In a world upended by a widespread pandemic, we’re slowly beginning to recover with a rollout of vaccines. Yet, businesses are still feeling the effects from the past year.

We experienced more webinars, online conferences, and fewer in-person events. Companies had to adjust to using previously underutilized outlets to conduct business.

What was once thought to be a temporary blip turned into a complete shift for marketers and how they communicate. Now in 2021, B2B companies are leaning into these changes to give customers more of what they want.

Here’s what is on the horizon for marketing and sales teams.

The Rise of Account-Based Marketing

If there’s one lesson we can take away from the past year—and there were many of them—it’s that taking a scattershot approach to marketing has become less effective.

Businesses realized they needed to hone in on specific messaging for different segments within their customer base.

Enter Account-Based Marketing or ABM.

It’s changing the game for many B2B businesses in how they communicate with their current customers.

In late 2020, marketers were surveyed as part of a benchmark report from the ITSMA and ABM Leadership Alliance. In the paper, 49% of marketers said they’re focusing on growing business within their existing accounts due to the events of 2020.

Many of these marketers began to implement new tactics to take advantage of the information and social outlets people shifted towards last year and into 2021.

Whether it was larger one-on-one virtual meetings or larger virtual events, companies continue to use these along with email and social media marketing to keep the communication alive.

Marketers expect to keep investing in ABM as they uncover new opportunities amongst their current customers. But one challenge they’ll face in the future lies in how well companies can deliver tailored content to savvy consumers.

Optimizing Content for Customers

Does it ever feel like Google knows what you’re thinking? It’s because they do. Well, almost.
The world’s most famous search engine has quietly moved changed its algorithm to concentrate on user intent.

Google’s natural language technologies Rankbrain and BERT are learning what makes us tick. But more importantly, they use machine learning to provide the most relevant results based on how people search and speak in real life.

Even better, this technology understands the nuance and context of a user’s search. How? By looking at the words coming before and after the main term.

For instance, on Google’s blog about BERT, they reference a before and after of the search term ‘Can you get medicine for someone pharmacy.’ Prior to BERT’s release, the search engine would serve up a general result about how to get a prescription filled.

After the update, this same search now provides a result, which answers the question about whether or not a person (family or friend) can pick up medication for someone else.

BERT’s able to figure out the context of what the user needs from the search results.

So what does this mean for businesses?

There are billions of searches conducted each day. And according to Google, they’ve never seen 15% of these queries. This stat means there’s a gap. The content hasn’t been produced yet to address these specific user’s questions or searches.

It’s a huge opportunity for B2B companies to zero in on trends, topics, and problems prospective customers are looking for.

Marketing Automation for the Win

Marketers are looking for ways to save time, and automation has proven itself as an invaluable resource. According to Nucleus Research, automation tools deliver a 14.5% in sales productivity with a 12.2% reduction in overhead expenses for marketing departments.

Four out of five automation software users find themselves benefiting from gaining quality leads while increasing conversions. Automated software will be a lifesaver for marketers already stretched to their limits from launching and monitoring an ever-growing number of campaigns.

As marketers work to deliver more personalized digital content to enhance customer experiences, data will play a big role. Automation inherently reduces the number of hours it takes to execute marketing initiatives, and it enables businesses to map out consumer behavior accurately.

Which leads to better decisions.

Custom data reporting allows companies to evaluate what is—or isn’t— working. Underperforming campaigns will get the boot while marketers tweak those that are delivering. In the end, customers benefit from having a better experience that’s specifically made for them.

Conclusion

Design will play a huge part in business communications as we move through 2021 and beyond. We expect to see a reduced gap between B2B sales and marketing teams as they work more closely to achieve a common goal.

Advances in social and marketing technology have blown the gates wide open for businesses to deliver customized, unique customer experiences. Personalized marketing content and tactics will gain ground as companies seek to distinguish themselves from the rest of the rabble.