The Top Three B2B Marketing Themes for 2012

While 2011 was coming to a close, I noticed a slew of articles on what B2B marketers should anticipate this year. Of the 10 or so articles I read regarding B2B marketing predictions for 2012, there were three top themes consistent amongst each article.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA

According to an article by Gary Halliwell on iMediaConnection , a wider range of employees and departments will be representing brands on social media in 2012. The employees and departments will increase as companies find broader uses for social media beyond sales, marketing and brand recognition. Some potential broader uses as mentioned in an article on Search Engine Watch could include problem identification, lead management and recruitment.

A survey conducted by StrongMail as noted in an article by Quinton O’Reilly on SimplyZesty.com found that more than half of B2B marketers will be increasing their social media marketing budget by 55% in 2012. Similarly, an article from MarketingProfs referencing the same survey, notes that two-thirds of business leaders (68%) say they plan to integrate social media with their email marketing efforts in 2012. Facebook marketing programs are seen as the most important venue.   Additionally, Merlin Francis with LeadFormix  predicts that the social media focus in 2012 will be on sharing expertise in groups and forums, participating in group discussions and subtle promotion.

2. MARKETING AUTOMATION

According to articles from the Marketing Leadership Council, iMediaConnection and LeadFormix, a priority will be placed on marketing automation solutions in 2012 for better targeting and segmentation results. Gary Halliwell predicts that solutions will be made more accessible and reach beyond Fortune enterprise organizations into medium sized companies – and real-time marketing will be a reality in the New Year. Merlin Francis also predicts that the companies who had adopted a marketing automation system in 2011 or prior, will optimize their investments in 2012 by ensuring their marketing and sales teams are getting the most out of the platforms they are employing.

3. CONTENT MARKETING

According to articles from the Content Marketing Institute, B2B Marketing Insider and the Marketing Leadership Council, content marketing will also be priority in 2012. Based on a survey completed by the Content Marketing Institute, budgets will increase significantly for content marketing initiatives 2012. This includes outsourced content marketing solutions. Michael Brenner with B2B Marketing Insider predicts that senior positions for Content Strategists will become common place within marketing organizations. In addition, LeadFormix foresees that beyond corporate blogs and keyword driven articles, content marketing initiatives in 2012 will emphasize high quality research reports, presentations, video-logs and infographics.

Now that we’ve narrowed down the top three predictions, it’s time to start thinking about what your business is accomplishing within these areas in 2012. Can you find additional business uses for social media? Do you have plans to automate your marketing processes? Are you expanding on content marketing initiatives in 2012? It’s not too late to incorporate these tactics in your 2012 strategy, don’t let your competitors get a head start in the New Year!

Author: Ed Hadley | Website | Twitter

Ed Hadley is the Senior Marketing Manager for Neolane USA. Neolane's marketing automation and digital marketing software solutions empower organizations to build and sustain lifetime one-to-one dialogues.