3 B2B Software Marketing Trends You Must Know in 2023

January 31, 2023
Contributor: Shubham Gupta

Ensure growth for your software business in 2023 with these emerging B2B marketing trends.

In 2023, the air of a looming recession has presented challenges for software businesses around the globe. It’s also worth bearing in mind that, according to a recent Gartner Digital Markets survey, at least 50% of the software buyer’s journey is spent referring to independent, third-party information sources. This leaves software providers in the dark when influencing buyers’ decisions.

Software providers must adapt their strategies to stay relevant and get their products in front of buyers at the right time. To ensure success this year, stay up to date with the latest software marketing trends so you can better strategize and execute your marketing efforts.

Three B2B software marketing trends to adopt in 2023

In order to grow and sustain a competitive advantage, businesses need to emphasize cost-effectiveness for better ROI, scale and pioneer new integrated technologies, and focus on strengthening their customer experience.

1. Marketing efforts shifting are focusing more on improved cost-effectiveness for better ROI

The digital age is transforming the landscape of software marketing and making it more competitive than ever. A recently published Gartner Digital Markets report revealed that nearly 70% of businesses plan to spend more on software in 2023 to create operational efficiencies. 

Therefore, businesses are focused on increasing revenue while making their marketing efforts cost-effective, especially in an uncertain market. You can achieve this by automating the lead generation process and focusing on data-driven campaigns with measurable outcomes. For example, focus on remarketing or retargeting ad campaigns that have been successful in the past by adjusting bids based on website visitor behaviors to boost conversions and form fills. 

The key to digital selling success in 2023 is inclusive of these three elements:
Digital commerce and CRM sales predicts 2023

Revamp software marketing efforts to be cost-effective and more profitable

Make strategic, cost-effective technology investments that transform digital selling functions, payment processes and customer service to enable faster time-to-market. Increase B2B sales enablement by leveraging collaborative digital solutions, such as e-commerce platforms and customer segmentation tools.

Also, focus on customer segmentation and personalization to introduce targeted, more relevant campaigns by leveraging customer data. Test, analyze and optimize the performance of campaigns frequently to ensure you’re getting results with minimal effort.
What software providers can do to leverage this trend to their benefit:
 
  • Utilize marketing automation, predictive analytics and AI-driven algorithms to personalize campaigns and better understand customer needs, preferences and buying behaviors.
  • Invest in technology to streamline marketing processes, reduce manual labor and create scalability.
  • Leverage tech capabilities that enable efficient customer segmentation, customization and re-targeting.
  • Collect user reviews to improve products and build stronger customer relationships.
  • Analyze customer feedback to understand customer pain points and create targeted solutions that address those needs.

2. Businesses are optimizing, scaling and pioneering to make their mark

The business environment today is plagued with supply chain issues and skills shortages. In such a scenario, scaling your growth and becoming more agile is crucial. This will help you find new forms of efficiency in operations, scale productivity and pioneer new business models.

Using the right opportunities, which includes the following strategic technology trends, can help you make your mark in the B2B software marketing space:
Top strategic techonology trends for 2023

A. Optimization of operational sustainability

The use of AI-driven technology is on the rise. Software businesses should use this technology to observe and anticipate user and system behavior. This will help preemptively avoid disruption while adjusting product features and production processes.
Piggy bank icon

You must optimize:

  • Resilience through the digital immune system. By 2025, companies that invest in building digital immunity will increase customer satisfaction by decreasing downtime by 80%[2]. Strengthen the digital immune system and optimize operations with predictive analytics.
  • Operations through applied observability. By 2026, 70% of organizations that successfully apply observability will achieve shorter latency for decision-making[1]. Leverage applied observability to gain visibility into the current and desired state of operations.
  • Trust through AI trust, risk and security management. By 2026, businesses that operationalize AI transparency, trust and security will see their AI models achieve a 50% improvement in terms of adoption, business goals and user acceptance[1]. Establish trust and security measures to ensure that AI models are reliable and trustworthy.

B. Scaling productivity and customer value

Businesses can create and scale sector-specific value by combining industry-specific platforms with optimized developer technology and sensing solutions.

