7 Implications For B2B Marketers From The Latest "Economist" Survey

A survey by the well respected Economist Intelligence Unit called "Service 2020: Megatrends For The Decade Ahead", is based on the forecasts of 479 business-leaders across the world, including about 50 from Australia. The businesses range from large to small, with a spread across regions and sectors.

The identified mega trends throws down the gauntlet to Australian businesses, adapt rapidly and embrace these emerging trends or face increasingly tough trading conditions and competition.

The trends place the rapidly changing customer environment at the centre of the challenges facing businesses.

The eight mega trends were:

• Global competition will drive up service standards.
• Companies must maintain service standards in the face of "the need for speed".
• Firms must learn to use the increased transparency brought by social media to their advantage.
• Companies must use new sources and types of data to rethink the way they track and personalise their service.
• Good employees will remain fundamental to good service but with technology as an enabler.
• More firms will outsource aspects of customer service to new kinds of specialists.
• The rise of the mass affluent and other customer segments will force companies to find new product or service niches.
• Customer expectations, including the purpose of the store, are evolving with new technology.

B2B marketing needs to reflect how customers research problems, compare options and make purchasing decisions. Understanding your buyer’s journey helps you identify the information buyers need at each stage and shape your messaging around their questions, concerns and priorities.

In response to these mega trends, we believe organisations must:

1. Embrace the increased pace of business and global competition without forsaking customer service standards.
2. Understand how technology can help your marketing efforts and get on with it now!
3. Experiment with new ways of using technology, particularly the move to the cloud as a way of making marketing technology investments affordable and scalable.
4. Collecting data is only useful if your team knows how to interpret and act on it. Give marketers the skills to assess campaign performance and identify improvements. For teams using HubSpot, practical HubSpot training can help them use the platform more confidently.
5. Build campaigns around the problems buyers are trying to solve. Use technology to support delivery and follow-up, while keeping people involved in messaging and customer conversations. Our guide to what B2B marketers shouldn’t automate explains where human judgement matters. 
6. Accept that whether you like it or not, customers are using social media on an increasing scale, both in B2B and B2C environments. Build a social media strategy as part of your overall marketing plan.
7. Consider external support where your team lacks the time or expertise to put the plan into practice. Agree on responsibilities and expected results before choosing a provider. Explore our growth marketing services for support with attracting and converting B2B buyers. 

Piecing together a comprehensive approach to your lead generation efforts and marketing plans in these challenging and rapidly changing times is tough. We have published a short eBook with a step by step guide. Please feel free to download a copy if you are interested in reading further. 

Have you noticed any emerging mega trends that aren't mentioned here? Let us know in the comment section below. What are your views on the impact of these mega trends on the B2B Marketing function?