State of B2B High Tech Startups Marketing 2023: What We're Seeing So Far
Things are rapidly changing in digital marketing. 2023 should prove to be a defining year and in this article, we’ll share what we’re experiencing and explore trending strategies that are driving revenue for tech startups. Budgets are still growing with the increase in importance and growth of emerging channels comes a need for more staff, more tools, and more advertising. (source).
B2B Tech Marketing Continues to Grow
Spending on B2B marketing will continue to grow—traditional marketing spending is expected to increase by 0.55% and digital marketing spending by 13.6% (source). And despite the current economic slowdown, 50% of B2B marketers expect their content marketing budget to increase in 2023 (source). In short, B2B marketing isn’t going anywhere soon—it’s becoming more important than ever to cut through the noise of social media, streaming services, and endless content options to reach your target customer in 2023. And a solid marketing strategy is what it will take to succeed.
12 B2B Marketing Trends for 2023
To help you get ready for this new marketing landscape, we’ve picked up 12 of the most important trends that will continue to be important in the remaining year.
Content Marketing Continues to Dominate: Content marketing remains a powerful B2B strategy. High-quality, informative, and engaging content helps establish authority, build trust, and generate leads. Video content, webinars, and interactive content like quizzes and assessments have become increasingly popular. Developing a strategy to engage with relevant content throughout the entire buyers’ journey is difficult but highly effective!
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Keeps Growing: ABM is a targeted approach where marketing efforts are focused on specific high-value accounts. This trend has grown as B2B marketers seek more personalized and effective ways to engage with prospects and customers. The sky is the limit as to how much can be done with platforms like Terminus and Engagio here but any personalized touch is effective. The more it can be automated, the better.
AI and Marketing Automation is Making Marketing Easier: Artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing automation tools are being used to streamline marketing processes, analyze data, and personalize marketing efforts. AI-driven chatbots like ChatGBT, predictive analytics like in tools such as LeanData, and lead scoring like in Marketo and Pardot are some examples of how AI is being used in B2B marketing.
Video Marketing Maintains its Dominance in Content Marketing: Video is a versatile and engaging format that's gaining traction in B2B marketing. It's used for product demonstrations, customer testimonials, thought leadership content, and more. Most tech startups are aware of the importance of video content due to the fact that most buyers are more willing to watch a short video to learn about a product or service than read text-based content or use other methods. It also revealed that, on average, people spend 2 hours a day watching videos online (source). The usage is still low compared to consumer brands, but YouTube and TikTok are trending up.
With Social Media, LinkedIn Still Dominates: Social media platforms are not just for B2C marketing; they're increasingly valuable for B2B companies as well. LinkedIn, in particular, is a popular platform for B2B networking and content distribution. LinkedIn was the most popular platform for both paid ads and organic reach for B2B businesses worldwide. LinkedIn is most effective for paid ads, and Facebook one of the least effective (source).
Influencer Marketing Remains Expensive but Essential: B2B influencer marketing involves partnering with industry experts and thought leaders to promote your products or services. This helps in building credibility and expanding your reach within your target audience.
Personalization Is Elusive But Effective: B2B buyers expect personalized experiences. Tailoring content and messaging to individual preferences and needs is essential for effective B2B marketing.
E-commerce Integration Is Accessible and Useful for Capturing Intent: Many B2B companies are integrating e-commerce capabilities into their websites, allowing customers to make purchases online. This trend has accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Customer Experience (CX) / Buyer’s Journey is Less Understood but Vital: Providing an excellent customer experience is vital in B2B marketing. Companies are investing in improving user interfaces, customer support, and post-purchase engagement.
Data Privacy and Compliance for Global Brands is Required: With the increasing focus on data privacy, B2B marketers need to ensure they are compliant with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Building trust with customers by handling their data responsibly is critical.
Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Should Be Reflected in Branding: B2B buyers are placing more importance on sustainability and CSR practices when choosing business partners. Companies that can demonstrate their commitment to these values may have a competitive advantage.
Virtual Events and Webinars Are Proving to be Better for Engagement and Here to Stay: While in-person events have faced challenges due to the pandemic, virtual events and webinars have gained popularity as a way to connect with a broader audience. B2B marketers named in-person events as the top-performing marketing asset for their business, ahead of report and white papers, social media posts, blog posts, and video. Online events, including webinars and online courses, were a close second (source). In the same LinkedIn article, Zaw shares that a majority of businesses surveyed by LinkedIn plan to continue holding virtual events alongside in-person, both to save money and protect the environment.
Conclusion
To summarize, what we’re seeing to see in B2B tech marketing this year boils down to this: the industry is still growing out of necessity. With the plethora of tools and buyers using digital to consume information about products and services, there’s even more reason to invest in marketing to build a healthy and repeatable pipeline.
Is your B2B tech startup marketing strategy ready for 2023 and beyond? If not, Boundtree Marketers can help. We help you develop a strategy to generate more qualified leads using traditional methods of marketing. Book a consult with a member of our fractional CMO services team to learn how we can partner with you to make your achieve your revenue potential.