You must scale:

  • Vertically through industry cloud platforms. By 2027, more than 50% of companies will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives[1]. Leverage cloud platforms to scale value-added services and gain a competitive advantage.
  • Software delivery through platform engineering. By 2026, 80% of software engineering organizations will establish platform teams as internal providers of reusable services, components and tools for application delivery[1]. Automate software engineering processes and enable faster time-to-market for product releases.
  • Everywhere through wireless value realization. By 2025, 50% of business wireless endpoints will use networking services that deliver additional capabilities beyond communication, up from less than 15%[1]. Power wireless capabilities to realize the value in both indoor and outdoor environments.

C. Pioneering a personalized product offering

Businesses can harness cutting-edge technologies to meet the distinct needs of social, economic or technology groups and exceed their expectations.
Agile business icon

You must pioneer:

  • Engagement through superapps. By 2027, more than 50% of the global population will be daily active users of multiple superapps[1]. Create superapps that enable end-users to engage with a suite of services and products across multiple sectors.
  • Acceleration through adaptive AI. By 2026, companies that have adopted AI engineering practices to build and manage adaptive AI systems will outperform their peers in the number and time it takes to operationalize AI models by at least 25%[1]. Leverage adaptive AI models to accelerate the development of services and products.
  • Virtual opportunities through metaverse. By 2027, over 40% of large organizations worldwide will be using a combination of Web 3.0, spatial computing and digital twins in metaverse-based projects aimed at increasing revenue[1]. Invest in metaverse-based projects to tap into new market opportunities and create virtual experiences.
What software providers can do to leverage this trend to their benefit:
 
  • Use AI technology to observe and anticipate user and system behavior while improving product features.
  • Scale productivity and customer value by combining industry-specific platforms with optimized developer technology.
  • Pioneer personalized product offerings by identifying the distinct needs of social, economic or technology groups to exceed their expectations. 

3. Business leaders are emphasizing strengthening customer experience strategies to deliver better results.

Twenty-three of CMOs say that customer understanding and experience management are among the top 3 capability gaps they faced in 2022[2].
CMOs list customer understanding and CXM in top 3 capabilities gaps

Being a software provider, you'll have to deal with an ever-evolving customer landscape where customer expectations and preferences are changing faster than ever. If you want to stay ahead, emphasize these actionable insights to bridge any gaps and prioritize the customer experience (CX):

Build a case for maintaining customer experience (CX) investments

Demonstrate the value of maintaining customer experience investments by quantifying the returns on CX initiatives, such as increased revenue and market share. Companies that have calculated how customer satisfaction is associated with business outcomes are 29% more likely to report CX budget increases, and a third less likely to report decreases in their CX budget[2].

Share data-driven results with relevant functions

When it comes to customer experience, data is key. Leverage data-driven insights using intent data to inform decisions and ensure that customer needs are addressed quickly and accurately. Capture and share customer data, such as purchase history or feedback ratings, to understand their behavior and preferences and deliver tailored experiences that drive engagement and loyalty.
Sharing results with relevant functions

Create a customer-prioritization framework

Develop a customer-prioritization framework to identify which customer segments are most valuable to your business. Use the data gathered from customer interactions to identify segments more likely to convert and become loyal users.
What software providers can do to leverage this trend to their benefit:
 
  • Identify and understand customer needs through intent data, to better prioritize CX initiatives.
  • Gather customer insights and strategically focus resources on the most impactful CX areas.
  • Identify and track CX KPIs to measure the success of customer experience initiatives.
  • Connect day-to-day processes with CX goals by establishing standardized procedures, collating data and measuring results.
  • Monitor customer sentiment to provide an accurate picture of the customer journey.

Understand what lies ahead to unlock future opportunities

Continue to stay ahead of the game by being proactive and leveraging trends. The trends mentioned here will give you a better understanding of how customers interact with your products and services, enabling your business to deliver stronger customer experiences. By doing so, you will be able to capture the untapped opportunities of the future and stay ahead of the competition.
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Shubham Gupta

Shubham Gupta is a Content Writer at Gartner Digital Markets who ideates and creates purpose-driven content to help modern technology businesses achieve their goals. Outside of work, he enjoys reading thriller novels and Urdu poetry, as well as spending time with his dog. Connect with Shubham on LinkedIn.

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Sources:

  1. Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2023, Gartner
  2. How CMOs Can Enhance CX and Deliver Growth in Times of Disruption, Gartner
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