Happy New Year from everyone here at B2B News Network! Here’s to a healthy, productive 2017, with heaps of ROI and J-O-Y. A new year means a new round of annual predictions from B2B influencers, and in this year’s first installment of B2B Trending Conversations, we’ve curated a sampling of the crystal ball-gazing out in the Twitterverse. From taking advantage of the latest social media features and building better marketing strategies and campaigns to creating killer personalized video content and boosting ROI, understanding the big trends of the coming year will help you get an edge on your competitors. Here are some important ones to watch:
B2B Social Marketing
9 Facebook Marketing Features You Need To Know In 2017 – https://t.co/YxC7NCK8Z1 pic.twitter.com/if8nqBPKX4 #B2B
— Intl Travel Reviews (@IntlReviews) December 27, 2016
The ever-evolving nature of social media means that sticking to what you know in social marketing can be dangerous. You may be comfortable, and think you’re familiar with, trusty old social networks like Facebook. After all, you’ve been using it for a decade now. But as you’ve also surely noticed by now, Facebook keeps rolling out new features and woe unto the marketer who fails to understand and utilize each and every one of these updates. After all, who wouldn’t want to directly sell their products, communicate face-to-face with prospects and customers or supercharge their company profile with video enhancement? You can do all of this and more with Facebook’s new add-ons, as detailed in Susanna Gebauer’s latest on The Social Ms. In 2017, expect features like Live and Marketplace to move from the edges to the center of your Facebook experience.
B2B Digital Marketing
Shorter, personalized and mobile-friendly content: what to Focus on in 2017 https://t.co/Ifsco4PtMs #DigitalMarketing #B2b
— Fractals (@fractals_it) December 27, 2016
Have you worked out your company’s plan for improving your digital marketing strategies and campaigns for 2017? Writing at Social Media Today, Brad Friedman shares some tips on how you can better differentiate your B2B content from your competition. First, embrace marketing automation; it’s about to become a much bigger deal in 2017. “Whether it’s content you send through emails, on your website, or on social media, automation tools help you get content there when you don’t have time to do it manually,” explains Friedman. Next, remember to keep your content short and sweet, and more doesn’t mean better. “When creating content, it’s essential to focus on quality over quantity,” stresses Friedman. “Readers are more apt to appreciate you when you’ve taken time to write something substantive, rather than rushed for time reasons.” Third, create more personalized content. Finally, make sure that content is easily accessible on the ubiquitous mobile devices that now reign supreme. “If you make your content truly mobile-friendly, your audience is going to develop the habit of coming back regularly since many B2B buyers are always on the go.”
Content Marketing Trends
Content Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2017 – https://t.co/HLhEALckhX pic.twitter.com/15dJurngGJ #B2B
— Intl Travel Reviews (@IntlReviews) December 27, 2016
Bizzmarkblog editor Oscar Waterworth shares his B2B content marketing trends and predictions for 2017 in this blog on The Social Ms. With content at an all-time high, “you have to start utilizing content intelligence” in order to sift through the daunting data to produce great content. With nearly all of today’s consumers acting on recommendations from trusted authorities, “it would be in your interest to find some of the biggest influencers in your niche” and build strong relationships with them. Integrate your sales team for optimal content marketing, focus on creating killer video content — the more personalized, the better — and don’t be afraid to encourage other departments to participate in your company’s content marketing. The B2B marketer who follows this roadmap “will definitely see the results by the end of 2017,” writes Waterworth.
B2B Marketing Trends (Infographic)
Fun ski-slope themed #infographic illustrating #B2B #Marketing trends for 2017 https://t.co/SGLK6IJDcU via @Uberflip @kellohara
— Nancy Simeone (@100indecisions) December 20, 2016
Uberflip’s Quentin Zancanaro created this winter-themed infographic covering what he believes will be the biggest B2B marketing trends over the coming year. It’s all about video, Zancanaro notes, as consumers pay the most attention to it out of all types of content. Video will be increasingly used to generate leads, promote and broadcast events and increase buzz and business through live streaming. Facebook Live will dominate platforms among B2B viewers, and the rise of user-generated content could reduce your operating costs while building greater customer trust. Look for the boom in augmented and virtual reality to accelerate, and pay special attention to the emergence of 360-degree video in this space.
Improving B2B Sales (Infographic)
#Infographic: 10 #Tips to Improve #B2B #Sales in 2017 from https://t.co/3q92oV8lg4 pic.twitter.com/YWDDoDK3vx
— Salesflower (@SalesFlowerB2B) December 29, 2016
This Salesflower infographic offers 10 helpful tips to improve your company’s B2B sales in 2017. At the top of any such list are always securing quality leads and knowing your client. Less obvious but nearly as important are varying call times, crafting effective questions for prospects, being ever-patient and recording calls. Mastering voice mail and following up — and following up again — round out these tips.
That’s all for this week’s edition of B2B Trending Conversations. We’ll be back again next week; until then you can keep the B2B holiday cheer alive with last week’s Christmas special by clicking here, and if you’ve got any hot B2B buzz don’t hesitate to contact us at @B2BNewsNetwork… we love hearing from you!
Feature image source: Jo Wiggijo
