What do B2B clients want in 2024?
It’s no surprise that today’s B2B clients yearn for a dynamic, digital-first experience.
In 2022, a McKinsey survey predicted that remote sales would no longer be an alternative option in 2024, but a necessary powerhouse. This was supported by data showing sales reps leveraging remote strategies engaging with four times as many accounts and witnessing a staggering 50% surge in revenue. And time has proven them right, showing this isn’t a passing trend—it’s the new sales reality.
B2B clients have gone beyond just wanting digital sales options. In 2021, over two-thirds of these buyers expressed a preference for a mix of remote human interactions and digital self-service. They want an omnichannel approach—one that allows for a seamless purchase experience no matter which channel they’re using or how they’re switching channels throughout the process. 99% of B2B buyers prefer the digital self-serve model, and they’re comfortable spending $50K or more online. In fact, 32% of B2B buyers would spend up to $500k online.
And with advancements in AI and technologies, there are unprecedented opportunities for personalization and predictive analytics, enabling companies to tailor their approaches with laser precision. This hyper-personalization isn’t just appreciated; it’s demanded by clients seeking connections that resonate on a personal level.
What does this mean for businesses in 2024? The message is clear: adapt or fall behind.
Companies need to embrace this hybrid, digital-forward approach, combining the reach and efficiency of digital strategies with the personal touch of traditional sales. It’s a balancing act, but one that’s crucial for capturing the evolving B2B market.
Related post: How COVID-19 has changed the B2B buyer behavior
As a B2B PR firm, we have multiple strategies that create meaningful connections that convert our clients. Our work begins in the digital sphere. Unlike traditional PR agencies, we focus on creating digital experiences worthy of your audience and worthy of attention. We combine a strategy with studied business objectives to create quantifiable results in the sales pipeline.
In 2024, successful sales rely on PR and marketing. They must tell a clear story because, at the end of the day, we know one thing to be true above all else: Mindshare = market share.
What is B2B sales marketing?
B2B sales marketing is a specialized form of marketing focusing on selling products or services to other businesses rather than individual consumers. The process of B2B sales marketing is centered around building relationships with potential customers and providing them with relevant and valuable information to help them make informed purchasing decisions.
B2B sales marketing strategies often involve a multi-channel approach, including trade shows, industry events, email marketing, content marketing, and targeted advertising. The goal is to reach and engage decision-makers within target businesses and establish the company as a trusted and knowledgeable provider of products or services in the industry.
To be successful in B2B sales marketing, companies must understand the specific needs and challenges of their target customers, as well as the competitive landscape of the industry. This requires a deep understanding of the target market, including potential customers’ pain points and buying criteria. By leveraging this knowledge, B2B sales marketers can create compelling messages and campaigns that effectively communicate the value of their offerings and establish the company as a leader in the industry.
8 B2B Sales Marketing Strategies
1. Elevate B2B Digital Marketing
This year’s trend is not about the onset of digital marketing, but its evolution into a more sophisticated, results-driven practice.
Companies are now leveraging advanced analytics and AI to deepen their understanding of customer behaviors, enabling hyper-personalized marketing campaigns. Emerging from the crowded fintech space, Inscribe, a company specializing in automation software, faced the challenge of gaining media attention and standing out. With a pivotal Series B funding round ahead, they needed a robust digital PR strategy.
Partnering with Zen Media, Inscribe embarked on a targeted campaign to increase their share of voice and position their spokespeople as thought leaders. The strategy involved garnering consistent media placements, targeting strategic venture capitalist audiences, and leveraging both new and existing media contacts to secure comprehensive coverage.
The results of this quarter-long campaign were remarkable. Inscribe achieved significant brand recognition and visibility, with feature pieces in top-tier outlets like VentureBeat and TechCrunch. Their Series B announcement press release alone garnered an impressive 377 pickups and a
potential reach of over 186.1 million people.
Inscribe’s journey exemplifies how a well-crafted digital PR strategy can elevate a technical, innovative company to new heights both in the media and within their industry.
2. Embrace hybrid sales and marketing models.
In 2024, the B2B sales landscape will be dominated by the hybrid sales model, which masterfully blends digital and physical interactions. This model has become essential for businesses looking to create seamless customer experiences that transition smoothly between online and offline spaces.
