2020 changed everything for businesses. It challenged all of us to use B2B marketing channels and messaging in a significantly different way to communicate with customers.

As the new year begins, we’re all trying to figure out how to move forward—as businesses, consumers, and human beings.

But a few things haven’t changed.

Businesses still want to build brand awareness, generate leads, and of course, convert them into sales in 2021. How they’ll do it varies based on strategy, but these are some of the marketing channels and trends to keep an eye on in the new year.

Rich Media Continues to Grow

Consumers want to see more videos, which gives companies a reason to produce even more informative, entertaining content centered around their products.

And the benefits for those with a strong video marketing strategy are enormous.

Companies that incorporate video into their digital marketing strategies report an increase in traffic to their websites. On average, over 60% of video marketers show a rise in sales and qualified leads because of their efforts.

This number will only rise as B2B marketers utilize Facebook and the world’s biggest networking platform for businesses, LinkedIn, to post video content people want to see.

They’re capitalizing on not only generating valuable leads but also nurturing relationships with current and future customers.

So how can your company do the same?

By delivering value at multiple touchpoints and, more importantly, tailoring your content to individuals, not the masses.

In the new year, consumers expect to have more meaningful, personalized conversations with brands.

Since many of the restrictions we lived through in 2020 may not end until late 2021, webinars, product demos, and online conferences are set to serve as invaluable sales and marketing tools to give people the attention they crave.

Bigger Focus on Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

For many B2B marketers, there’s a greater focus on acquiring new customers than retaining the current ones. Unfortunately, this leaves many customers feeling ignored by brands.

And like any relationship, if it happens for long enough, they’ll eventually take their business elsewhere.

So how can B2B’s nurture relationships with their current customers in 2021?

With Account-Based Marketing (ABM).

Businesses that focus on ABM have a higher lifetime value and relationship with consumers than those that don’t.

Here are a few ways to show how much the brand values its customers.

Onboarding & Education
Email is still a powerful tool to expose those familiar with the brand to new products and services. Expect to see personalized videos and messaging playing a larger role in email communications.

Communication Frequency
Businesses that constantly supply their audiences with valuable insights and information maintain positive responses to their brand. We anticipate many brands providing customers with even more choice in how this information is delivered and in what form.

Above & Beyond Support
As more companies create robust ABM strategies, they’ll include proactively checking in with customers to gauge their satisfaction and receive feedback about products. Brands that make changes based on their comments will leave customers feeling not only acknowledged but valued.

Customer Appreciation
With so many companies vying for attention, businesses don’t need to give customers a reason to bail. Buyers will expect to receive compelling offers showing appreciation for their business. Not at specific times during the year but throughout the entirety of it.

Voice Search Marketing On the Rise

Over the past five years, voice search has grown in popularity. Over 70% of people now prefer using it over manually typing their query.

As search engines continue to adjust their algorithms to serve up the best results, Google’s voice recognition application has near-perfect accuracy.

It makes sense in 2021 to ensure that your company’s website is fully optimized to improve your chances of coming up during a search.

But this doesn’t mean to stuff the website full of keywords. B2B companies will need to optimize for search intent and create content that truly provides value.

Yes, Even More Podcasts

Podcasting is no longer for pop culture enthusiasts. Since 2018, the number of people who listen to at least one podcast a week has grown by 37.5%.

Whether it’s through sponsored ads or self-created podcasts, there’s so much potential for brands to reach out to new audiences. Many listeners report taking action after listening to sponsored content. While other listeners feel more inclined to follow brands on social media that they’ve heard on a podcast.

There’s even more incentive for B2B companies to churn out great podcast content and move the conversation into other channels.

We imagine in 2021, more B2B brands will use this marketing channel to educate and expose audiences to their company’s products and expertise.

The Battle for Featured Snippets

With the introduction of featured snippets, brands battle to get a piece of this valuable digital real estate on page one of Google. For sites that manage to nab one of these spots, they can expect to see a 20-30% increase in traffic.

While no one knows the exact formula to increase your chances of getting a featured snippet, there is one thing we do know. Google wants sites to focus on search intent and to provide information that addresses it.

Optimized how-to guides, information tables, and summaries are a few ways to achieve it. But B2B companies will need to do more than produce content.

They’ll have to dig deeper.

By delving into niche topics or questions about certain products, brands can provide nuanced information users are looking for. Plus, there’s less competition for search terms surrounding this type of content, which is something to think about including in your 2021 marketing strategy.

It’s a New Start

While 2020 brought a lot of turmoil, we’re hoping for a brighter 2021. As you start this year with a fresh start and marketing plan, use some of these insights to keep building a stronger brand and connections with your customers.