Since 2016, one of the most eagerly anticipated days for musically inclined Millennials and Gen Z’ers is Spotify Wrapped Day. While it’s fun to see how you stacked up against other fans (shout out to my fellow top 3% Taylor Swift listeners!), it’s also a genius marketing move by the audio streaming service.
By tracking users’ listening habits and behaviors, Spotify whimsically walks listeners through a series of slides that outline a their top artists, tracks, genres and more — all specifically optimized for social media sharing. The result? Lots of FOMO from non-Spotify listeners and a ton of free marketing.
So, the model got me thinking: What would Demand Gen Report’s (DGR) — and the greater B2B community’s — Wrapped look like? And so, here we are:
The Top 5 Posts
1. “From Discord To Harmony: Achieving Sales & Marketing Alignment”
OK, it’s definitely embarrassing that something I wrote isn’t in the No. 1 spot — but if anyone has to beat me, I’m glad it’s Den Kozlov from person-based advertising platform Influ2! He penned a byline that shared the three “ingredients” to sales and marketing alignment, and its popularity with our readers further cemented organizations’ struggles to unite disparate teams.
2. “Future-Proofing B2B Marketing: Key Strategies For 2024 Planning Success”
Ah, here’s something by yours truly! After keeping an eye on the trends and evolutions throughout the year, I wrote this article to help marketers jumpstart their ideation for 2024 by putting together a list of six trending topics to help steer you in the right direction. A topic-based article in a topic-based article — it’s publication inception, folks!
3. “3 Ways Generative AI Can Drive More Sales In Customer Interaction”
This piece, written by AI-powered customer experience platform Simplr’s Damien Thioulouse, outlined the three components of leveraging generative AI to autonomously identify and effectively execute sales motions within customer interactions. Generative AI has touched nearly every part of our professional lives, so it’s a no-brainer that practitioners want to learn more.
4. “2023 Content Preferences Survey Report: Personalized, Data-Backed Content Enables B2B Teams To Fast Track Buyer Enablement, Speed Up Path To Purchase”
To pull some stats from the report du jour: 71% of buyers downloaded and consumed multiple assets to help with the decision-making process, and an equal number said they shared such content with their team members. Better yet, 46% said they increased the amount of content they consumed during this time. However, the caveat came down to diversification: And practitioners were eager to consume recommendations for improving content quality, quantity and organization.
5. “State Of Audio/Video Marketing: B2B Companies Unleash A New Era Of Storytelling & Business Growth”
Podcasts, Connected TV (CTV), webinars… if you recorded it, B2B practitioners likely consumed it. As organizations diversified their storytelling strategies by incorporating mixed media models, the power of audio and video content was clearly top of mind for marketers.
The Top 5 Topics
1. Third-Party Insights
Year-over-year, DGR research finds that buyers increasingly value third-party input when evaluating solutions and products — and this user data shows that more companies are looking to incorporate those insights.
2. Buyer Behavior
Buyers seem to change their preferences more than they change their clothes. Between demands for personalization, self-service experiences and more, practitioners were clearly concerned about meeting prospects’ needs through 2023.
3. Content Preferences
I hate to say it because it’s so overdone, but content is king: It informs every aspect of the buyer’s journey, and marketers in 2023 sought to stay on top of buyers’ top preferences.
4. Demand Generation
Ah, our good ‘ole namesake. Demand generation is the name of the game and continues to be an important area of focus for practitioners.
5. Account-Based Marketing/Experiences
Whether you practice ABM, ABX or both, it’s clear that marketers are continually staying on top of the latest trends in account-based strategies.
The Top 5 Webinars
1. “Mastering The Trifecta: AI, Marketing & Sales”
It’s easy to see why this webinar secured the second spot in the list, as it featured industry superstars Latane Conant, CRO of AI-powered revenue platform 6sense, and Justin Keller, with conversational marketing platform Drift at time of recording and now VP of Growth Marketing at AI-powered customer engagement platform Movable Ink. It’s no secret that AI is incredibly top of mind, and the pair’s discussion about leveraging AI in everything undoubtedly struck a chord with viewers.
2. “AI In The Fast Lane”
Another webinar, another AI topic, another batch of B2B superstars! For this one, Keller was joined by customer experience expert Jay Baer for a discussion aimed at all forward-thinking marketers looking to rev up their strategies, exceed customer expectations and confidently navigate the fast-paced world of marketing.
3. “To Boldly Go Where Demand Is: Engaging B2B On Connected TV”
As humans, we’re creatures of habit. In fact, 90% of B2B buyers will always go with who they already know when making a purchase. To help practitioners interested in CTV advertising, Alexa Guttroff, Product Marketing Manager at CTV performance marketing platform MNTN, outlined data-backed, first-party insights to demonstrate why CTV is the demand gen machine every B2B marketer needed in their mix.
4. “How To Fuel Your Marketing Strategy & Drive Growth With Feedback”
Without the right insights, understanding buying behavior, anticipating market needs and knowing what will resonate with audiences can be challenging in the best of times. SurveyMonkey’s Lead Product Marketing Manager Stephanie Pye satiated practitioners’ desires for more third-party-validated content by providing a tactical overview of how to use external information.
5. “Practical ABM Methodologies To Beat The Odds In 2024”
Throughout 2023, marketers were contending with small teams and minimal resources — and they were determined to do more with less. To learn some best practices on how to succeed in the uncertain marketplace, this webinar featured RollWorks’ VP of Revenue Marketing Jodi Cerretani, who discussed market trends and shared ABM plays to help attendees maximize efficiency and ROI.
As the trials and tribulations of 2023 grow farther away in B2B’s rearview mirror, the trends and strategies that influenced this year’s marketing will undoubtedly remain prominent throughout 2024. At DGR, we’re excited to see what new trends 2024 brings and how marketers will leverage them to enhance their existing strategies.
