The end of B2B marketing as we know it: How traditional comms are being replaced by communities

Every new B2B marketing contract is a high-stakes decision for the buyers involved. Will they meet, beat or miss sales targets? Will a new process change the game or disrupt the flow? Will the business ultimately thrive or lag behind?

The weight of these decisions is just one of many reasons why the traditional B2B ‘sales journey’ needs to evolve, encompassing more stakeholders and touchpoints than just the marketing team’s remit. From changes driven by technology and markets to audience lifestyles, in this report we’ll explain how and why B2B communications are shifting towards a community focus, in terms of how they’re both produced and consumed.

And, most importantly, we’ll take a closer look at the trends and opportunities to leverage if you’d like to build better value-added corporate experiences over the next five years.

The traditional mix of B2B marketing content and channels has struggled to keep up with the changing nuances and realities of customer journeys, often failing to incorporate newer and better ways of working, such as using better self-serve models and smart tech, and broadening channel footprints and impacts.

At the same time, department silos and their differing (and sometimes conflicting!) objectives mean focus is placed on the wrong metrics – for example, marketing teams filling funnels while sales teams attempt to build relationships.

Add to this the confusion over the best creative execution and tone to strike: the recent trend of treating B2B marketing like B2C has created content which lacks depth and feels strategically short-term. On the other hand, treating B2B marketing as stereotypically B2B can produce boring work which blends into the category noise, missing the opportunity to connect with the person behind the job title.

Lastly, combine these factors with changing technology, skillsets, workplaces, expectations and disruptions… it’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?

In this context, it’s clear to see why a reset moment is coming and why we need to ask ourselves what ‘B2B marketing’ really means in the here and now. As a minimum, bad practices need an overhaul. But, taking a more revolutionary approach, you could argue the category needs to be reconsidered from the ground up, or even no longer exists in its traditional form – an idea we explore in the next section.

We’ve known since 2020 that B2B marketing was never going to be the same. The rate of tech transformation within corporate life is unprecedented – you only have to remember that pre-2020 many businesses operated with only a small handful of bookable conference lines and rarely a video call in sight.

While this change occurred as an inevitable consequence of lockdown, hybrid life can be transformational to relationship management and creating great experiences if embraced in the right way. For example:

• Hybrid events
  Hybrid events don’t just merge digital and physical attendees, but also present the opportunity to deliver better personalisation by combining data across sources. Adobe provides a great example of a considered approach to hybrid events, using first-party data to delight all attendees. A true win-win, remote guests got the same personalisation, while in-person attendees still benefitted from efficient connections.

• Immersive experiences
  That’s a pretty compelling stat, highlighting why hybridity is important. With this in mind, we need to think about how we can bring more immersive moments into the B2B buying cycle. Metaverse technology could enable connection in ways we never thought possible, like sitting down in virtual conference rooms and even having videoconferences in Roblox!

• A new approach to relationships
  89% of B2B buyers would pay a premium for excellent service. This service could be in-person or digital, so the true key to success is personalisation throughout the experience to deliver meaningful connections. Using hybridity to enhance relationships and focus on the moments that matter could help redefine how to add value in B2B marketing.

Aligning all three of these hybrid opportunities within B2B marketing would provide optimum value and put technology to work where it performs best, answering the question we touched on earlier of ‘how can we help?’. The opportunity to do great things in hybrid corporate experiences is an exciting prospect, however the considerations below are key to making it happen.

“In the evolving world of B2B, the pivotal shift towards hybrid interactions demands a thoughtful embrace of technology. By seamlessly blending physical and digital realms, we unlock the power to craft personalised immersive experiences that redefine value, transforming relationships and reshaping the very essence of corporate engagement.”
Emma Osborne, Senior Client Partner at krow.x

Work and play are blending in more ways than ever. More of us are adopting a hybrid working life, creating home offices, listening to business podcasts for fun and enjoying brands such as SEMrush on TikTok.

By embracing the concept of blended realities, we can start to see a great story as a great story, and an exciting idea as an exciting idea – whatever form or channel it takes. This approach creates an environment where B2B marketing can adopt the same attention-grabbing tactics as other categories and create experiences that truly connect. (Or, to put it another way, B2B shouldn’t be viewed as something that starts and ends on LinkedIn.)

Rather than pushing against the trend, celebrating the fact that audiences are being entertained and learning at the same time can only elevate creative outputs:

• Embrace attention tactics and mischief
  Digital is overstimulating, so audiences respond well to simple, human content. Embracing fun in content creation is a surefire way to make an impact and be memorable. For example, it can be unexpected for B2B marketing to show humanised, behind-the-scenes content.

