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During these scorching summer days, let’s take a moment to check our collective B2B temperature. Just as monitoring your body temperature can help detect disease or sickness, so can monitoring various factors in your B2B sales and marketing strategies.

With the seesawing conditions we’ve encountered over the past few years, it’s crucial to maintain a deep understanding of your B2B health and wellness. Doing so helps you make informed decisions and positions your team for success – are you consistently inconsistent or on track?

Give this song by Hot Hot Heat a listen as we stay cool and see what the experts are saying this week.

Heat Alert! B2B Marketing Trends in 2023

Despite the looming threat of recession, 92% of marketers expect their budgets to increase or stay the same this year (at least for now). 86% say that data privacy regulations have impacted their marketing strategy over the past year. And most agree there’s one tactic that’s the biggest trend, has the highest ROI, and tops the to-do list for this year.

Those are just a few of the takeaways from HubSpot’s recently released The State of Marketing: Marketing Trends in 2023 from AI to Z report. This 46-page report is packed with stats and insights on all aspects of marketing from HubSpot and partners including Wistia and Litmus.

While the entire study is worth a read, here are some key takeaways and points of interest from the report:

1. SEO: Surprisingly Enticing Opportunity
   Given that organic search is one of the top two sources of traffic for business websites (at least on the B2B side), and has high conversion rates, it’s surprising that this research reports, “29% of marketers use a search-optimized website and blog to attract and convert leads.”
   Only 29%?! That doesn’t sound right. It’s also inconsistent with findings elsewhere in this study…
2. Video Marketing: Hotter Than Ever
   Video marketing is huge and somehow keeps getting huger. It’s been “the year of video” every year since 2017. Per the new HubSpot report, “Video is the most popular and effective media format for the fourth year in a row.”
3. Influencer Marketing: It’s Social (But Pick Your Platforms Carefully)
   Influencer marketing continues to grow in importance across industries, though priorities, platforms, and practices are much different between B2B and B2C influencer marketing.
4. The Last Word (Acronym, Actually) on Marketing Trends for 2023
   Likely because of the timing of the study, the research doesn’t say a lot about the impact artificial intelligence (AI) will have on marketing this year and beyond. It does note that AI is where everybody’s hanging out… marketing tools are now everywhere; they’ll help marketers with the perennial demand to “do more with less”; and “Content creators and marketers now have a new skill to learn – getting good at using AI.”

Streaming – Communism vs Capitalism?

I think sometimes we expect simple or quick answers to problems when the real solution is a horribly complex mess of contradictions that’ll chew you up and spit you out anyway. With that in mind, there was a weird peace of mind to be found in reading Will Page’s very interesting thoughts on the state of streaming.

Page likens the friction around streaming remuneration as being like communism meeting capitalism. The ‘communism’ view is that every song is worth the same. The ‘capitalism’ view is the opposite.

Seems that artists need to find other ways to generate revenue now, and need to be getting more adventurous, more inquisitive, and more playful in how they are connecting fans with music.

I don’t believe music’s cultural heft has diminished. But at some point, it’s like we all accepted that it’s just worth less now, and that was that. But like share prices, these things can move up as well as down, and perhaps we’re approaching a point where the value of music needs to be focused on a bit more.

What about B2B? As marketers and B2B professionals, unpredictability’s our responsibility. The value of certain things – including the goods and services that we provide – can go up and down unexpectedly. Things like a State of Marketing report can help mitigate some of that unpredictability, though.

So get more adventurous, more inquisitive, and more playful! How do you leverage data from reports like HubSpot’s to connect (or reconnect) with your fans?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Have You Done a B2B Temperature Check? appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Summer’s here!

Wow – can you believe we’re halfway through the year already? Feels like just yesterday we were working through our 2023 sales and marketing plans! Are you sailing into the summer with confidence, or are you constantly under pressure?

Give this song by Queen (and David Bowie) a listen as we hear what the experts are saying this week.

Stats/Trends – Knowing what this world is about

Q2 is almost wrapped. How are your sales and marketing activities trending?

As you know, I started this weekly email/blog during the pandemic to share stats, successes, and trends during turbulent times. I feel like it’s been too long since I’ve shared some actionable and tactical sales and marketing stats from my sources.

So here are some quick data points that you may find useful:

• The most effective channel for RDR (Revenue Development Rep) to engage a B2B buyer? Phone – 53%. Email – 36%. InMail, Social Media, and Website Chat all under 5%. Text (SMS) still under 1%.
• B2B buyer’s journey continues to stretch out. More than half of B2B purchases take longer than four months, and buyers engage in an average of 17 interaction types. Compared to just a year ago, 67% of B2B marketers say buyers are taking longer to commit to a purchase!
• Only 53% of sales professionals said that their organization’s sales tech stack aids productivity and positively impacts results. WOW! That’s a depressing statistic – with all the marketing and sales tech out there, how is this possible?

