This presentation explores the likely impact of technology on B2B marketing, a topic that is rarely discussed within the industry. What's your take?

1. Lance Baird
VP, Business Strategy and Development
#FUTUREB2B:
EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF
TECHNOLOGY ON B2B MARKETING

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I’m a huge fan of technology and the movies. In the early 80s? Star Wars.

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Back to the Future made time travel possible several years later.

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Then in 1999, The Matrix introduced us to a world of “big data.”

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Most B2B marketers are wary of technology, however. It’s rarely discussed.

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Presentation
Outline
Marketing Research
Technology Trends
Implications
So, let’s take a closer look…

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Marketing Research
#futureb2b: Exploring the Impact of Technology on B2B Marketing
First, we’ll review the research.

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The IBM Global CMO Study, October 2011.

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Over 1,700 marketers were surveyed globally, a mix of B2B and B2C.

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CMOs believe “technology factors” are significantly affecting their business.

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They also feel highly unprepared when it comes to the subject.

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Despite their ignorance, CMOs plan to use more technology.

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They’ll face several roadblocks along the way, however, such as cost and IT.

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Perhaps that’s why external partners will likely bridge the gap.

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Marketing Research
Summary
• Technology is one of the biggest external forces
affecting organizations today
• CMOs are remarkably unprepared in this field, failing
to understand its capabilities and enormous
business potential
• Despite poor knowledge and a lack of ROI certainty,
CMOs are planning to use more technology in a
wide variety of initiatives
• CMOs also are looking to outside resources and external
partnerships to fill the gaps
(Source: IBM Global CMO Study, 2011)
A wrap-up of the research.

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Technology Trends
#futureb2b: Exploring the Impact of Technology on B2B Marketing
Now, let’s move onto technology trends.

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Technology Trends
Overview
(Source: Peter High, Forbes contributor, “Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014”)
(Source: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, “Top Trends for 2013”)
(Source: PwC, “2013 Top 10 Technology Trends for Business”)
(Source: Cisco.com, “Technology Trends”)
Technology experts generally agree on the major trends. Here’s my top 3.

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The first trend is the “Internet of Things,” a world of interconnectivity.

19. Can you envision a world where endless objects “talk” to each other and you?

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GE can, which is why they’re banking so heavily on “Predictivity.”

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The second major trend is mobile computing.

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Adobe’s State of Mobile Benchmark, May 2013.

23. Tablets are significantly driving web traffic, now more than smartphones.

24. Video consumption across mobile devices is also exploding!

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Big data visualization is the third and final technology trend.

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IBM recently discussed the latest in this area at their 2013 annual conference.

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Their biggest hit was “Project Neo,” which integrates “conversational search.”

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Technology Trends
Summary
• Experts and technology consultants generally agree on
the major technology trends
• The “Internet of Things” describes an interconnected
world of objects (e.g. machines) with the ability to
communicate with one another and the user
• Mobile computing (the use of tablets and smartphones)
continues to increase exponentially
• Advances in computing power are allowing users to
illustrate the relationships within data more easily,
a process called “big data visualization”
(Source: Peter High, Forbes contributor, “Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014”)
(Source: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, “Top Trends for 2013”)
(Source: PwC, “2013 Top 10 Technology Trends for Business”)
(Source: Cisco.com, “Technology Trends”)
A brief summary of the technology trends.

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Predictions
#futureb2b: Exploring the Impact of Technology on B2B Marketing
Finally, the hard part. How is technology likely to impact B2B? 4 predictions.

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First, I believe “old-fashioned” customer research will make a comeback.

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As B2B grows more complex, firms will seek closer customer connections.

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B2B campaigns will be fashioned to this end, like John Deere’s “Chatterbox.”

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Second, I believe B2B marketers will think “mobile first” within 3 years.

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Computers can already understand human language and its many nuances.

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This ability facilitates conversational search, ultimately driving greater traffic.

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Thus, “mobile first” will be the new normal in B2B. Google thinks so, too.

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Third, I believe “growth hackers” will rise in popularity.

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The hybrid of marketer and coder, this group is highly conversant in digital.

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As such, they can act with great speed and agility, even with little budget.

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Finally, B2B companies will increasingly employ “marketing technologists.”

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Like growth hackers, marketing technologists are also well-versed in digital.

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They are more knowledgeable of larger IT issues, however, like “big data.”

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As such, they should be able to bridge the CMO/CIO gap, demonstrating ROI.

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Predictions
Summary
• As B2B marketing grows increasingly more complex,
marketing professionals are more likely to focus on what
they do best – extracting “voice of the customer”
insights – to mitigate risk
• Expect “old-fashioned” customer research
(e.g. focus groups, customer interviews, etc.) to rise
in popularity once more – quality over quantity
• The global adoption of mobile, combined with highly
sophisticated, real-time speech recognition technology,
is fueling “conversational search”
• Google’s latest algorithm update (“Hummingbird”)
is proof of a strong push in this direction
• Mobile will no longer be an “add-on” consideration;
it will be the core in one’s B2B marketing strategy
A quick summation of the four predictions.

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Predictions
Summary
• The world will eventually be one, giant computer,
the underlying principle behind the “Internet of Things”
• The most accomplished B2B marketing professionals
will be conversant (not necessarily fluent) in this
digital language
• As marketing budgets remain tight, agility, testing,
and re-testing will be the key drivers for success,
thus fueling a need for “growth hackers” (or at least
those with this mindset)
• B2B marketing professionals are increasingly aware of
their need to interface with those in IT, looking to make
sense of the “big data” in their campaigns (ROI)
• To facilitate this relationship, the need for B2B
“marketing technologists” will arise
(continued)
A quick summation of the four predictions.

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Presentation
Summary
Research
Technology Trends
Predictions
Most B2B marketers lack an understanding of
technology and its enormous business potential
“Internet of Things” Mobile computing Big data visualization
Old-fashioned
customer research
Mobile first
Growth hackers Rise of the
marketing technologist
Here’s my take on the future of B2B. What say you?

47. Lance Baird
VP, Business Strategy and Development
#FUTUREB2B:
EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF
TECHNOLOGY ON B2B MARKETING
lance.baird@slackandcompany.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lanceabaird