Insights – Observations - Statistics

§ World’s largest B-TO-B marketing conference

§ 1,000+ attendees

§ If you think the same strategies and tools you’re using this year will help you succeed in 2016, think again.

§ We live in a period of dramatic change. Virtually every day, we are testing new technologies, new tools, and new ways to engage our B-to-B audiences.

§ It’s not enough to be a seasoned marketer. Today, you must be a dynamic marketer, and one who fully embraces change.

§ The business environment has never been more complex or challenging.

§ Customers are expecting more every day.

§ To be successful, multiple stakeholders must be considered. And ambiguity is here to stay.

§ Yes, you need strong strategic processes and plans. But you also need to be prepared to pivot quickly in the face of new opportunities and new challenges.

§ The word “transformation” was used more than 200 times over the course of the conference.

§ The way we go to market is transforming. Businesses are transforming. And we as marketers need to transform, by also serving as business leaders and technologists.

§ Building B-to-B brands is a team sport and collaboration is key to successful transformations.

§ B-to-B marketing has never been more important to the health of an enterprise.

§ True marketing touches all parts of the organization.

§ It sets the narrative for the company and defines the road map for activation.

§ Great marketing drives innovation.

§ Great marketing drives growth.

Mobile

Content

Technology

• Everywhere• Access

• Helping• Answers

• Tech Stacks• Mkt & IT

WHAT ARE SOME KEY TOPICS FOR B-TO-B?

THE NEW NORMAL: MOBILE

“Mobile is and will be king of how time is spent… Mobile is oxygen for business people. That is the new normal, [and it changes] the game on how B-to-B buyers are behaving, absorbing information, and making decisions. So if the buyer is changing, then we as marketers need to change our game and how we build, grow, and sell our brands to this new-changing audience.”

— Vice President of customer solutions for the Americas at Google, Inc., at BMA15

1983

Sold for $3,995

POPE BENEDICT XVI

POPE FRANCIS

HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING

86%MOBILE USERS USE THEIR DEVICES WHILE WATCHING TV

91%MOBILE USERS HAVE THEIR DEVICE WITHIN ARMS REACH, 24/7

Are you a nomophobic?

Where’s my cell phone????

Helping NOT Selling

§27,000,000 pieces of content are shared each day. ~ AOL / Nielsen

§60% of the buyer journey is complete before prospects reach out to vendors. ~ The Corporate Executive Board (CEB)

§Emotional marketing messages are twice as effective as promotional ones. ~ (CEB)

§93% of B2B Marketers use content marketing. ~ CMI / MarketingProfs

§Only 44% of B2B Marketers have a documented content strategy. ~ CMI / MarketingProfs

§Conversion rates for brands using content marketing is 6 to 7x higher. ~ Aberdeen

§The 3 biggest complaints B2B buyers have about vendor content are § too many requirements for downloading; §blatantly promotional, self-serving content; §non-substantive, uninformed content. ~ Social Media Today

Infographics as a tactic saw the biggest rise in usage (from 51 percent last year to 62 percent this year).

Illustrations/photos was a new option this year.

Gartner®

§ Analytics software § Influences marketers’ perceptions, both about the consumer and existing strategies and

activations.

§ Marketing automation software § Affects processes across the board, from planning to production.

§ Social media technology § Affects the way marketers engage customers, including the type of content being

created.

§ CRM software§ Affects the brand/customer relationship.

947 Companies/Platforms

1,876 Companies/Platforms

2014• 947

Marketing Technology Companies

2015• 1,876

Marketing Technology Companies

§ The real challenge is changing how you think and behave in this hyper-connected, always-on, customer-controlled digital world.

§ The nature of marketing has exploded from an ancillary communications function to the Grand Central Station of customer experience.

§ The bar for delivering great customer experiences is rising rapidly.