According to the Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic (2020), published by chiefmartech.com, there are 8,000 martech solutions.
Scott Brinker, Editor of chiefmartech.com and VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot, joined me on a recent episode of the Lead(er) Generation podcast. During the show, he provided insights into all of this technology and how it can help B2B marketers keep up with inevitable trends in 2021.
Here are some key takeaways from our conversation.
Platforms & Networks Provide New Opportunities To Sell
Unexpected events of 2020 may have forced your business to move some inventory or products to digital networks, such as Amazon or BlueCart. Or perhaps your business had to expedite ecommerce development to more efficiently connect with buyers.
There are clear pros and cons to selling on digital platforms. However, many business feel they’ve lost important opportunities to connect with prospects. For example, it’s more challenging to have conversations, negotiate pricing and ensure the product/solution matches their needs.
Platforms and networks will become more prolific over the next decade. In 2021, it’s about capitalizing on last year’s bright spots and optimizing the marketing tactics that successfully replaced in-person interactions.
2021 is about capitalizing on last year’s bright spots and optimizing the marketing tactics that successfully replaced in-person interactions.
Your business may have transitioned to virtual trade shows, webinars, content and emails to connect with prospects. Continue to use these tactics and technology. Plus, look into additional apps, platforms and networks that address challenges you have not yet resolved.
Apps Don’t Automatically Equal More Leads
Leads generated is the ultimate KPI for most B2B marketing strategies and campaigns. Among the 8,000 martech solutions, one is a guaranteed magic bullet for lead generation, right? Unfortunately, not. To generate leads, you must deliver value by solving a prospective customer’s problems.
In our conversation, Scott used the word “JOY.” That’s how he described the opportunity B2B marketers have to truly differentiate themselves, deliver value and engage sales prospects in 2021.
I really latched onto that concept. Delivering JOY is an awesome standard that all B2B marketers should aspire to meet in 2021. Challenge yourself to identify the JOY your business can bring prospective customers. Then use your technology and innovation to deliver those truly amazing experiences.
Coming Soon: [Framework] Leverage Your Existing Marketing Technology To Deliver Joy To Prospects
Marketers Have Superpowers
The loss of physical connection is a negative outcome of transitioning to digital platforms and networks. However, digital platforms and networks give B2B marketers special superpowers—the ability to automate repeatable tasks and create apps without a developer or IT support.
Do you have a critical marketing request that just isn’t making your development or IT team’s priority list? For example: automating reporting, getting actionable insights from attribution and scoring models, revamping customer segmentation from multiple data sources? Imagine if you could fulfill these requests (and many more) ON YOUR OWN. It’s possible in the era of the no-code development platform.
A no-code development platform allows non-programmers to create application software through graphical user interfaces and configuration instead of traditional computer programming
Take a look at your existing technology stack. What email, marketing automation, analytics and website tools are you already using? Which ones have existing integrations into your core platforms or direct access to the right data and assets?
Warning: Do not immediately start registering for and downloading new technology. Start with your business case.
If I had to guess, your business case is “generate more leads.” If that’s the case, it’s important to break it down further. Do you need to refresh your target segments? Do you need an attribution model to more accurately measure the ROI of your digital marketing? Do you need to better track market and competitor activities? Once you make a clear business case for technology, only then should you could consider the investment.
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If you missed the conversation with Scott, check out 2021 Lead Generation: Apps & Platforms That Matter Most. Plus, tune in for Part 2 on January 14, 2021. We’ll dive deeper into how to select the right platform, get buy-in from your internal team and test against business goals and objectives.
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In her previous role as Vice President of Technology, Tessa helped clients execute engaging, multi-platform experiences and products to bring their brands to life. Moving into her role as CTO, Tessa oversees Mod Op’s technology stack to ensure the agency is leveraging the right platforms to deliver valuable and measurable marketing communications, entertainment and experiences.
Tessa Burg, Chief Technology Officer