(Thanks to #forrb2bsummit and my awesome colleagues here at Virtual Causeway for sharing their data.)

Do these surprise you? What are you finding in your organization? Longer buying cycles, more buyer interactions, under-appreciated tech stacks… That’s a lot of pressure on people – how are you coping?

More Catalog Sales – Never rains but it pours

I’ve been closely following artists as they’ve sold their song catalogues over the past few years – seems like a way for many (aging?) artists to capitalize on the revenue potential of their songs as their touring and recording years dwindle.

Looks like Queen is in talks to sell their catalogue for the largest sum yet! As of now, Bruce Springsteen is the leader, having sold his song catalogue for around $500 million last year. If the rumours are true, Queen could sell their catalogue for over $1 billion!

Are these valuations getting ridiculous, or is there really that much value in their catalogues? In B2B, we see company valuations (especially in tech) that sometimes make us shake our heads, but if someone is willing to pay…

Many artists and bands might be feeling pressure pushin’ down to sell their catalogues. But with this price tag? Seems like a pretty easy choice!

Want to see the whole list of artists who have sold all or some of their catalogue? Here’s the running list compiled by fellow Canadian Alan Cross.

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

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As a guitarist, I’ve listened to my share of loud music. Back in the ’80s, there was no such thing as an unnecessary amplifier… the more the better! Just look at the videos from then – the back of the stage filled with huge amplifiers – which I thought was super cool.

But when it comes to language, Seth Godin advises against unnecessary amplifiers. That got me thinking about our communications and how we love hyperbole.

We might as well jump in and see what the experts are saying this week… so give this song by Van Halen a listen as we do!

AI’s Role in ABM

Artificial Intelligence seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. B2B Marketing Zone lists ways AI can support ABM. These are just a few:

• Segmenting your market
• Generating targeted content
• Scoring leads and determining when to engage

Of course, there are challenges in implementing AI for ABM. Understanding what data to collect and ensuring output quality are some big ones. Will AI-generated targeted content be too full of unnecessary amplifiers? Will it get to what’s real and have the right tone for your organization?

You won’t know until you begin, but there are definitely best practices you can follow when integrating AI. Make sure your goals and objectives are clear from the outset, regularly test your results, and ensure you have the resources available to manage and maintain your AI software… and soon enough, nothin’ will get you down!

Music & Tech Trends

Walls of amps aside, have you been wondering how music tech is trending in 2023? Bob Lefsetz shared some of his predictions. I found them particularly interesting, as just about all of them apply to B2B as well!

• Independent creators will continue to grow
• Ticketing is heading for a crunch point
• If TikTok is killed, Instagram reels will burgeon
• It’s harder to gain traction than ever before – so people will look for new ways to get noticed
• Everything happens slower than it ever did before
• In a digital world, people crave live, breathing events
• In an era of authenticity and credibility, sell out at your peril

Some of these trends sound awfully familiar, don’t they?

It was just last month we looked at a study finding that B2B sales cycles have increased (everything happening slower). And I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but it bears repeating: in a digital world – that’s now increasingly AI-driven – live, breathing human touchpoints are more important than ever!

There are challenges we may be facing with tech and AI. But there are some big advantages, too. So go ahead and jump – just make sure you’re making the necessary preparations for it!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post The Growing Role of AI in ABM appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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David Bowie would have turned 75 a couple of days ago. As someone who always innovated and embraced change, how would he react to the ups and downs of a pandemic-ridden world? Is it time to turn and face the strange and continue innovating and adapting in our own B2B worlds?

Give this Bowie song a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…

What are Marketing Leaders Investing in This Year?

According to HubSpot, 48% of marketers expect their budgets to increase in 2022. Here is a list of where marketers are focusing investments this year (some highlights below):

• Podcasts and other audio opportunities
• Social responsibility and diversity marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Short-form videos
• Permanent social media content
• Marketing technology

Where are you investing this year? We’ve certainly seen an increase in the amount of audio and video content that our clients are leveraging in their marketing efforts. What fascinations are fascinating you?

Live Events in 2022?

We’ve recently seen the Grammys postponed, live events cancelled, and more music tours rescheduled again. How will the landscape for live events (B2B and B2C) evolve this year? Who knows… but the world’s largest tech show was actually live and IN PERSON last week!

Did you attend? How was the experience? It will be interesting to see how things shake out this year – we’re all very optimistic, but once again finding ourselves facing the strange and trying to figure out how to conduct business in this new environment.

Albums Turning 50

Louder has shared this list of landmark albums that are turning 50 in 2022. And talk about timing – David Bowie is on the list!

