In 2023, we focused on marketing trends for 2024. Now that 2024 is wrapping up, we'll highlight key metrics to create a top 2025 digital marketing strategy.
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In this yearly roundup, we'll discuss buyer behavior patterns, what engages them, and changing tactics you can leverage. No time to waste! Let's get started.
Buyer behavior
If you've noticed form fills aren't quite flowing at the rate you want them to, you're not alone. According to 6Sense, just 3% of B2B web visitors fill out forms1 nowadays! That's okay though... marketers can take advantage of email marketing, right? Well, yes and no... right now, most marketers are getting a 5% response rate on a good day.1
What does all that mean for you? It means you need to work hard on awareness campaigns at the top of the funnel and nurture leads when they are truly ready.
Also per 6Sense1, the average lead-to-close rate stands at a minuscule 1-3%1. Why is it so low? Generally, it's because most "leads" aren't ready to make a move. You could be hitting them too early or far too late! They could also be a part of larger buyer teams with an extended process, they're not real decision-makers, or you're pursuing leads that aren't actually considering you (most have a short list before submitting a form).
The way around this headache is by taking note of your web activity to note who is truly engaged (think multiple people at the same company looking at key pages). You can do this deanonymization with several tools (including 6Sense and ZoomInfo).
Buyer teams
We noted before that B2B buyers might be a part of teams. Many are. Here are some metrics from 6Sense1 around their makeup:
A B2B buying committee can have 3-20 people on it, but the average is more like 6-10
Each person has 18 interactions per vendor
They evaluate an average of 4.6 vendors
There are 900+ vendor interactions per B2B buying journey
Beyond the numbers, as the price of your product climbs, so does the number of vendors evaluated, so make sure to consider that too.
Earning buyer activity
So how do you get them interested in the first place? Create content for every stage of your B2B buyer's journey. Specifically, you can create blogs, which according to Neil Patel2 are still getting major traction for brands:
Companies that blog recognize:
75.29% more organic search traffic
11.41% more repeat visitors
48.43% more backlinks
194.58% more organic social traffic
292.79% more brand queries
8.16% higher conversion rate
Wondering what to create? Here's some insight, also from Neil Patel2, on what text-based content works alongside their engagement rank:
How-to’s get 38.53%
Listicles get 32.71%
Current events get 7.49%
Research and reports get 5.02%
Interviews get 3.97%
Stories get 2.38%
Other/uncategorized get 9.90%
Do you want to move beyond the written word? Consider top-ranking engagement options like short-form video, which gets 31.38% engagement, long-form video, which gets 15.51% engagement, and interviews, podcasts, and expert talks, which get 13.84% engagement.
Getting creative
Speaking of creative content, did you know that great creative drives 10-20%3 more sales? Or that it earns 50%3 higher correct brand identification with three or more3 brand mentions than one? Branding and top-tier creative design are key to separating yourself from the pack. But again, to get a little more tactical, let's talk about what that looks like in terms of your design choices.
When it comes to ads, you want to go vertical and full-color. Why? "Vertical orientation gets a +11% click-through rate (CTR), and square gets +4% CTR and +16% engagement rate over horizontal3, and color use can increase brand recognition by up to 80%.3"
Moving on from format, when it comes to ad types, consider some carousels, which get a +36% increase in CTR over static ads and 33% more engagement than static ads or LinkedIn Document ads as they get about 7 times higher conversions than website landing pages and a +46% lead generation form completion rate over typical lead generation forms.3
Have you ever considered the sound design of your marketing pieces? Adding that layer can be beneficial! Per LinkedIn, "Funny content gets 65% higher engagement and a 42% lead generation form fill rate."3
So who should make this creative? Well, the industry we're in may be a bit biased, but numbers don't lie. Humans should be making creative. Why do we say that when artificial intelligence (AI) is so great? Because according to a recent report, "88.7% feel generative AI poses a moderate-to-significant risk brand safety and misinformation risk to marketers.5" Further, that same report found that "53.2% of marketers and advertisers believe AI is overhyped.5"
We're not saying you can use a touch of AI inspiration here and there or rephrase work you've already written, but if you want something that will stand out, don't trust AI to be your silver bullet.
Performance marketing
How people find your marketing pieces is changing too! Did you know that 63% of everyday TikTok users aged 18-24 use the platform as a search engine5 That means you'll need to focus on social as search in 2025, too! Make sure your creative rocks on all platforms, or you could be in for a major dip...
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What shocked you most? What excited you? We'd love it if you'd tell us by saying hello!
