Blog, News
B2B technology marketing’s 21st century breakthrough
02.09.2021
The ever-quickening pace of tech adoption has led us to a digital-centric landscape in the 21st century. Saying that technology underpins most aspects of how we live our lives and acts as the foundation to nearly every business is becoming an understatement.
Technology companies are pioneering this digitalisation, driving the production of some of the most awe-inspiring accomplishments of our generation. From autonomous vehicles and deep tech, to tech for good and environmentally sustainable solutions – technology innovators are shaping our present and building our futures.
The COVID-19 crisis and life-altering events like climate change have only exacerbated this reality, solidifying our reliance on technology and speeding up the progress of our development. Innovations that were expected years from now have been, or are on track to be, realised in a fraction of the time. McKinsey states how “a new survey finds that responses to COVID-19 have speeded up the adoption of digital technologies by several years – and that many of these changes could be here for the long haul.”
So, what does this mean for B2B technology marketing?
The role of technology marketing has become equally prevalent in the past decade. In 2014, Alex Kantrowitz of Ad Age explained in an interview with NPR how tech marketing was often overlooked in favour of a purely product-focused attitude. MarketingWeek even went so far as to say “historically B2B marketing was seen as the ugly child”. But both sources continue to explain that, despite these views, the companies with a marketing strategy are the ones who succeed.
The ever-quickening pace of technology adoption across the board and the proliferation of tech contenders across every industry sector is making the ability to cut through the noise and get your message across to the right audience even more challenging. For technology businesses to raise their profile – whether you are a large established player with a new vertical solution, or a scale-up disruptor looking to bring new innovative tech to market – a solid, powerful digital marketing strategy is going to be essential to maximise success.
Forbes sums up the current importance of technology marketing, saying “as tech companies grow, the most successful firms are those that learn how to evolve and empower the marketing organization—and other customer-facing roles—to play a more strategic role in partnership with engineering, product development and sales.”
EV – addressing the technology marketing evolution
EV is a strategic growth marketing agency, working with evolving and disruptive technology companies in the B2B sector.
The scale-up challenge
With experience working with entrepreneurs and tech companies spanning four decades, we saw how difficult the scaling stage can be in this sector. These entrepreneurs are already hard pressed to find time to manage marketing activity, let alone dedicate the resource needed to see success in such a competitive arena.
And so EV was created to make this scaling process less painful; to support innovative people in their missions to accelerate change through technology.
Industry disruptors
We also want to support established innovators to continue their disruptive journey. In the face of continuous market evolution, even the largest, leading B2B tech enterprises need to maintain agility and creativity in their marketing strategies. Often, outsourcing is the only way for them to achieve this fast-paced delivery, but it can also come at the cost of in-depth industry understanding.
With a constant finger on the pulse of the technology market and B2B marketing best practices, we found we could solve this challenge. By acting at an augmented in-house marketing department, we allow organisations to rapidly and resiliently respond to market conditions while maintaining the disruptive thought leadership stance that drives leading growth.
Our mission
We wanted to create a marketing agency that was different. One that was centred around implementing strategic change in order to make a positive impact helping good companies do great things. Our ethos is all about people supporting people – something that we embody internally as well as with our customers.
What we do
That’s why what we deliver is an end-to-end marketing strategy that sets you up to become self-sustaining. From creating a complete brand handbook, to quarterly campaign delivery, to establishing the right internal processes, our team helps you build the infrastructure you need to scale.
Exploiting extensive internal research and external market understanding – we break down your USPs and define your offering in a way that tells a succinct, engaging, and cohesive narrative. This is delivered to you in combination with a go-to-market strategy which can be readily implemented to reap market success.
We continue with you on this journey, managing all planning, delivery, analysis, and activity – guiding you to a point where you’ve reached your growth objectives. But this isn’t the end. Throughout our partnership, we aim to share our expertise so that, when you’re ready for the next stage of development, you have a solid foundation allowing you to take marketing in-house and own your brand.
Because of the diversity of technology, we’ve had the opportunity to work in so many different markets – from cyber, autonomous vehicles, IoT and 5G, to geospatial intelligence and data analytics, to security and safety tech. This experience has provided us with a wide portfolio of knowledge. We leverage this as an advantage for all our customers, sharing our experience, our learnings and our network across fast growth tech industries to help them succeed.
The importance of a strategic, data-driven marketing approach
The audience for B2B tech is littered with different stakeholders, from investors to buyers, to technical users, to economically focused CEOs, CTOs and CFOs, they all respond to different messaging, and they all need to be convinced. This introduces more involved buyer journeys and purchasing cycles, lengthier decision-making processes, and the need for multifaceted marketing activities that target different audiences.
Getting viable results is reliant on reaching many different audiences with bespoke messages. In order to attract and convert prospects, your communication needs to be structured by industry verticals, audience segmentation, buyer stages, level of knowledge – and address individual pain points in a way that stands out from the competition.
This is a complex landscape to navigate in itself, without the added struggles of getting noticed in an overcrowded marketplace and continually adapting to a rapidly evolving marketplace.
That’s why being successful in this environment requires a marketing strategy that’s tailored to the B2B model, informed by market data, and strategically agile.
Read our complete guide to all things B2B inbound marketing here
Our approach
Everything we do at EV is led by strategic insight and data. Supported by in-depth market and product analysis, we help you address complex buyer structures with elegantly integrated narratives.
We make sure we implement an integrated approach that links your commercial, sales, and marketing activity together. By establishing a unified solution with all elements working towards the same goal, we create a clear implementation pathway that distinctly leads to your targets. Whether it’s generating leads to increase turnover, building brand equity, or gaining investment attention, EV will help you to exceed your targets.
A tried and tested methodology
E V O L V E
E – EVALUATE
V – VALUE
O – OPERATE
L – LEVERAGE
V – VALIDATE
E – ENHANCE
We take our customers through our own proven methodology which is designed to integrate every element of marketing activity for maximum impact, from research, to strategy, to delivery and beyond. Our team works as an out-sourced marketing department – covering all areas of marketing including digital and social management, content creation, account-based marketing, and design – giving us visibility over all your activity to ensure your activity is coordinated, purposeful, and therefore, effective.
A collaborative infrastructure
We work closely with all our customers and often integrate with their internal teams. You are the experts in your field – as we are in ours. That’s why we work to become an integrated part of your team, so we can effectively combine your unique insight with our industry experience. We love meeting passionate people and helping them accelerate their success.
A sustainable mindset
We strive to work with good people contributing sustainably to the world. As a way to progress this mission, we work with charities and offer pro-bono work or consultancy projects to provide positive organisations with the support they need.
Get in touch to book a free audit today and discover the potential for your marketing.