The inclusion of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars as a ‘landmark’ is no exaggeration. The creation of the glam rock character Ziggy Stardust was iconic, remaining quite possibly Bowie’s definitive work all these years later. It’s a masterclass in branding and transformation.

Nothing is constant, so we must always adapt. Don’t just watch the ripples change their size – make a splash! What other lessons can we learn from Ziggy and apply to our own branding and marketing practices in B2B?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Constant Change? Don’t just Face it – Embrace it! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Last week we said Good Riddance to 2021… so let’s unite and welcome 2022 with open arms! Who’s excited about this year? Let’s get a jump-start on the new year and make this quarter our best yet.

Give this song by Smashing Pumpkins a listen with me, and hopefully, it motivates you as it does me every time I listen! The intro and overall emotion always get me moving!

What to Look Out For in 2022

I thought I’d share some resources as you get things kicked off for 2022 – here are some great articles that can help you out this year!

Our friend Tyler Lessard from Vidyard has shared his Top Sales Podcasts and Communities for 2022. The start of a new year is a great time to plan your learning journey and professional development, and these recommendations can be a great starting point!

What are the social media platforms to watch in 2022? HubSpot’s Top 8 includes a mix of new platforms (like Clubhouse); new features of existing platforms (Instagram Reels); and even some older ones that have seen some major recent growth (like Twitch). Check it out and see if you agree.

Spear Marketing shared their Top 6 Trends in B2B demand gen to watch this year. How will you adapt digital-first strategies to account for digital fatigue? Are you transitioning to a RevOps model? Let me know what you think of these trends, and if there are others you think we should keep an eye on!

2022 Music Industry Trends

What can we expect in 2022 for the music industry? DK-MBA predicts the Top 7 Trends to expect this year:

1. TikTok will become even more dominant
2. Sync deals & publishing will be a focus
3. Motion artwork will take over from the static image
4. Tipping will become a more viable monetization method
5. Thirst for live concerts will grow
6. More online music teachers
7. More artists will sell online ‘experiences’

You may have heard that TikTok was the most visited site of 2021 – even beating Google – and with the continuing pandemic prolonging venue shutdowns, limited capacities, and distancing regulations, these predictions make a lot of sense.

How will these predictions be reflected in B2B? It’s not a big leap to translate most of these music trends to our world. New tech, digital and virtual experiences, and new marketing/selling platforms. Same trends, just re-named for different industries.

Looking at the same trends in a different context can help you determine who is righteous, what is bold – and help you keep up with trends and channels that are relevant and current!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post … and What to Look Out For in 2022 appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

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Things are looking awful c-c-cold here lately. What better way to heat things up than some racy sales and marketing research? Seriously, though… we’re almost at year-end. Time to spice things up and get moving to hit your numbers and ensure a strong start to 2022!

Give this classic song from The Who a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…

Top 2022 Marketing Trends

Our friends at HubSpot (hmm… it’s time for another look at the data soon) released their list of marketing trends to watch in the next year. Marketers embraced digital transformation more than ever during the pandemic, but as countries cautiously reopened – and more consumers left the house – some businesses saw slumps in the virtual engagement and online traffic they’d come to rely on.

So how are we expecting things to play out next year? No real surprises, but here it goes:

1. Influencer marketing will evolve from trend to common marketing tactic.
2. Video marketers will keep content short.
3. Mobile optimization will be even more important.
4. Permanent social media posts could overtake ephemeral content.
5. Companies will prioritize social responsibility.
6. Experiential marketing could make a comeback.
7. More businesses will use SEO to concur search traffic.
8. Virtual events will continue, but some brands will invest less.
9. More consumers will hear branded audio content.
10. Inbound marketing will remain a best practice for growing brands.
11. Consumers will step into VR and AR experiences.
12. ABM will align more sales and marketing teams.

What are you finding with your business? How many of these trends are impacting you!? If you’re trying to cause a big sensation, keep this list in your back pocket – and hopefully some of these trends will ensure you don’t fade away!

Talkin’ ‘Bout YOUR Generation… and Streaming Habits

When we’re talking about generations, we see some real differences in streaming services. WeThrift took a look at how streaming subscriptions differ by generation.

80% of music fans have a music subscription of some sort. Surprisingly, Spotify and Apple Music are NOT the most popular platforms among Gen X and Gen Z. It’s actually Amazon Music – perhaps the result of so many Alexa devices in the marketplace. Baby Boomers, meanwhile, spend the most time with iHeartRadio while Millennials head to Spotify.

And get this: based on responses to this survey, the average monthly spend on subscription services of all sorts is US$242, the most common being Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. But only $21 of that goes to music platforms.

How does this impact B2B? Do you market your solution differently to different generations? Perhaps we need to think more about this. When we develop our ICPs, how much are we taking generational preferences into account?

