New research: Predictions for B2B tech marketing in 2021

Clarity Performance partnered with FINITE, the community for B2B tech marketers, to deliver new research covering reflections on 2020 and predictions for 2021 in B2B tech marketing.

Read the full report here!

FINITE found that the majority of B2B tech marketers are optimistic about 2021 despite current economic fragility. 

This confidence could stem from the fact that over 75% of B2B tech companies met or outperformed their targets during an uncertain 2020. Going into 2021 34% said their marketing budgets will increase, while 50% said budgets will remain the same. 

Alex Price, Founder at FINITE commented: “Despite the complexity, uncertainty and challenges that 2020 brought with it, it’s fantastic to see that most B2B tech companies have been able to achieve what they originally set out this year”

As Covid cancelled events and conferences, 37% of B2B tech marketers reallocated their budgets to other digital channels, 25% spent it on virtual events, while 30% did not spend their field marketing budget at all. Of the digital channels that B2B tech marketers turned to, aside from webinars, B2B SEO was deemed the channel that rose in importance the most during 2020 with 40% of those surveyed increasing their focus on organic search.

The report found that as digital channels grew in importance, investment in digital experiences offered by websites followed suit. Nearly 70% of B2B tech marketers believe their website has become more important as the hub of their marketing since the Covid outbreak. 

The report also found that in 2021, 64.4% of B2B tech marketers expect to increase their use of MarTech. Darrell Alfonso, Global Marketing Operations Manager at Amazon Web Services commented: “This will be primarily driven by the transition to digital-only experiences, but you’ll also see marketers putting a stronger emphasis on overall effectiveness and productivity.” 

Finally, B2B tech marketers revealed their biggest challenges going into 2021. 48% thought ‘balancing quality and quantity’ in 2021 will be the most challenging, while 44% expect ‘digital fatigue’ to be their biggest nemesis going forward.  

Grace MacDonald, Marketing Manager, Content & Social at LinkedIn commented: “It’s no surprise that the top two challenges are linked back to the ‘noise’ of 2020 – the only way to cut-through is to laser focus on your customer.”

To read the full report and get a glimpse into the future of B2B tech marketing, click here.