Seminar in B2B Marketing

Innovations and Trends in B2B Marketing

Zohreh DaemiDr. Gwen C. DooleyWalden University

Proposed research topic: B2B Marketing TrendsThis research conducted to explore ongoing

evolutions of current trends in B2B marketing in the coming year.

Research questions: What trends will rule B2B Marketing in the coming year?

Introduction

Mobile optimization, marketing automation, paid amplification, and content marketing, will all remain popular in the upcoming year. However, there are some other B2B marketing trends that accelerating and they need to be on the radars of marketers in the year 2017. Marketers need to watch the following trends for the year 2017:

The Gartner survey shows that approximately 30% of marketers have invested 10% of their marketing budget in innovation. Some areas need more innovation such as marketing hubs, marketing analytics, social/mobile listening centers and digital.

The Gartner survey recommends involving sales and marketing associates in the constant struggle to find short-term, midterm and long-term innovation opportunities.

Innovation is the main priority in B2B Marketing

Innovation is the main priority in B2B Marketing

Customer experience still an individual oneB2B marketers recognize that individual purchase experience

leads to both profitability, and business differentiation. Companies should concentrate on the full experience for a customer regardless of channel or device consistently to create a long-term brand loyalty.

Content marketing will grow and develop

By 2017, content marketing budgets are estimated to double according to a new report released by PulsePoint.

Approximately, 83% of marketers believe that content marketing will go programmatic by 2017.

The report illustrates that 60% of brands and companies consider content marketing as an important part of their marketing strategy.

Does your organization use content marketing?88% say yes

Which content marketing tactics does your organization use the most? 93% use social media content

Advocate marketing creates loyalty

According to a Customer Advocacy report, word-of-mouth is the primary encouragement on purchasing decisions for 84% of B2B customers.

One of the most valued methods of marketing is the referral, which keeps clients loyal within a long time.

Marketers make advocate relationships with their clients by implementing advocate marketing software platforms to increase social media engagement and to generate more reviews and to obtain more referrals.

Email marketing still is a great social platform

A marketing survey from B2B companies suggests that companies use email marketing in more effective trend nowadays since people are using email more than any other time.

Online advertising disturbance

Ad blocking is a significant challenge for B2B marketers. According to a report from Pagefair, Ad blocking raised by 48% in 2016, and 198 million used ad block globally.

Users are more powerful than ever regarding the content they want and the content they don’t.

Examples of Online Advertising

Search Engine MarketingAffiliate MarketingOnline Video MarketingWeb BannerMobile AdvertisingAdware

References

Allen, R. (2016, March 13). Key B2B marketing trends of 2016 - Smart Insights Digital Marketing Advice. Retrieved from http://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/key-b2b-marketing-trends-2016/Chaffey, D. (2016, September). B2B Marketing trends 2017 - slideshare.net. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/Smart-Insights/b2b-marketing-trends-2017Fullerton, L. (2016, January). 10 trends in B2B marketing - In with

the old, out with the new? Retrieved from http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/01/19/10-trends-b2b-marketing-old-out-new

Annotated Bibliography

Andzulis, James "Mick", Nikolaos G. Panagopoulos, and Adam Rapp. "A Review Of Social Media And Implications For The Sales Process." Journal Of Personal Selling & Sales Management 32.3 (2012): 305-316. Business Source Elite.

Web. 24 Feb. 2015

Technology-based research has a rich history in the sales force. Starting with the role of computers to laptops, continuing to the influence of the Internet, moving to customer relationship management and sales force mechanization applications, and immediately to the role of social media, sales research alternated into a new technological paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to review the role of social media in the sales force and the sales process. The author begins the paper by offering definitions of social media and evaluating the role and significance of social media in business. A relationship between the rise of Internet usage in the sales force and the advent of social media is presented and discussed. Next, the author discusses the challenges of social media in the sales and marketing interface and review four different business strategies to identify who controls social media within an organization. The author continues with a discussion of the different stages in the sales process and offers ways in which social media influences each step, thereby outlining future research opportunities.

