After a shaky 2020, B2B marketers continue to remain hopeful going into the new year as many B2B technology companies prepare to scale through an expected economic crisis.
New research delivered by FINITE and 93x highlights trends, challenges, predictions and budgets for the world of B2B technology marketers in 2021. The full report can be found here.
Targets exceeded and marketing budgets increased
With over 75% of B2B tech marketers having met or outperformed their targets in 2020, it’s no surprise they are full steam ahead for 2021. Marketing budgets prove hopeful as 34% of those surveyed claimed their budgets will increase, and 50% said theirs will remain the same.
Alex Price, Founder at FINITE commented: “Despite the complexity, uncertainty and challenges that 2020 brought with it, it’s fantastic to see that most B2B tech companies have been able to achieve what they originally set out this year”
A turn to digital marketing
Field marketing budgets initially allocated towards face-to-face events and conferences in 2020 have been distributed to other channels due to Covid. The report found that 37% of B2B tech marketers reallocated this budget to other digital channels, 25% spent it on virtual events, and 30% did not spend their field marketing budget at all.
Of the digital channels that B2B tech marketers relied on in 2020, webinars unsurprisingly increased the most in importance. Second to webinars was SEO, with 40% of the surveyees claiming they had placed more attention and resources on organic search.
Websites and MarTech continue to rule
Covid undoubtedly sparked a dependence on digital marketing, as remote work and isolated living altered the B2B buyer journey. With this turn to digital, websites are vital for their ability to offer customers an online experience. The report found that nearly 70% of B2B tech marketers agree, as they claimed their website has become more important since Covid began.
Looking into 2021, MarTech is on the rise, with 64.4% of B2B tech marketers expecting to increase their use of marketing technology.
Darrell Alfonso, Global Marketing Operations Manager at Amazon Web Services commented: “This will be primarily driven by the transition to digital-only experiences, but you’ll also see marketers putting a stronger emphasis on overall effectiveness and productivity.”
What will B2B tech marketers find most challenging?
Limited resources paired with a high demand for great content is a recipe for disaster, unless B2B tech marketers can balance quality with quantity. Easier said than done, B2B tech marketers have identified ‘balancing quality and quantity; as their biggest challenge for 2021.
With the amount of webinars, podcasts and virtual conferences flooding the digital world to replace physical events, we’re all feeling slightly overwhelmed by the choice of online content. It comes as no surprise that the second biggest challenge for B2B tech marketers going into 2021 is battling digital fatigue.
Grace MacDonald, Marketing Manager, Content & Social at LinkedIn commented: “It’s no surprise that the top two challenges are linked back to the ‘noise’ of 2020 – the only way to cut-through is to laser focus on your customer.”
To read the full report and to find out more about what B2B tech marketers have planned for their 2021 strategies, click here!