• Creator content
  75% of B2B strategies are starting to invest in creator content. In an era of fandom and micro cultures, finding your ‘tribe’ can be the key to cut-through.

• Customer spotlight
  By representing customers and putting them at the heart of stories celebrating success, marketing teams can create something more compelling than corporate case studies. Collaborative content and editorial approaches can add value and diversity to stories – something Easol do beautifully.

B2B marketing needs to do more to connect in blended worlds to rise above the category noise and give audiences quality content – below are the considerations that will help make this happen:

“Recognising the dual landscape of B2B audiences, where professional and personal spheres seamlessly intertwine, underscores the imperative for content creators to craft messages that resonate not only in the boardroom but also within the private spaces of home. Understanding how content is consumed in both work and personal environments, and mastering the telling of true human stories, is the key to unlocking meaningful connections that transcend the boundaries of business, fostering engagement that speaks to the holistic nature of modern professionals.”
Kirstin Wilson, Group Client Partner at krow.x

B2B content strategy 101 is making a whitepaper, circulating it and then handing the reins over to the sales team. While this may be effective at times, it’s fuelling B2B fatigue, as shown in the chart below.

Talk of ‘best-in-class B2B’ is creating a one-size-fits-all mindset, often undermining and drawing attention away from the idea of creating valuable interactions. We need to stop asking what a good communication strategy is, and instead ask how we can help and captivate audiences. Techniques can include:

• We’re all teachers
  To create value-rich corporate engagement, we need to embrace the idea that we’re all teachers. Creating academy-type environments has been key to customer engagement with many B2B strategies in software-as-a-service (SaaS) models, such as Salesforce Academy and Brandwatch Academy. As B2B marketing is essentially about growth at its core, this knowledge-sharing should form part of everything we do.
  

• Solutions over content
  To provide real value to corporate audiences, it’s helpful to think about solutions rather than just sharing content. For example, Watson Farley & Williams’ GARI tool helps audiences to solve complex problems around aviation leasing, rather than focusing just on being thought-leading – this helpful, award-winning content has driven commercial success.

• Everything is a service
  Offering genuinely useful trials is a great way to deliver value – think ‘freemium’ services rather than content. For example, WeTransfer, Atlassian and Dropbox can all be accessed for free, gaining internal traction before moving into an enterprise level by offering real value and growing with businesses.

Focusing on valuable interactions may seem obvious, and many businesses feel like it’s something they’re already doing. However, by reframing the way they go –to market, better and more effective routes may be discovered.

“In today’s multi-channel world, client relationships are more crucial than ever. Listening becomes paramount amidst the noise. Our clients’ personal growth and self-development are intertwined with their perception of success. As their marketing agency, we go beyond the transactional partnership, supporting their business while also fostering personal growth. This approach strengthens our relationship and allows us to provide comprehensive support in various ways.”
Jemma Marchant, Deputy Managing Director

As technology has advanced over time, so has the onus on data. Corporate experiences are increasingly data-driven and measured, with platforms such as LinkedIn championing their ability to offer marketing teams more data than ever. Couple this with increased automation and it’s easy to see how fully automated solutions and lead generation are becoming the norm.

However, the bubble may be about to burst. We’re moving into a cookie-free world, yet less than 8% of marketers are futureproofing their approach. And, on top of this, data is at risk of losing its meaning when it’s viewed more as a quantity-driven KPI than a source of growth and optimisation.

For corporate engagement to thrive, we need to think beyond measurement as a KPI and see it as a tangible, actionable way to listen, grow and talk about audiences – and you’ll be pleased to know there are plenty of opportunities you can leverage to do exactly that:

• Customer metrics
  It’s possible to build strategies where data is used to continually get to know customers better. By moving beyond performance and embracing feedback metrics, businesses can optimise their offerings. For example, 62% of B2B customers would spend more after a positive experience – potentially more promising than even the lowest cost per lead.

• Embrace a measurement culture
  By avoiding limiting data to a siloed department, businesses can benefit from every employee having access to and understanding data. In some case studies, EBITDA has grown from 15% to 25% when data is adopted correctly.

• Smart flow planning
  Automation has been a focus within B2B marketing for some time, but AI and machine learning technologies are making it a more powerful force than ever. As the data below demonstrates, an article by McKinsey highlights the opportunities of automation, explaining how AI can help to create smarter flows with real-time data, deliver competitive offers, close deals at the right time and create better offerings.