Hyoung, Nam, and P. K. Kannan. "The Informational Value Of Social Tagging Networks." Journal Of Marketing 78.(2014): 21-40. Business Source Elite. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. (E)Social tagging is a unique approach to share and classify online

information that allows users to communicate their thoughts, opinions, and beliefs concerning several concepts. In social tagging, content is connected through user-generated keywords “tags” and is easily searchable by these tags. Marketers obtain deep information by utilizing social tagging and that enable marketers to understand brand associative networks. This article examines how the information included in social tags can serve as a proxy device for brand performance and is able to divine the commercial valuation of a company. Utilizing data obtained from a social tagging and bookmarking website, the authors analyze social tagging data for 44 companies in 14 markets. Furthermore, they discover that in leading brand equity, it is more critical for strong brands to improve category dominance, although it is more important for vulnerable brands to enhance connectedness. The information of this article recommends a different way for practitioners to find, test, and manage hypothetical brand equity; proactively develop brand performance, and impact a companies' financial achievement.

Nagy, Judit, and Anjali Midha. "The Value Of Earned Audiences: How Social Interactions Amplify TV Impact." Journal Of Advertising Research

54.4 (2014): 448-453. Business Source Elite. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.

Nowadays, people use television and social media both simultaneously. This effect created a chance to impact a large group of audiences, known as the “earned audience.” The author of this article believed that Twitter users' behavior and attitude answer to television Tweets through a primetime television program, the authors of this article determined that earned audiences will take actions on both related to television viewing and engage with their brand sponsors an untapped potential for programmers and advertisers. "The Value of Earned Audiences: How Social Interactions Amplify TV Impact: What Programmers and Advertisers Can Gain from Earned Social Impressions" is one of numerous research papers in a particular "How Earned Media Works in Advertising" section. In their study, Nagy and Midha address: A fast-growing area of study includes the relationship between social media and television generally related to as social television describing the influence of television on social-media behaviors (and vice versa). The most common, most assessable outcome from the collaboration between these channels is television viewers using social media to distribute their opinions to television content, actually engaging in a social-soundtrack supplement to the large screen. The new research also expresses that, behind programming comments, user-generated tweets about brands meaningfully impact behavior pertain to the supporters of television programs, assisting more than half of the 'earned audiences' to take a number of further actions across different social media platforms or search solutions.

Wadhwa, Tarun. (2014) "Facebook's Experiment Reveals a Much Deeper Problem with the Internet Today. Retrieved from

www.forbes.com/sites/ tarunwadhwa/ 2014/07/02/facebooks-experiment-reveals-a-much-deeper- problem-with-the-internet-today/ >

According to Wadhwa, “the current relationship between consumers and internet companies is unsustainable.” He further explains how we place a trust in companies to give us information that is current and relevant. This filtering of information that is relevant to the users gets done through personalizing the information. Wadhwa states that users tend to focus on how the companies are “optimizing” the information we receive and neglect to consider the constrictions that have been placed on the information we can see. Also, he goes to mention how people tend not to think of all the personal information that has been collected about us through these uses. Wadhwa explains the effects of this personalization may not seem like a major harm, but over time it can have a substantiated effect. In fact, Wadhwa discusses how a study was conducted, and it suggested: “Google’s algorithms could be possible sway the outcome of an election.” Wadhwa continues by saying, “the promise of the internet has always been the free exchange of ideas, but that potential is being undermined by filtering everything we see and do.” Ryan Calo discusses the possible uses of the personal information that has been collected over the past decade about people. He claims that the next ten years will consist of these companies using the information to target people’s emotional appeals to buy specific products that may not need or at a higher expense than a person would normally spend. I believe this source to be very helpful because it provided examples of just how companies like Google and Facebook are using your online identity to their advantage. The goal of this source was to explain how companies, in particular, Facebook personalize the information that we see. I believe that the article contains objective information. The article has reliable and even current information because when it comes to the Internet even two to three years old can be considered outdated. This article can connect to the other main keystone articles like Pariser. I found information to be very useful and influential in my paper. This article helped me understand how and why major companies collect my personal information. I find it fascinating how companies will begin shifting their attention to making target market ads based on the collection of information that they have received. The goal of this tactic is to try to make consumers buy products that the person does not need based off of the emotional appeal. Also, this article makes me question the overall purpose for the internet because in Eli Pariser’s Ted Talks he discusses how the creation of the internet allowed people to bypass the gatekeepers, but instead through the uses of personalization that Wadhwa points out, the gatekeepers are still present but in other aspects.