It’s not enough if you’re just talkin’ ’bout your own generation – you’ve got to look at the bigger picture! Think about what you can do to appeal to a wider age range – and get out there and cause that big sensation!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

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Who advises you? Do you have an advisory board? Mentors? Colleagues that help you with your day-to-day decisions? What about in your personal life? I hope you get value out of our relationship, and every once in a while you get something real and helpful! Why? Just because…

Give this song by Jane’s Addiction a listen with me and kick the week off right as we see what the experts are saying…

When Was the Last Time…

… you checked out the HubSpot CRM data?

It seems like things are picking up! Normally when reviewing this data, I pick out a few notable statistics that I think will be of interest. But this time, let me summarize it: all activity has improved!

Since the end of summer, just about all measured activity – deals created and closed, sales emails and calls, contact growth, conversations – have been increasing month over month. Not only that, but with the exception of sales email responses, they’re all performing WELL over the January 2020 benchmark.

This bodes well for the rest of Q4! Tracked on a pre-COVID benchmark (that was a long time ago), we’re seeing that many companies were resilient and are feeling fit coming out on the other side, and are looking to finish 2021 strong! Are you there with them?

If I Were You…

… I’d look at TikTok as a channel.

We’ve discussed TikTok’s presence in the social media space, and how it’s an integral part of any new artist’s success. It’s not only survived, but it’s challenging the big boys of social media. If you’re an artist and you don’t have your music available to TikTokers, you’re missing out on a LOT of cash.

As of this week, Led Zeppelin (@ledzeppelin) has made its music available to TikTok users and has shared all sorts of other content. Heck – even the Beatles (@TheBeatles) have an account now!

And speaking of Zep – you’ll remember that this week is the 50th anniversary of their fourth album. They’ve released a cool video series focused on the anniversary – check it out!

Are you on TikTok? Do you feel that this channel can help you out in the B2B world? And if you think it’s just a fad – are you running the risk of everyone telling you, Oh, you really should have known?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Who are Your Sources for Advice? appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

We’re already two weeks into the first quarter of the new year! Sometimes we just need a good kick in the butt and some direction to perfection to get things rolling. Have a listen to this tune by The Killers with me while you read on… and don’t bring yourself down!

Here are some takeaways from the past week:

Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021

Everyone is talking predictions for 2021. I’d rather we just focus on the trends we’ve seen, and decide for ourselves how the year is going to look! HubSpot has done a great job of polling some experts to highlight some of those key trends for this year. Spoiler alert – virtual events!

Of course, none of this is ground-breaking, but there are some interesting opinions:

• A/B Testing – will become a waste of time and budget
• Marketing Budgets – decreasing, with smaller teams!
• The Panic Pivot – moving to a more proactive, purposeful reinvention
• Cross-Channel Integrations – increasing performance and effectiveness

Read the report here, and make up your own mind! How do you think 2021 is going to play out?

Can Your Sales Rep be Influenced by Commission?

As we are working through sales kickoffs (virtual, of course) and planning for 2021, I know sales commissions and compensation are top of mind for many of us. But are your sales reps actually influenced by commission?

According to Forrester, compensation is important, but it’s not always the most important sales motivator. Sales leaders often assume that money motivates reps to sell more, but assessing your team on three factors can help determine their level of influence to drive sales:

1. Sales environment
2. Sales rep influence
3. Ability to measure results

If, after reviewing these areas, you can see that reps have a high degree of influence on moving deals, then compensation changes can have an impact on sales performance. Ensure your comp plans are aligned with the organization’s overall goals!

Artists Who Have Sold Their Song Catalogues

I highlighted the sale of Bob Dylan’s song catalogue in a recent post – seems like 2020 was a busy year for artists to sell their songs to a new breed of company buying up these catalogues! Here are just some of the artists that sold recently:

• Bob Dylan (100% of his catalogue), est. US$400-500 million
• Neil Young (50% of his career catalogue), est. US$150 million
• Imagine Dragons (everything they’ve done up until now), est. US$100 million
• Stevie Nicks (80% of her catalogue), est. US$100 million
• The Killers (all releases up until 2020), price undisclosed… but most likely a BIG number!

See the whole list here.

There are many contemporary bands in this list (Killers, Imagine Dragons) that will still presumably put out new material and sell new music in the immediate future. So it seems that this isn’t just a trend for the retired, aging rocker. Perhaps this is a means to generate cash to help fund the ‘second act’ of a newer band’s career? Or a way to capitalize on current popularity and ensure the largest possible payoff?

With live music on hold right now, I believe we’ll see many more bands leverage their song catalogue to generate big revenue numbers while they try to reinvent themselves in a post-pandemic world.

How can this apply to your B2B organization? Do you have consistent revenue streams you can leverage as you reinvent your business?

As always, if I can help you out, let me know! Don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Marketing Trend Predictions for 2021 appeared first on Virtual Causeway.