In a few short weeks, we’ll be wrapping up another year. So now’s a good a time as any to look back at where we’ve been with our marketing efforts and, more importantly, to plan where we’re going. To help you refine your 2018 marketing strategy, the Callbox team is releasing an extensive compilation of key software/tech marketing stats as a free eBook.

We dug into more than 60 reputable published sources and pulled out over 150 data points every data-driven tech marketer should include in their planning assumptions. But we didn’t stop at simply listing the numbers out. We’ve also grouped the stats into 35 actionable insights gleaned from the data.

Let’s take a sneak peek.

Insights on Overall Strategy

Forrester expects digital disruption to shake things up in 2018 and become the new normal for B2B marketing. Most other research into B2B software/tech marketing seem to bear this out. Among the essential overall marketing insights the numbers point to are:

Tech buyers are evolving along with the purchase cycle. Millennials now comprise a significant chunk of the tech buying committee, while baby boomers and Gen Xers are starting to take a backseat.

A growing number of marketers in complex-sale B2B products (especially tech marketers) now embrace account-based marketing (ABM). Case studies and industry reports show that ABM strategies outperform other traditional methods in several key criteria.

MarTech and marketing automation platforms remain a critical component of tech marketers’ toolkit, although several studies point to both opportunities and challenges for marketers in this space.

Related: How to Get Quality IT Appointments Hands-Free with Marketing Automation

For a number of tech marketers, AI has evolved from a shiny new thing to something they can’t do without. More and more marketers plan to invest in AI for various practical applications, from predictive lead scoring to big data mining.

While MarTech continues to improve, data quality still bothers a huge percentage of tech marketers. In fact, they point to data as a major obstacle that’s keeping them from getting the most out of their tech stacks and campaigns. Up to the present time, tech marketers encounter difficulty gauging performance and returns.

Almost 9 in 10 tech marketers rank improving the ability to measure and analyze marketing impact as a top priority.

This is why a majority of marketers still think their budgets won’t be enough to hit their marketing objectives, even though most of them will see a bigger budget next year.

From the top three campaign priorities of B2B marketers (reaching audiences at the right time, matching strategy to audience behavior, and identifying the best channels to use), tech marketers encounter the most difficulty in connecting with prospects at the right time.

Related: 5 Lessons From Epic Tech Flops That Will Make You Better At B2B Sales

Channel-Specific Insights

The eBook also delves into current and future trends shaping content marketing, email marketing, social media, organic/paid search, and other tech marketing channels. Some highlights include:

Content retains its throne as king of the software/tech marketing world. IDG explains that tech marketers are now seeing the benefits of pioneering “ brand as publisher ” strategies. The next priorities revolve around precise measurement and diversifying the content portfolio.

Related: Better Content Means Better Leads: Make the Most Out of Your Content

Email remains very much alive. That’s because study after study reveals tech buyers prefer emails both for business communications and for sourcing information. No other channel comes close to the spectacular ROI emails offer, especially if emails are used to reinforce engagement and conversion in other channels. Read The Great Email vs. Social Media Bakeoff (2018 Edition) if you’re not convinced yet.

Almost all software/tech marketers use some form of social media marketing. That’s despite a huge number of tech marketers claiming social media is their least effective lead generation channel, and only 1 in 4 tech buyers turn to social media to learn about new products.

Software/Tech marketers are big fans of SEO and PPC. That’s because an overwhelming portion of their target audience relies on online search when evaluating potential solutions.

Traditional initiatives like tradeshows and free trials still occupy an important place in the tech marketing mix, while newer strategies such as cross-border marketing are gaining traction among tech marketers.

Related: Get your First Tradeshow Clients with these Marketing Ideas

The Takeaway

It’s an exciting time to be a tech marketer today, and things are bound to get even more interesting next year. This post only scratches the surface of what you’ll learn from the eBook, so get your free copy right now.

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This eBook features over 150 data points hand-picked from more than 60 reputable whitepapers, slide-decks, industry reports, and other published materials. Beef up your 2018 marketing plan, click here.