According to McKinsey, one of the key aspects of this model is its agility and flexibility. Successful B2B organizations are now updating account priorities and realigning resources as frequently as once a month, compared to the typical annual review. This adaptability is particularly advantageous for companies selling solutions because it facilitates collaboration with specialists across the business to design tailor-made offerings for customers. The “rule of thirds” suggests that buyers now expect a balanced mix of in-person, remote (video conference or phone), and self-service (e-commerce) interactions throughout their purchasing journey.
McKinsey also notes that the changing customer behavior in B2B sales has led companies to adapt in several ways. This includes creating cross-functional win rooms, ensuring the correct tech-stack intensity, and broadening the role of commercial operations. These adaptations are not just about incorporating technology; they focus on thoughtful integration of tools, desired outcomes, and adding analytical and strategic value to sales operations.
Companies are moving towards more dynamic, flexible, and technologically advanced sales models that prioritize customer engagement and personalized experiences, both online and offline.
3. Use social wisely: build communities and be conversational.
In 2024, B2B social media marketing has evolved far beyond its traditional boundaries. It now leverages influencer marketing and buying communities, focusing on active engagement rather than just online presence.
Influencer marketing, which has proven highly effective in B2C, is also gaining traction in B2B marketing. It’s a powerful way to add social proof to your business, showing that your offerings are reliable and trusted by other successful businesses.
Another critical element in 2024 social media strategy trends is the use of conversational content. This trend sees a significant shift towards more everyday, approachable language in marketing materials. By communicating with the audience using conversational language, whether in social posts, emails, or chatbots, businesses can break down barriers and build better customer loyalty.
Use social media to research, analyze and interact with potential clients. Online profiles, both of companies and of their team members, provide a wealth of information to help your sales strategists identify — and then provide solutions for — the problems that potential clients are facing.
Investigate who your prospective clients are following, what posts they like, and who they interact with. Then, place yourself (or your company) in the conversation by adding value to those same conversations.
4. Leverage B2B influencers.
Influencer marketing helps put a face to your organization, which can enhance resonance with your digital marketing messaging and make you more appealing when compared to competitors. This approach has become so effective that around 82% of marketers surveyed are planning to dedicate an entire budget to influencer marketing, as it provides excellent ROI.
Influencers, often experts or thought leaders in their respective fields, are now integral to shaping brand narratives. Their involvement not only adds credibility, but also humanizes the brand, making it more relatable and trustworthy in the eyes of potential clients. This shift towards using respected industry figures as brand ambassadors reflects a broader trend in marketing where personal connections and authenticity are increasingly valued.
Don’t think influencers can be effective in B2B? Think again.
TrueLook’s influencer marketing campaign is a standout example of this strategy’s effectiveness.
Focused on promoting their construction job site camera technology, TrueLook chose influencers with substantial followings in the construction industry, leveraging platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook. This multi-platform approach resulted in a significant boost in leads, impressions, and engagement, demonstrating the power of influencer marketing in niche B2B sectors.
This case study illustrates the potential impact of carefully selected influencers in a B2B context. TrueLook’s campaign achieved over 500k impressions and more than 2,446 engagement points, underscoring the effectiveness of influencer marketing in enhancing a brand’s digital presence and appeal, even in specialized industries.
5. Showcase brand relevance
At their core, successful businesses meet needs. What’s changed in 2024, though, is the heightened focus on brand relevance. The shared experience of living through a pandemic has changed the way people interact, both professionally and personally.
Brands and businesses are like people. Customers want to know who they’re working with, what the company values, and the type of culture they can expect to encounter.
This is vital for B2B sales, or sales in general, because no one wants to work with an out-of-touch provider or product. Do you know anyone still using a Motorola flip phone (not using it to be funny)? Probably not.
Brand relevance can be communicated in many ways. Building on the foundation of solidified identity—like consistent messaging on a website or intentional social media strategy—brands can participate in larger societal conversations. This happens on social media, whether that means putting your brand’s own spin on the most recent meme or a more serious contribution to conversations in your industry.