Hannak, Aniko, et al. "Measuring personalization of web search." Proceedings of the 22nd interna7onal conference on World Wide Web.

International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee, 2013.

This article starts by evaluating the search engines such as Google, and Bing and the popularity they have earned over the years. According to this article even though Google seems very selective pertaining the way it presents information remains as the most useful search engine for the population. In the beginning, the article gives a complete introduction to Google and Bing’s history. In this introduction part, a few concerns are raised in regards how Google presents information. In the article is being said that if users search for the same term, the information they get appears very different and the results are different as well. Concerns about filter bubble are now looking even in the popular press the article explains. The article down the line gives the audience an insight about Google and Personalization Search. The author of this article all along treats a very delicate topic, which is the control of information. By the way, the author talks about filter bubble; it seems that works just like a semipermeable membrane where only certain things are allowed to go through. So the article clearly lets the audience realize that the information is very well controlled and selected by others. Other topics of the same value such as Temporal Dynamics, Quantifying Personalization, Browsing History, Personalization and Results Ranking are well developed and talk in details about the role of Web Search Services in our society. The article appears very informative because it gives the reader a series of facts that talk about the way information is presented through these powerful search engines and the impact they have on our daily life. The reader gets a complete picture of how filter bubble selects what comes through and what not. The author tries to get how personalization modifies the search and how important role it plays in the way the information is transmitted to the individuals. The article was fascinating. By reading it, I learned new things that had never occurred to me before as far as search is concerned. The author has provided valuable and unclouded information that is to understand. I gained a better insight into Web Search Services and the way they operate.

Hill, Kashmir. “BursJng the Filter Bubble: Seeing Who Facebook Thinks You’re Most Interested In.” Forbes. (2011). Web. 21. Mar. 2015.

http:// www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/08/23/bursJng-the-filter-bubble- seeing-who-facebookthinks-youre-most-interested-in/

The article begins with discussing the “Facebook Friend Ranking” link. The link shows “a list of Facebook users with scores next to their names” which ranks the “people whose profiles you’ve interacted with the most and whose content you have to click on most frequently.” The article adds that personalization is “not a new concern” and that even a decade ago scholars expressed fear about the Internet making it too easy for individuals to personalize their information streams.The article offers the use of personalization on Facebook and how a person can view the people they interacted with most. The article discusses that personalization is not a new concern of scholars. The article contains many similar terms and points as the article “Here’s What Social Networks Know About You,” which is a basic reading on the class website. The author provided different aspects of Facebook that have an essential role in the Internet Marketing. It also created the awareness of how closely people’s activity on the Internet is tracked. The article also helped me see how scholars think ahead of consequences of future matters. This article is a great resource to identify potential customers' behavior.  

O'Keeffe, G., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011, April). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Retrieved from http://

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800

This article concentrates on how the Internet and social media can be risky and how it can also be helpful. Cyberbullying, online harassment, and Facebook depression are few examples of risks that the Internet and social media contain. The author of this article states how Facebook has made teens insecurity levels reduce because they only want to be accepted. Also, Facebook now tracks everybody’s moves, and that put teen’s future reputations in danger. The author mentioned the pros of the Internet and social media, and they emphasize that communication has improved, learning opportunities enhanced, and health information is accessing very quickly because of Internet. The theoretical framework for this article was adequate and appropriate, and the authors communicated clearly and comprehensively to deliver the message. The finding for this article is very generalized. The limitations and weaknesses of this article include a limited inclusion of any study data or supporting documentation. The authors rely on their documentation of existing cases to validate their thesis. The research presented in this article will contribute to my doctoral study as a literary source for developing my literature review and the foundation of my knowledge on the topic of Internet marketing. This article was a very informative source because it contains information about the positive and negative impact of social media and the Internet. It brought up many valid points and reliable information that I can implement on my doc study. The goal of this article was to show everyone to be aware of their digital footprint but to also not necessarily give up on social media and the Internet.

