5 Ways to Optimise B2B Marketing Budget for 2024
February 2, 2024
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1. The Second Wave of ABM
2. B2B Influencers
3. Engage Influencers Outside the Core Buying Group
4. Useful 3rd party data
5. The Return of Humour
1. The Second Wave of ABM
Forbes first noted the resurgence of ABM in 2021. It’s back and more relevant than ever in proptech. Why? Because proptech companies are generally vertically focused, meaning there’s a finite number of prospects to target. And guess what? Everyone else is after them too.
ABM (not to be confused with the Dutch facilities firm) stands for Account Based Marketing. It targets a tightly defined set of accounts with hyper-personalised content. No spray and pray to 1000s of contacts. The prospect should feel like only they’ve received this outreach. ABM isn’t new, but in competitive markets, companies must strive to make marketing budgets work harder. ABM therfore becomes a no-brainer.
Wunderman Thomason has published a comprehensive report on it here: https://www.vml.com/insight/catching-the-next-wave?blaid=5007303
2. B2B Influencers
Ogilvy reckons that 75% of B2B marketers are investing in influencer marketing. It’s part of a wider shift in how customers' buying decisions are being shaped. Hate to break the news but B2B influencers aren’t going anywhere. Companies can respond by turning their business development teams into influencers by sharing what they’re working on and their unique perspectives.
Parry Headrick's demonstrates this well. By sharing valuable insights about the PR industry he was able to attract new clients for his firm, Crackle PR. LinkedIn creators also recently partnered with B2B tech brands like Intel and Zendesk to make use of the less-saturated platform. The trend of sharing both personal and professional content on LinkedIn will likely continue in 2024. For many, LinkedIn is the platform with their largest audience.
3. Engage Influencers Outside the Core Buying Group
There is a rising trend in the expansion of influence on key buyers. In 2024, this means instead of only targeting top-level decision-makers, your strategy should now include a wider audience within businesses. This change recognises the growing influence of everyday users and internal influencers in the buying process. Adopting a 'big tent-style' approach, B2B marketing efforts are now more inclusive, engaging various staff levels and influencers, not just executives. Think of it like expanding the guest list with more diverse attendees.
This evolution reflects the need to connect with all potential decision-makers and users, broadening the scope of traditional B2B marketing. This isn't just about reaching out to them, but actually keeping them engaged. Embracing this inclusive approach is critical in winning enterprise customers.
4. Useful 3rd party data
There’s a growing emphasis on data privacy, which affects marketers’ capacity to measure both campaign effectiveness and gather user data. In 2024, there’s an opportunity to get creative with gaining insights into customer behaviour, especially with Google’s plans to phase out third-party cookies in the second half of this year.
Where does that leave us? First-party data. This offers high accuracy but requires opt-in from customers on your website. That means collecting data on a large scale gets trickier, but a more ethical approach which doesn’t rely on cookies will yield much higher-quality data.
5. The Return of Humour
Funny is more memorable: 90% of consumers say they’re more likely to remember a funny ad and 72% would select a humorous brand over the competition. Buyers are human and humans love to be humoured. Picture this: your competition is sending the same cold emails with dull corporate speak to the customers you’re after. You swoop in with the latest viral Taylor Swift meme, with some tweaks to make it relevant to them.
To put it bluntly: we need more humour in B2B. Why should B2C get all the fun? A shift in humour-driven advertising is overdue especially now buying groups are expanding (see point 2). You need to say, hey, we get you, we know your language and your unique challenges. But we get it, this kind of marketing doesn’t come naturally and feels risky. But humour tells people you understand them on a human level.
How have B2B companies handled this?
FAQ
What challenges might companies face when trying to execute these strategies, and how can they overcome them?
When implementing ABM strategies, building B2B influencers on LinkedIn and adding humour to their marketing, the main challenge man companies face is the production of quality of creative content. Many companies struggle to write and create content that stands out either because they are time-poor or because there are no creative production roles at their company.
When engaging Influencers outside the core buying group companies struggle to articulate themselves in a manner that resonates with a larger buyer group. This can be solved by working on the company's messaging and strategy.
The main challenge that companies face wanting to use 3rd party data is often the turning that data an information into actionable goals, because there is simply so much data to sift through. At Bloxspring we circumvent this by linking our analytics system to marketing and communication KPIs.
How do these strategies specifically apply to the real estate and property technology (proptech) industries?
ABM strategies are very targeted by their nature so they suit proptech companies vertically focused character (meaning there’s a finite number of prospects to target).
B2B influences are a key opportunity for Proptech companies because the market is small therefore the potential for an influencer to touch many key buyers with their content is higher than other markets.
Poroptech companies need to use 3rd Party Data to craft strategies because general insights available around tech buyers doesn't capture the nuance of Proptech buying decisions.
Using more humour in marketing is an easy way to stand out from the typically traditional real estate market.
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