How to Harness 2021’s B2B Marketing Trends in 2022 YES, IT WAS TRENDY — BUT DID IT WORK?
2. Advertising on Podcasts Apple Podcasts crossed the one million show mark in April 2021, and in 2020, 37% of Americans ages 12 and up listened to at least one podcast each month. These factors made podcast advertising a major trend in 2021, especially for B2B marketers aiming to reach a younger audience. 3. Automating Everything COVID-19 forced us all to reevaluate how we spend our time, and it turns out many of us don’t want to put those minutes toward sending texts and emails! Still, text and email marketing are both vital B2B channels. The trendy way to get the best of both worlds in 2021 was through automation. Within those messages, Odden called out a trend for a “greater focus on storytelling, personalization, and more informal content versus explicit sales offers.” 4. Leveraging AI The importance of artificial intelligence (AI) for B2B marketing became crystal clear recently when a Salesforce study reported that 80% of business buyers expect the companies they reach out to will talk to them “in real time,” regardless of the hour. This statistic highlights how important chatbots and other AI solutions are for customer conversion. 5. Reaching Customers With Content Content marketing through blog posts and newsletters was touted as a vital piece of every B2B brand’s marketing puzzle this year. Statistics gathered by Convince & Convert found 71% of B2B respondents reviewed a blog during their buying journey, 65% of them prioritized credible content from industry influencers more than the previous year, and content marketing cost 41% less than paid search and generated three times more leads per dollar than other channels. All five of these B2B marketing strategies were hot in 2021, and if you had a positive experience with one or more of them, do yourself a favor and keep that strategy in place for 2022. Do the same with any other trends that
What do
you think of
when you hear the word “trend”? Depending on your age, it
could be anything from big hair to avocado toast. The word itself has more definitions than you might think, including these four from Merriam‑Webster:
1. A prevailing tendency or inclination 2. A general movement
3. A current style or preference
4. A line of development
When people say something is “trendy,” they usually mean the third definition. But trends aren’t always fleeting. Sometimes, as you can see from definitions 1, 2, and 4, they’re useful predictors of what’s to come. If something trendy is truly awesome, it sticks around and becomes part of the culture. At one time, people thought cellphones, texting, and computers were just trendy, but decades later, they’re still here because they made our lives better! Trends in marketing are the same way. Sometimes a fresh marketing strategy will pop up, everyone will try it, and it will disappear. But if a marketing trend works, it sticks around and becomes a mainstay. With that in mind, as you plan your B2B marketing strategy for 2022, you shouldn’t throw out your 2021 playbook. The tactics you tried this year might not be on the 2022 trend lists that are starting to pop up on marketing websites, but that doesn’t matter. If the marketing strategy successfully worked for you in any capacity, roll it into your 2022 plan.
Not sure what 2021 B2B marketing trends means? Here are just a few called out by B2B marketing expert Lee Odden.
worked for you, and you’ll have a head start on next year’s playbook.
1. Using Influencers Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending, on average, 30% more time on smartphone apps this year than they did in 2019. Early statistics lead to the 2021 trend of marketing through influencers on Instagram and TikTok. A TopRank Marketing survey found most B2B marketers believe this strategy changes minds, improves the brand experience, and yields better campaign results.
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