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Artificial Intelligence is transforming B2B marketing and sales

Even though it is well-known that B2B and B2C marketing have previously represented completely different practices in the minds of many marketers, we might all benefit from reducing the distinction between the two.

B2B companies with typically only a few thousand (or perhaps only a few hundred) customers to attract and retain have historically utilized a high-level, untailored online marketing approach. In contrast, consumer-focused companies, such as Amazon and Netflix, use personalization and very high levels of engagement to reach millions of people. It comes as no surprise, then, that B2B marketers are in the midst of a fundamental shift, even if they are not aware of it. Everyone from the C-suite at large organizations to buyers of consumer goods expects rich, personal, targeted content and engagement as part of every decision making process.

It’s time to reap the full benefit of Artificial Intelligence

While the benefits of exploiting digital marketing are obvious, the challenges are more nuanced. B2B marketers have to be always-on. They have to interact with anonymous visitors, and they have to engage with prospects, immediately. Successful B2B marketers have started to address these challenges with marketing automation or Account Based Marketing (ABM), by personalizing certain sectors of a website for some segments. While we have seen great performance and engagement, it has been limited to the most important segments, rather than engaging their entire target audience. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in. As the B2B sales cycles get longer, the decision process more complex, and the data more abundant and varied, AI-infused tools (such as Salesforce Einstein, IBM Watson Commerce and Demandbase) are needed to tap into unstructured data to learn more about prospects as they engage with a brand’s digital channels.

With these tools, a brand will be able to both insert a personal touch into the digital experience by understanding its customers’ digital behavior, and reach them with the right content based on their actions, preferences and interests. And more importantly, the brand can deliver personalization within the context of their customers’ digital behavior, location and where they are in their decision journey. By integrating this technology with the CRM system, and by adopting strategies such as MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) and SQL (Sales Qualified Lead), not only will marketers be able to see the value of the marketing initiatives, they will also see what content pieces are generating leads and sales.

Personalization remains the name of the game for B2B marketing, and by applying AI technology with offline sales methods in the digital world, B2B brands will be able to stay competitive in the midst of this fundament shift. B2B marketers, however, need to learn from what is working in the B2C space and put it into practice — immediately!

The future is now. AI makes it possible to finally deliver on the promise of real-time, personalized, one-to-one interactions.