To start creating a real impact with actionable data, businesses should consider three core areas, as shown below.

“We’re seeing some of our biggest clients prioritise data as a key pillar in their propositions. Data is invaluable if you use it in the right way, but so many organisations just aren’t using it to its full potential. It can help you build a full picture of who your customer is, what they’re spending on and why and their interests to enable brands to create personalised offers and experiences.”
Lisa Harris, Senior Client Partner

Corporate decision-making is happening across different channels more than ever, from social communities to specialist applications, and even the use of text message groups and peer-to-peer moments. This trend shows that community is important, and great corporate engagement is an opportunity to facilitate it.

While it feels a dated reference, the thing which made WeWork great was how it brought people facing the same challenges together to collaborate and achieve impressive things. Similarly, many of us often feel most productive when talking things through with clients, colleagues and friends – something that feels forgotten in traditional B2B marketing. Imagine if at events, instead of moving people from one sales pitch to another, we facilitated genuine connection?

Meaningful networks can be formed in many ways, but the point is not how to enable networking, but how to enable deeper human connection. For example:

• Self-serve experiences
  Only 20% of B2B buyers ever want to speak to a salesperson again. By offering self-service and sparing people the interactions they don’t want to have, can we enhance the value of human interactions elsewhere in the B2B customer journey?

• Community forums
  Organisations offering professional services such as AIHR can offer enormous value through community, allowing members to share stories of professional challenges.

• Finding your position of value
  Being in a meaningful network doesn’t always mean being the voice of authority. By accepting the position of service user rather than owner, businesses can open themselves up to exciting and valuable collaborations – for example Barclaycard Payments partnered with FT Longitude to conduct research with 500 senior business leaders to understand their strategies, aims and ambitions in the payments space.

Meaningful networks, when understood and used effectively, can transform the relationships between businesses and their B2B customers. See below for the key considerations to getting it right.

“Effective decision-making spans diverse channels, from social communities to specialised applications. True excellence is found in fostering engagement and collaborative spirit, as we saw with Barclaycard Payments. Meaningful networks transcend traditional boundaries, blending self-serve efficiency with a human touch to curate enriching corporate experiences.”
Lisa Harris, Senior Client Partner at krow.x

As we head into 2024 and beyond, businesses will need to embrace the transformative shift from communications to communities to remain relevant. Here’s our summary of why there’s no turning back from this transformation in B2B marketing:

• Decision-makers have changed…
  B2B decision-making has increased in complexity and become a communal effort involving various stakeholders. With more sophisticated technology and a new generation of tech-savvy decision-makers, it’s crucial to offer experiences that are not only digitally native, but also highly personalised, globally conscious and more engaging.

• …and so has the way to engage them
  We must step away from the outdated practices of funnel-filling and one-size-fits-all strategies, and instead construct corporate value experiences that resonate on a personal level, catering to the global market and enhancing decision-making through technological integration. By harnessing the power of hybrid environments, immersive experiences and meaningful networks, we can transcend the boundaries of conventional B2B interactions.

• Tech should be used purposefully to add real value
  Our aim should be to create experiences where technology serves as an extension of the team, where self-service platforms and community forums drive engagement, and where meaningful interactions are valued over transactional exchanges. To truly excel, businesses need to integrate a culture of listening and learning, tailor strategies to the unique needs of their customers and prioritise the creation of genuine connections.

• Data should be integral to growth
  In tandem with a purposeful approach to tech, businesses must also redefine measurement metrics, focusing on value exchange and customer feedback rather than mere data accumulation. By embracing the blend of work and play in today’s hybrid world, and combining it with insights gained from real customers, we can craft content that captivates and connects – not as corporate entities, but as human storytellers and educators.

• Everyone will benefit from better experiences
  The end of B2B marketing as we know it is not a loss, but an evolution towards a more connected, responsive and value-driven approach. By building corporate value experiences that are as rich and diverse as the communities they serve, we set the stage for a future where B2B relationships generate shared growth and success. The businesses on both sides of B2B relationships will thrive when we approach marketing with a renewed focus, a commitment to innovation and an unwavering dedication to the real people at the heart of every transaction.

Whether you’re looking to incorporate the trends identified in this report into your next campaign or the very fabric of your business, the checklists below are design to ensure both the practical techniques and mindset shifts we’ve explored are considered and actioned at every stage.