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

Is attention to detail becoming a dying art in B2B? Call me crazy, but I’ve seen a disappointing drop in quality in a lot of the marketing I see. Is it acceptable now to have external (or internal) communications filled with typos? I think a healthy dose of B2B paranoia – especially when dealing with communications – is a good thing, don’t you? At least that’s what I tell myself…

Give this song by Black Sabbath a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week.

High tech hits the repair shop

Have you taken your car to the shop lately? Over the past decade, cars have gotten more complex and computerized. Each vehicle is now studded with sensors, packed with hundreds or thousands of computer chips, and controlled by software. Auto industry insiders wax poetic all day long about the safety benefits of the “software-defined vehicle” – which also enables revenue-boosting data collection and subscriptions that make it safer to be not just an auto owner, but an auto executive, too.

Less talked about are the consequences of computerized cars at the auto shop. Fixing complex vehicles requires increasingly expert and expensive knowledge, and tools that are in limited supply. It’s part of the same trend that has driven farmers to hack their own tractors and triggered legal fights over what rights consumers have over their own vehicles.

How does your tech impact your supply chain? Have you thought about how upgrades to your software might impact those partners that are in the trenches with your end customers every day?

Music in the Metaverse

Touring is exhausting, expensive, and bad for the environment. Some predict that a shift over to the metaverse to solve these problems will open performances to more people, and result in more revenue for artists.

I’m not sold yet, but the people behind the Metaverse Music Festival think they’ve got a handle on where things are going. Call it a proof-of-concept offering to show how musicians can get into the new tech.

The inclusive, “something-for-everybody” lineup of more than 100 artists participating in the festival November 10-13 includes:

• Ozzy Osbourne (!!!)
• Soulja Boy
• A series of J-pop and Chinese idol groups
• Skullz (a virtual group)
• Deadmau5 and other crypto-native artists
• A “Jerry Garcia acoustic stage”

… plus lots of virtual merch!

Last year’s inaugural event attracted 50,000 people over four days – it’s free and you don’t even need a headset to participate.

We’ve seen many events go virtual during the lockdown, but nothing seems to satisfy the B2B audience, which is embracing the return to IRL events… What about you? Are you excited to get back into those in-person events, or do the virtual ones make true happiness?

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 Dying Art of Attention to Detail 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!

The other day was one of those beautiful, clear and sunny winter days. Sure it was cold, but with the sun beating down it felt like anything was possible. How do we have more days like that in our day-to-day lives, deal with anxiety and still focus on building B2B possibilities in 2022?

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

B2B – A New Era of Uncertainty?

Workin’ on a mystery? Goin’ wherever it leads?

The process of B2B tech buying is changing. This shift is partly due to the post-COVID changes in the marketplace and that many buyers, like many of us, find themselves with less time on their hands than ever before. So, what exactly has changed? Let’s take a look at some of the changes that have led to this shift.

• With massive amounts of information on the internet, buyers can find almost anything they want to find about a product, technology, or service without ever having to speak to a representative.
• The buying process has gained a new level of complexity, with many sales interactions being completely remote.
• And there’s been a massive shift in the number of touchpoints between problem and solution, with buying interactions increasing from 16-17 pre-pandemic to 17-27 in the last year!

What the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on is a deep Era of Uncertainty that may very well last the rest of this decade.

So how do we deal with this as marketers?

Those now in charge of B2B tech purchases (often Millennials) care more about self-service, remote connectivity, data security, and privacy than previous buyers. These are the new concerns that have to be addressed, and they have to be addressed through passively provided information.

Hit cruise control when you provide good, direct information to your buyers. Allow them to discover that information on their own and make it easy for them to finalize purchases without having to go through a representative.

The B2B Metaverse?

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is reportedly planning to acquire gaming smartphone manufacturer Black Shark in a move that could help the company build its own metaverse.

Tencent has stiff competition from other tech giants in a race to build the metaverse – namely from Meta (formerly known as Facebook). We’re definitely seeing a lot of expectations around metaverse technology plays.

What are your thoughts on metaverse as a B2B tool? Is there an application? How can we leverage this new medium to put the pedal down and make some time (and sales)?

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 Upheaval and Uncertainty in B2B Trends appeared first on Virtual Causeway.