By Fernanda Nascimento
The year is just beginning and we are already looking at a more distant future, or right there in 2030. I find this perspective that visualizes a longer period interesting, because the strategy must also predict what will remain with the passage of time and what we will have ahead in the face of changes that never cease.
This is the vision of the Linkedin B2B Institute when bringing the results of the “2030 B2B Trends” survey, exploring exactly what will not change. Because a little stability never hurts anyone. Especially when we talk about business.
The report highlights the three macro trends that should define the next 10 years of B2B marketing. For Linkedin analysts, these insights “constitute a plan to reestablish marketing as a discipline that drives long-term business growth and strategic innovation for B2B companies.” I find it interesting to note that innovation does not always come from something completely new, but can occur from already consolidated ideas that become stronger over time. Investing in brand value, then, sounds like an absurdly obvious proposition.
Branding. Always and forever. For B2B organizations, this is perhaps an important discovery when everyone is much more focused on sales. The report reinforces that there are many B2B marketing professionals who seek immediate results, using lead generation software and technologies that enable sales results, abandoning strategy for tactics. However, researchers are strongly betting that the lasting strategy for the future is to turn to investing in brand strength, going beyond the tactics that have become conventional.
It is interesting to note that the authors quote Jeff Bezos when asked about What will change in the next 10 years?” For Bezos, this is the wrong question. The right answer would be: What won’t change in the next 10 years? He understands that, 10 years from now, buyers will certainly still want lower prices and faster delivery and that is why he recommends building businesses around trends that are stable over time. With this perspective, Linkedin researchers conducted a meta-analysis of all B2B trends detected in previous reports, aiming to identify concepts that have stood “the test of time”. They believe that they are the most durable ideas and that, in business, the ideas that last the longest are the most profitable.
Let’s look at the trends, starting with what they call “The war for the brand”. Here are some insights into this trend:
The effectiveness of professionals who focus on sales activation, aiming for short-term results, declines quickly and does not increase over time. On the other hand, brand building provides long-term growth, with some short-term gains. The true value of brand building is how it influences future sales to future buyers. Sales activation does not create demand; it just helps capture existing demand. Brand building is what really generates demand, both in the long and short term.
Analysts believe the ideal balance in B2B is 50% long-term branding, 50% short-term activation. This number is still far from the usual market practice, in which many marketing professionals are in a real war for the brand, competing for funds with lead generators and their immediate miracles.
By 2030, researchers expect this balance to be achieved, with greater investments in brand management, and they also bet that B2B brand builders will be the most sought-after marketers by 2030.
Let’s go to the second trend: “Blockbuster Marketing”. Here, the big tip is to think like Disney to be creative. On this journey from B2B to the world of entertainment, researchers seek inspiration from the best of the best, in a strong commitment to the brand. Everything you need to build a strong brand is very strong creativity.
According to studies, creativity can multiply the financial return of a marketing campaign by 12 times. The conclusion comes from five years of analysis of Disney’s creative decisions. It does not have a formula that guarantees successful creativity, but it does have a core of creative principles that substantially improve your chances. An algorithm that works for Disney and can work for B2B marketers: Creative success = (big bets) on (family stories) with (distinctive styles) on (all channels). The only way to move forward today is to bet big, like Disney.
The third trend of LinkedIn analysts is “The death of Hyper-Targeting”, correcting the best media error of the last decade. Research shows that 68% of B2B marketers believe hyper-targeting is more effective than broad targeting. In turn, researchers believe in segmentation by category, mainly because in B2B, purchasing decisions are not made by individuals, but by networks.
Thus, hyper-targeted ads to purchasing managers will never reach these stakeholders, amplifying the need to build consensus within the decision-making group. B2B buyers are extremely risk-averse and prone to making defensive decisions, but the value of brands eliminates the risks of decisions by offering greater security in choices.
It is important to highlight that this purchasing network is always changing, with new professionals leaving and entering the decision-making processes. LinkedIn data reveals that, every four years, around 40% of users change their profile, sector, seniority, function and company size. Therefore, if you expand the segmentation, you increase the chances of reaching future buyers.
Given all these discoveries, we can believe that going back to the past can be a great journey towards the future, because in times of profound transformations that which never changes also needs to be observed: the value of the brand only increases when it is placed at the center of strategy, and it matters a lot in B2B purchasing decisions. Come with me, I know how to walk this journey.
*Fernanda Nascimento Marketing planner, founder and CEO of Stratlab, customer-centric digital strategist and specialist in B2B marketing and sales.
Follow Adnews on Instagrame LinkedIn. #WhereTransformationHappens