Khang, H., Ki, E. J., & Ye, L. (2012). Social media research in advertising, communication, marketing, and public relations, 1997–2010.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 89(2), 279-298.

The power of social media has risen tremendously over the time, and the B2B world slowly adapted to this changes. B2B companies learned that is worth investing time and money in blogging, marketing, and particularly in social media is paying off. The researchers conclude that the B2B companies who have blogs create 67% more leads than companies that they don’t. The companies can educate their customer by using the weblog and engage them to their perspectives, their achievements, and even their everyday activities. B2b marketers mostly use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as their social network. B2B marketers believe that LinkedIn is the most effective social media to generate customers’ lead. Content Marketing is a strategic marketing method focused on generating and allocating valuable, relevant, and consistent content to invite and keep a clearly-defined audience and, eventually, to drive profitable customer action. The content marketing is looking to achieve three main organizational goals such as Brand Awareness, Lead generation, and Customer acquisition. Website traffic, Sales lead quality, and Social media sharing are three main metrics to measure content marketing’ success. 91% of marketers use content marketing, and 36% of them say that they are effective at it. Successful B2B marketers influence their niche audiences by writing a blog and moving their audiences to increase social media share. Most effective B2B content marketers implement more than twelve different marketing tactics, and they have documented marketing strategy. Effective B2B content marketers use seven different social platforms in average, and they also allocate 40% of their marketing budget to content marketing. E-newsletters, articles on their websites, and social media are among top three content marketing tactics implemented by B2B marketers. B2B marketers rate case studies as a powerful marketing tactic, also 62% of B2B marketers measure blogging as an effective content marketing tactic.

Java, A., Song, X., Finn, T., & Tseng, B. (2009). Why we Twitter: Understanding microblogging usage and communities. Retrieved from

http://ebiquity.umbc.edu/ paper/html/id/367/Why-We-Twitter-Understanding-Microblogging-Usage-and- Communities

This paper, presented at a 2007 WEBKDD Workshop, is directed toward computer software designers and programmers who seek to build on the success of microblogging clients like Twitter by gaining insights into how and why people use these tools. The authors focused on analysis of user intentions with Twitter at the level of the community. They used mathematical algorithms to determine hubs of activity and community nodes. The Clique Percolation Method (CPM) was applied to find overlapping communities and then content themes within communities were determined by analysis of the frequency of specific terms. Twitter posts were manually coded for intention resulting in identification of four main user intentions: talk about daily routines, conversation, sharing information (URLs), and reporting news. Three main types of users were identified: information providers, information seekers and friends. The methods of analysis used for discovering communities of users and their interests may be of use to researchers interested in the formation of and relations within and between online social networks.

Streck, Helen. “Social Networks and Their Impact on Records and Information Management.” January, 2011. Available from ARMA International Education Foundation

This article sponsored by the ARMA International Educational Foundation, and the author provided an overview of social networks. The author identified the real and perceived issues of social network characteristics that impact RIM professionals and the RIM profession. He also classified some legal issues around social networks and RIM. Streck conducted a survey of over 1,000 RIM, ITR, and legal professionals in the U.S. participated in six social networks over the course of a year and a half. The author also did a literature review and interviews. It is not clear how she utilized the data she collected throughout the report. Streck explained the methodology at the beginning of the article. Streck analyzed the history of social network sites and put their use into context. There are many generalizations made regarding the approaches to technology without any references. Streck argued about the need for organizations to address RIM issues that arise from social network use including policy and training. Streck effectively highlighted some of the issues that result from the organizational use of social networks and pulled attention to the organization’s responsibilities in addressing these matters. The only weakness found in the study was that the author failed to provide detailed information about advertising products and services on LinkedIn, which is less common social media used by business owners. This article is directly relevant to my research study because the author provided advice for effective Internet marketing and recommendations for online business owners to implement successful Internet marketing strategies. The article provided a new insight into Internet marketing. The literature review was excellent and offered references from other authors and related articles, that can be implement into this subject. The marketing information offered by Streck gave advices on how to effectively Internet marketing including social media.