2014 - Regalix...2014 continues to see the rise of content marketing as a discipline with marketers ... White papers Video Ebook Podcasts Case Studies ebinars Infographics Blogs News

2014B2B Marketing Trends,Predictions & Forecasts

2014 B2B Marketing Trends, Predictions and Forecasts2013 was the year of content. Marketers were forced to think content first, everything else followed second. This heralded the era of brand journalism, witnessing phenomenal increase in content marketing spend across the globe. However the marketing landscape in the last 3-4 years is rapidly evolving with technological advancement driving change and evolution in consumer behavior propelling marketers to adopt new practices to get into their mindshare. Cross channel marketing, mobile marketing were all results of this change, leaving marketers grappling with how to leverage big data and form strategies based on analytics and consumer behavior both online and offline.

2014 continues to see the rise of content marketing as a discipline with marketers realigning their marketing spend to create content that adds value to their end users. More than 87% of marketers surveyed confirmed channelizing budgets to digital marketing campaigns as opposed to traditional offline campaigns. While spends in video marketing, search engine marketing and digital publishing will continue to rise, budgets will move away from mobile and other traditional media line print, television and radio, unless they come through with innovative solutions to help marketers break through the clutter.

This survey report looks into trends and predictions that will help CMO’s and marketing leaders to focus on the right channels and tactics that will create market differentiation, drive growth and increase ROI.

Regalix Research© 2014 B2B Marketing Trends, Predictions and Forecasts / 01

Key Takeaways

87%

83%

75%

85%

marketers plan to increase their budget allocation towards Digital marketing in the next twelve months

marketers believe that Email will continue to be the most effective distribution channel in their marketing mix, followed by Events and Search Engines

marketers believe that Video will be the most effective content asset in the year 2014

marketers report a decrease in marketing spends on Mobile marketing and offline marketing such as Radio and Television

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Back to Basics-Increasing Revenue Regains Prime ImportanceIn 2013, the focus was on acquiring new leads via a combination of online and offline marketing; in 2014 marketers are focusing on activities that will lead to a direct increase in revenue as reported by 93% of marketers surveyed.

93%

25%

50%

38%57%

81%

48%

38%

67%

Enhanced Customer Service

Increasing Brand Awareness

Generating Leads

Nurturing Prospects

Activating Engagement

Influencing PurchaseFostering Brand Loyalty and Advocacy

Reduction in Cost of Operations

Increase in Revenue

Source: Regalix Research, January 2014


Emails and Social Media Key to Driving Sales, Say B2B Marketers

Value Percentage

The top three online marketing tactics that marketers would be concentrating on in the year 2014 are Websites (91%), Email marketing (77%) and Social Media Marketing (69%). As for traditional offline marketing, the power of events to create customer connects and drive conversations in unparalleled and will continue to see increase in investment and participation.

Website

Email

SEO (Organic Search)

PPC (Paid search)

Social Media Marketing

Display

Affiliate Marketing

Mobile Web

Mobile App

Video Advertising

Mobile Messaging

Events

Print

Radio

TV

Telemarketing

Outdoor Advertisements

Direct Mail

Others

91%

77%

69%

58%

69%

33%

23%

17%

25%

28%

10%

78%

23%

6%

6%

42%

11%

37%

5%



2014-The Year of VideoOur survey suggests that Video will be the content asset of choice for marketers in the year 2014. It comes as no surprise therefore that 94% of survey respondents report an expected increase in spends for video marketing in the year 2014. Other popular content assets include Case studies and Webinars as indicated by 91% and 82% of survey respondents. On the other hand, content assets such as Podcasts have gotten antiquated, with marketers decreasing their investments in the upcoming year as indicated by 65% of survey respondents.

Good old White-papers and Case studies are still considered most influential as indicated by 87% and 80% of marketers respectively, followed by online Video.