Showcase your company’s work, your company’s makeup, and your company’s initiatives. You don’t want all of your interactions with potential clients to be solely a sales pitch; you need to build a recognizable presence.
6. Develop strategic partnerships and collabs
Forming alliances with complementary businesses or industry influencers is an opportunity to pool resources, share expertise, and expand market reach. This approach focuses on identifying partners with aligned goals and objectives, facilitating resource sharing for efficiency, and co-creating unique value propositions that benefit both parties.
Collaborations can enhance brand credibility, offer cost-effective growth opportunities, increase sales, and foster innovation. But it’s essential that business cultures are aligned and that there is clear communication, well-defined legal agreements, and established metrics for success. They key is being mutually beneficial, these days.
7. Use AI. For what? Everything.
There’s a growing emphasis on creating personalized and seamless experiences for customers, leveraging AI algorithms to analyze vast data sets quickly and accurately, pinpointing customer needs, and tailoring content accordingly. Using AI in B2B marketing campaigns can lead to better client experiences and an average revenue increase of 5 to 15%.
Forrester predicts that generative AI will play a pivotal role in one in five new B2B product launches by 2024, helping teams identify novel capabilities for product development. However, there is also a caution against thinly customized AI content, which could degrade the purchasing experience for a significant portion of B2B buyers. The key is to use AI to enhance personalized and locally nuanced content that resonates with customers’ needs and business conditions.
AI’s capacity to personalize experiences and enhance product development is invaluable, yet it cannot fully replace the nuanced understanding and emotional intelligence inherent in human interactions.
The challenge lies in harmonizing AI’s analytical prowess with human empathy and creativity to create marketing strategies that are both technically sophisticated and deeply resonant with customers’ needs and values. This balance ensures that AI-driven content remains relevant, engaging, and genuinely beneficial to the B2B buyer’s journey.
8. Focus on customer retention
Rather than solely focusing on acquiring new customers, some B2B companies have found success by putting more emphasis on customer retention and loyalty, investing in post-sale support and engagement to keep customers satisfied and coming back for more. This can lead to more repeat business, as well as positive word-of-mouth referrals.
Bonus B2B sales and marketing tips
Collaborate with partners and invest in relationships.
Collaborating with partners and investing in new business relationships can be a great way to reach new audiences and boost your B2B sales and marketing efforts. For example, you can partner with other businesses in your industry to cross-promote each other’s products or services. You can also partner with influencers in your industry to promote your brand and reach a wider audience.
When collaborating with partners, it’s essential to make sure that your values and goals align. You want to ensure that you’re working with partners and influencers who share your vision and values and will help you achieve your goals.
It’s also important to be transparent and upfront about your expectations and goals when collaborating with partners and influencers. Make sure both parties are on the same page and understand what each other hopes to achieve from the collaboration.
To make the most of your B2B sales and marketing efforts, you need to measure your results, collaborate with partners and influencers, and continuously refine and improve your strategies. By doing so, you’ll be able to reach new audiences, increase your visibility, and grow your business.
Measure your results
It’s essential to measure your B2B sales and marketing strategies to see if they’re working. If you don’t measure your results, you’ll never know if you’re making progress or if your efforts are in vain. Measuring your results can be as simple as tracking your website traffic, leads, and sales. You can also use tools like Google Analytics to track your website traffic and see where your traffic is coming from, how long visitors stay on your website, and which pages they visit.
Another way to measure your results is to use A/B testing. A/B testing is when you test two different versions of a marketing campaign to see which one performs better. For example, you can test two different email subject lines to see which one gets more opens. You can also test two different landing pages to see which one generates more leads.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that you need a digital strategy to achieve B2B sales and marketing success in 2024.
B2B sales and marketing are essential for any business looking to succeed in today’s competitive market. By utilizing these actionable strategies, you’ll be able to maximize your efforts and achieve better results. Remember to always focus on your target audience, use social media effectively, invest in content marketing, incorporate AI and other advanced tools, nurture your leads, measure your results, and collaborate with partners and influencers. With the right approach and the right tools, you’ll be well on your way to success.
Not quite sure how to make this work for you? Drop us a note. After all, this is what we do best.
