2020 MARKETING OUTLOOK

whitePaper | December 2, 2021

No one fully understands the long-term effect COVID-19 will have on societies or regional economies. But the impact it’s having on brands is becoming clearer by the day. Customer behaviors have shifted during the crisis and may not revert to pre-pandemic norms. McKinsey reports as many as 30% to 40% of U.S. consumers have switched brands or retailers, and the majority intend to continue their new shopping behavior. Many switchers seek better prices, but other motivators include product availability, quality and purpose.

whitePaper | January 30, 2023

Since the beginning of the Pandemic in 2019 through the end of 2021, 75% of all sales roles that were terminated have been re-hired. At the current trend, we will be at or above 98% recovery by the end of 2022 even in a recessionary market. To offset these results, the best sales leaders are focused on using AI-assisted real-time rep support and are increasing their automation of digital channel engagement. Our review of 11.5M sales engagements and conversation outcomes from Sales Development Reps (SDRs) underscores the need for automated conversation guidance to improve seller performance.

whitePaper | September 15, 2022

Marketing operations leaders can feel it: MOPs is facing a talent crisis. It’s hard to hire; it’s hard to train; it’s hard to keep people from burning out. To make matters worse, these challenges have intensified so swiftly that leaders have hardly had time to digest them, let alone mount a defense. To better understand this fast-changing landscape, Highway Education and Demandbase set out to uncover what the MOPs industry is up against and to provide guidance to its leaders. The result was the State of MOPs Talent study.

whitePaper | August 16, 2022

Our “State of the Buyer Report: Future of Work Edition” illustrates how marketers can leverage data to develop a better ABM strategy that prioritizes the right accounts and engages them with personalized messaging and content. It examines five topic areas impacting purchase decisions surrounding today’s hybrid workforce—cloud infrastructure, hybrid work, enterprise networking, artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity—, and provides actionable takeaways for marketers to reach the buying centers that are researching and actively engaging with relevant content and advertising.

whitePaper | June 1, 2022

Waiting on hold to get help is inevitable. That being said, long wait times, being bounced around to multiple people, and inability to resolve issues contribute to overall poor experiences for customers and businesses. Time flies when we’re having fun, and it drags on when we’re bored. Sometimes it’s on our side, and other times it’s racing against us. 90-seconds can feel like an eternity when you’re sitting on the phone waiting for help, or answering automated voice prompts, or even waiting for a response from an agent on live chat agent.

whitePaper | January 10, 2023

Today’s B2B buyer is better informed than ever before, which comes with a growing preference for self-service buying experiences (i.e., opting to research products on their own as opposed to connecting with a salesperson). In fact, when surveyed, 87% of B2B buyers said they would prefer to self-serve all or part of their buying journey – meaning by the time a buyer fills out a contact form from your website, they are likely in the final stages of their decision-making process.