The not so new 2015 marketing trends

Every year around this time, we get bombarded with lists of new marketing and business trends. They are always an interesting read. This year I found that a lot of the business to business marketing trends mentioned for 2015 are actually not so new…however they are very relevant. I’ve collected my top 5 not so new business to business marketing trends for 2015 that will help you make this a successful marketing year.

Mobile friendly Marketing
With smartphones and tablets growing in popularity, more and more executives are using these devices to check email, surf the web, communicate and conduct research outside regular business hours. Mobile friendly marketing starts with a website that is readable and easy to navigate on all devices, but it doesn’t stop there. We have to think about we cut through the clutter, so that our messages are still getting the attention they deserve. the best way to do this is by ensuring that are communication is relevant and of value to our target market.

Sales & marketing alignment
I’ve always been a big advocate of sales and marketing alignment, as the business simply gets better results when the two are working well together. Sales and marketing people have different skills and look at the world from a different point of view, but that’s exactly what makes the sales and marketing partnership so powerful. No need to say that we are extremely happy with the way we work together with Sandler Training who are brilliant at helping our clients managing the sales process. According to research done by SiriusDecisions, companies with tightly aligned marketing and sales achieved 24% faster revenue growth and 27% faster profit growth over a three-year period.

Customer advocacy is key
Across a whole range of studies and research of what business to business buyers prefer and trust as they go through the buyer’s journey, the clear favourites are case studies and testimonials. This gives an insight into other customers’ experiences and it helps a buyer form a picture of what it will be like after they buy. Any content has to be customer centric and we need to be able to look at the world from their point of view instead of looking at it from our internal perspective.

Repel the wrong clients or prospects
Instead of trying to attract everyone and focus on quantity of leads, it is key to understand who IS the right fit for your business and who ISN’T. There is nothing wrong about being crystal clear about who fits and who doesn’t fit with your business or your brand. The same as we can’t be friends with everyone, not everyone will become a great client. A good way to find out who you want to attract is to look at your current clients. Who are the ones you absolutely love working with and what do they have in common? Once you communicate this clearly, you’ll find that you’ll be attracting more of those type of people.

Relevant and personalised information

Don’t we all get annoyed when we constantly get bombarded with information that is not relevant to us and is not personalised? Nowadays with the use of databases, we can keep track of any relevant customer preferences and can ensure that the right information hits the right people at the right time, making it all about the customer. It is more targeted and more relevant, which will in the end give us a better result.

I am looking forward to a great and exciting marketing year!