Why B2B marketing needs to shift to meet buyer expectations
Today’s B2B buyers don’t jump straight into a sales call after spotting a product ad on LinkedIn. Instead, they dive into research — scrolling through company websites, downloading whitepapers, and watching videos to get a feel for the product. B2B buyers are increasingly self-guided, often consuming a substantial amount of content long before speaking to sales. With packed schedules, they rely on early research to save time, and meaningful sales conversations happen later in their journey.
While concepts like the “buyer-led journey” and the “death of the funnel” have been discussed in B2B marketing circles for years, actual marketing practices have been slow to evolve. However, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of digital transformation, altering the way professionals make purchasing decisions. B2B buyers now bring the same expectations to business purchases as they do to their personal digital experiences. They skim content just as they would scroll through a social media feed or browse a streaming service.
B2B marketing strategies need to evolve. Digital channels are still underutilized. And multimedia — like images, videos, and interactive tools — isn’t as rich and engaging as it should be. Even when digital is actively used, marketers face a big challenge when trying to deliver one-to-one experiences at scale.
How AI is changing B2B marketing
For marketers, new AI and generative AI tools offer the ideal solution for scaling personalized, content-driven experiences. Today’s marketing challenges revolve around scaling one-to-one conversations using content, and generative AI can do just that.
In applications like Adobe Marketo Engage, an AI-powered marketing automation platform, AI is revolutionizing content creation. For example, Marketo Engage will feature an AI Assistant Content Accelerator in its soon-to-be-released Email Designer . Content Accelerator enables marketers to create more emails and email variations for personalization than they would otherwise be able to. Content Accelerator also enables marketers to create content in seconds or minutes, rather than hours, allowing marketers to quickly iterate and test different designs to capture the right tone and emotion for their campaigns. AI in Marketo Engage can also digest long-form content — like webinars — into concise summaries, effectively acting as a high-speed assistant.
Another area AI is making a significant impact is customer engagement via chat platforms. Unlike the rudimentary chatbots of the past, AI-powered chat systems now provide real-time, highly personalized interactions on websites, mobile applications, and even within documents. This advancement is particularly relevant as millennial B2B buyers increasingly prefer brief, text-based interactions.
AI can also help manage the challenge of data overload. Multi-channel campaign ROI has traditionally been difficult to calculate, but Attribution AI in Marketo Measure automatically analyzes data from various sources, removing bias from the equation for more precise attribution insights.
Transform B2B marketing with AI in Adobe Marketo Engage
Adobe’s mission is to change the world through digital experiences. The generative AI-powered features in Marketo Engage can help you create those digital experiences at scale.
Marketo Engage offers AI-enhanced chat, which is designed to provide pre-approved, contextually intelligent responses to customer inquiries in real time. This technology serves as an invaluable guide for customers navigating websites and landing pages.
Additionally, our internal and external connectors to Marketo Engage continue to improve, particularly in areas like data management. Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform powers seamless syncing of lead profiles, which enhances segmentation and personalization capabilities. Our updated CRM connector will also improve data synchronization to reduce errors and enhance record management.
Adobe Marketo Engage serves as a central platform for creating exceptional digital experiences for both B2B and B2C marketers. Teams get to be more creative, productive, and efficient, achieving marketing goals with less time and effort.
Nikki Whang is a product marketing manager for Marketo Engage and Marketo Measure. She has been with Adobe for two years and has worked on a variety of product launches, sales enablement, and competitive intelligence. Prior to Adobe, Nikki was a middle school math teacher, customer success manager at McGraw Hill, and MBA intern at Adobe.
