With hybrid and remote work here to stay and digital-first marketing on the rise, how can B2B marketers make the most of these important shifts?
Although I’ve written about remote work before, in pieces including “Remote Communication Opportunities For B2B Marketers,” “Day 4,777: Remote Work Tips From 13+ Years As A Distance Marketer,” and “Hybrid & Remote Work Trends That Will Alter The Future Of B2B Marketing,” the permanent changes to where and how we work have significant implications that will affect B2B marketers forever, so it’s time to reassess.
Let’s take a close look at five ways B2B marketers can make the most from remote and hybrid work and digital-first brand interactions, from the perspective of someone who’s been working entirely remotely for 15 years, and from several top voices on the future of work.
As I enter my thirty-eighth year working online, I’ve worked remotely for 5,409 days, and spent close to 40 percent of my career as a remote worker.
What’s changed for us all since the pandemic has reminded me of the shifts in how we communicate that I saw when I first began operating a computer bulletin board system (BBS) on a Commodore 64 computer and a 300-baud modem.
Back in 1984, relatively few people owned a home computer — and even fewer also knew what a modem or online communications were. The personal computer revolution that began in the 1970s took off like wildfire in the 1980s. Online communication was a bit slower to evolve into the mainstream, however it surely did, especially once Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented and activated his World Wide Web technology, as I explored in “Classic Marketing Insights to Celebrate the Internet’s 50th Birthday.”
Just as there was frustration, backlash, and confusion back then adjusting to interacting online, so too has the pandemic’s forced shift to remote and hybrid work caused global upheaval and uncertainty.
Remote and hybrid workers have not only had to adjust to the significant changes in where they work, but they’re also facing the fact of ever-more digital interactions when it comes to B2B marketing.
For better or worse, the world has become a digital-first environment for most of us, which means that B2B marketers are looking to make the most of every social media, email, and mobile messaging interaction with their audiences.
Each generation of B2B marketers, as well as their clients and the customers of their brands, will have had the advantage of coming of age with greater technological opportunities and ever-greater digital immersion. Our own senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite recently took a look at “Who Is the New B2B Buyer and How Do You Connect with Them?” — an article that offers five helpful ways to better understand and connect with the Millennials and Gen Zs entering the B2B workforce.
[bctt tweet=”“If someone can interact with the brand across multiple channels with a single seamless experience, they are more likely to choose your brand at decision-making time.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites” username=”toprank”]
Here are some of the tips I’ve gathered from 15 years as a remote worker, in no particular order.
Going hand-in-hand with digital-first marketing is another shift B2B marketers have seen — the growing popularity of always-on marketing, which allows brands to be everywhere their audiences are anytime.
In a digital world that’s never all sleeping at once, brands have turned to always-on marketing programs to never miss an opportunity to answer the questions their customers are asking, whether it’s in the form of social media monitoring and interaction, artificial intelligence (AI)-infused chatbots, the rising realm of so-called metaverse content, or more traditional methods.
You can learn more about how always-on digital engagement can play a key role in your B2B marketing efforts in the following articles we’ve published:
[bctt tweet=”“Always-on thought leadership and influence are more important now than ever because the customer never turns off.” — Brian Solis @BrianSolis” username=”toprank”]
What will hybrid and remote work look like in ten years, 100 years, or a millennium from 2022?
While there’s no way to predict with certainty, there are some technologies that will form the framework of what lies on the far distance horizon, including:
B2B marketers that are mindful of these digital backbone elements in their efforts, and who take the time to look ahead and carefully examine how to best incorporate advances in each of these areas, are likely to be the ones that will see the greatest long-term success.
One subject matter expert on the future of remote and hybrid work is Liam McIvor Martin, co-founder of Time Doctor and Staff.com. Our own senior content marketing manager Nick Nelson spoke with Liam about the future of work, in “Break Free B2B Marketing: Liam McIvor Martin of Time Doctor on The Revolutionary Power of Remote Work.”
[bctt tweet=”“It’s a very interesting time for the history of work, not even just the history of remote work. I think fundamentally work is going to change, and it’s never going back to the way it was before.” — Liam McIvor Martin @liamremote” username=”toprank”]
Excelling in B2B marketing given all these changes can be a daunting proposition. However, if we adjust to the permanent shifts in how we work, make digital-first our new norm, implement our remote and hybrid work tips, and elevate with always-on digital engagement, we’ll be well-prepared for the future of marketing work, hot coffee or not.
We hope you’ve found our look at timely marketing tips for remote and hybrid work helpful, and that you’ll incorporate some of the suggestions we’ve explored into your own 2022 B2B marketing efforts.
No matter how well you’re able to caffeinate and create digital content in 2022, crafting award-winning B2B marketing takes considerable time and effort, which is why an increasing number of firms are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and others.
The post 5 Timely B2B Marketing Tips I’ve Learned From 15 Years As A Remote Worker appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.