White papers

VideoEbook

Podcasts

Case Stud

ies

Webinars

Infographics Blogs

News Le

tters

Articles

76%

Increase spend Decrease Spend

94%75%

35%

91% 82% 82% 77% 79% 76%

24%6%

25%10% 18% 18% 23% 21% 23%

25%

Blog

Online Video

49%

71%

Newsletters

33%

Webinars / W

ebcasts

76%

White-papers

87%

Social N

etwork P

osting

42%

Case Studies

80%

Infographics

38%

Articles

44%

Mobile Conten

t

13%



Budget Apportionment 60 percent respondents report nil increase or apportionment of the same marketing budget in the upcoming year as marketers claim that there is an increasing pressure on marketing department to prove themselves and gain tangible returns (revenue) before claiming additional funds. Such a climate makes it extremely tough for marketers to traverse, hence the focus on increasing revenue from marketing initiatives.

According to 86% of survey respondents, in 2013, the percentage of budget allocated towards digital marketing was 10 to 25%. This amount is expected to rise to 51% and above, say 87% of marketers surveyed. The amount will differ depending on industries and company sizes. Large to medium sized companies invest less than 100 million on marketing whereas small sized companies invest around 1 million or less on the same.

As for marketing channels, offline channels such as Print, Outdoor and Direct Mail saw less than 10% budget allocation; with the only exception being Events which continues to see increased investment, as high as 51 to 75%, because of its high effectiveness and marketing impact. Online marketing channels such as Website, Email and Video are expected to receive around 10 to 50% of marketing budget.

100%

2013 2014

0-9%

25%

86%

10-25%

67% 53%

26-50%

77%60%

51% and Above

87% 67%

Not Sure

67%



Website

Email

SEO (Organic Search)

PPC (Paid search)

Social Media Marketing

Display

Affiliate Marketing

Mobile Web

Mobile App

Video Advertising

Mobile Messaging

Events

Print

Radio

TV

Telemarketing

Outdoor Advertisements

Direct Mail

48%

50%

48%

51%

53%

44%

41%

45%

46%

41%

64%

42%

58%

52%

55%

41%

57%

42%



Mobile Replaced by Social Media Marketing, Say B2B Marketers

Marketing media expected to see increased investment in the coming year are Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, LinkedIn Marketing and Webinars. The coming year will see a reduced emphasis on Mobile strategies, with the focus shifting to more “Social” strategies instead. Mobile marketing and the tactics used to leverage that medium like Mobile QR codes, SMS campaigns are expected to see decreased investments in the year 2014, and so are traditional offline marketing channels such as TV and Radio. The only mobile program which will receive marketers’ attention will be the Mobile Website which is an imperative now for marketers owing to an increasing number of consumers accessing information through devices, in today’s multi-screen universe.

LinkedIn will see increased focus; with 97% marketers claiming that they’ll increase spend for LinkedIn marketing in the next 12 months, followed by branded blogs as reported by 83% of survey respondents. Social media has been found to be the channel of choice for today’s marketer to disburse their message to an increasingly connected audience who is always tuned to social networking sites to do everything from finding out vendor information to placing customer support queries.

Direct

Mail

44%56%

Email

78%

22%

Paid

Searc

h

91%

10%

Online

Disp

lay

48% 52%

Even

ts

38%

62%

Outdoo

r Disp

lay

21%

79%

Searc

h Eng

ine O

ptimiza

tion

90%

10%

Press

Relea

ses

66%

35%

Mobile

QR c

odes

15%

35%

SMS C

ampa

igns

18%

82%

Push

Noti

ficati

ons

38%

62%

Mobile

Web

50%50%

Print

76%

24%

Web

site

12%

88%

Telev

ision

88%

12%

Radio

83%

17%

Face

book

Mark

eting

47%53%

Twitte

r Mark

eting

32%

68%

Linke

dIn M

arketi

ng

10%

90%

Slide

share

37%

63%

Web

inars

10%

90%

Increase spend

Decrease Spend



Top Challenges of 2014-Focus Shifts to Measurement and AttributionMeans of acquiring new customers continues to plague the B2B marketer as Customer Acquisition was cited as the topmost challenge in the upcoming year by 73% respondents. The second biggest challenge in the year 2014 is expected to be measuring ROI on marketing activities (55%), followed by Cross-Channel Management and Integration related challenges (42%).

