strategies to help organizations gain traction on the road to business recovery and growth. This month I’ll be featuring Darryl Praill, CMO of VanillaSoft, and leader of the INSIDE Inside Sales podcast.

I hope you can join us – register here. We’re all in this together!

Looking forward,

Rick

Rick Endrulat | President | Virtual Causeway | 519.866.1600 x622

The post B2B Pushing for Recovery appeared first on Virtual Causeway.