It’s that time of year again …
Time to deck the halls, buy a secret Santa gift for that colleague who has everything and stock up on beer for the office holiday party.
In between all of this excitement, it’s also important to reflect on your 2014 marketing. Which of your activities were brilliant? Which were cringe-worthy?
As marketers, we often rush toward shiny new things. However, you can’t rush into 2015 without first knowing what worked and what didn’t work in 2014.
Before we jump into 2015, let’s look back at some of the top B2B marketing trends from 2014. I’ve outlined five top trends below – along with why they will still matter in 2015. Without further ado, here they are:
1. Documenting Your Content Marketing Strategy
The most successful content marketers not only talk the talk – they also walk the walk. This means moving from saying “Let’s do it!” to actually documenting what you’re going to do. The 2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report revealed that B2B marketers who have a documented content marketing strategy are more effective than those who don’t have one.
Creating content without a strategy is like driving without a map – you’re likely to make wrong turns and waste money along the way. For the best results in 2015, work from a plan.
2. Making Your Marketing More Human
One of the key takeaways from SpiceWorld 2014 was that technology marketers must start speaking to humans and stop “speaking to the Borg.” IT professionals don’t respond to robotic marketing. They’re tired of being called “users” or “leads.”
To rock your marketing in 2015, you must bring your messaging to life. This means chatting with your customers to find out who they are, what they like and what challenges they face. Then, speak to them in plain English – not marketing jargon.