Lack of budgets continues to be a major hurdle in preventing successful implementation and execution of digital marketing programs

74%

26%

55%

16%

24%

37%

21%

42%

26%

16%

24%

3%

Acquiring New Customers

Driving Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction

Measuring ROI

Lack of Expertise and Training

Marketing Attribution

Targeting and Personalization

Building Brand Awareness

Cross-Channel Management and Integration

Social Engagement

Superior Customer Service on Multiple Channels using Multiple Devices

Keeping up with Digital Trends

Others (Please specify)



Attribution Rising as Apriority

Are You Ready for 2014?

Attributing and measuring performance of multiple channels used by customers in their buying journey is fast becoming an extremely important area for marketers and will see continued popularity in the upcoming year, as indicated by almost half of the survey respondents. Tracking data quality and customer interactions across channels manually is a time-consuming process. The coming year will see a rise of better measurement tools that not only track individual interactions such as clicks and likes, but also actual engagement in the form of discussions, shares across multiple platforms/channels, and actions as a result of those interactions which will help marketers manage and execute cross-channel programs and a unified brand experience.

So how can you prepare for the year ahead? Here is a simple check-list for you:

• If you are still investing your precious time and effort on offline marketing activities such as Telemarketing and Direct Mail, it is time to shift your focus to online marketing activities.

• If you do not have a Video marketing strategy, it is high time you create one. 2014 is the year of video with more and more marketers relying on video to supplement and advance their buyers effortlessly through their purchase journey. (To learn how to use video for B2B marketing, please visit our complete video guide here) http://research.regalix.com/insights/playbooks/video-marketing-guide/

• Use Social Media to distribute your content. Leverage LinkedIn for everything from targeted advertising to finding the right corporate connections.

• Invest in technology that measures customer interaction across customer touch-points, allowing you to create relevant and extremely targeted communication. (To learn more about how you can benefit from attribution and cross-channel marketing, download our report here) http://research.regalix.com/research/report/b2b-cross-channel-marketing-and-attribution-trends-2013/#


Demographics2014 B2B Marketing Trends, Predictions and Forecasts was produced by Regalix. The report was created using information from a survey on marketing trends which saw participation from marketing leaders and decision makers from leading Software and IT companies across US, Europe and Asia.


About the Analysts

Priscilla SelwineAssociate Director

Aditi NarayanaResearch Associate

Priscilla’s research is focused on B2B content creation and

distribution practices that enable product marketing professionals

deliver targeted sales enablement material. Her research combines

creative with scientific measurement that creates real digital

marketing leverage.

Aditi’s research is focused on B2B content creation and distribution

practices that enable product marketing professionals deliver targeted

sales enablement material. Her research combines creative with

scientific measurement that creates real digital marketing leverage.

About Regalix Research

For more informationTo find out how Regalix Research can help you, please contact our office, or visit us at www.regalix.com

Regalix Research1121 San Antonio Road, Suite # B200 Palo Alto, CA 9 4303 Phone: 650 - 331 - 1167Email: [email protected]

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we help the CMO organization leverage emerging digital practices for creating marketing leverage as they bring new products and innovation to market. Regalix Research helps marketers through research-based insights, consulting and peer-to-peer programs that guide marketing strategy development and execution. Our focus is helping Technology companies leverage innovation and best practices to create real differentiation. Our analysts are practitioners with a successful track record of delivering real marketing results for both leading Fortune 500 companies as well as venture backed firms.

Regalix is an award-winning Global Innovation company that leverages technology and marketing to help companies grow. We create successful ventures with our clients through co-innovation and idea-driven frameworks that inspire companies to think different. We bring ideas to life by envisioning new companies, developing brands, engineering products, and designing technology platforms. Founded in 1998, Regalix is based in Palo Alto. Our Silicon Valley setting has enabled us to stay ahead of emerging trends in digital technology and marketing.

For over a decade, we have provided complete marketing services – Social, Mobile, Content, Multi-channel Campaigns, Technology Development, and Analytics – to companies such as CA Technologies, Citi, Apple, eBay, Cisco, VMWare, NetApp, Cypress, LSI, Keynote, and MetricStream

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2014 - Regalix...2014 continues to see the rise of content marketing as a discipline with marketers ... White papers Video Ebook Podcasts Case Studies ebinars Infographics Blogs News