Are you incorporating the right technologies in your martech stack? Gartner’s latest survey found that marketers utilize just 42% of their tools and technologies in 2022, down from 58% in 2020. That’s why, for Thanksgiving, we are rounding up 15 powerful marketing innovations we are grateful for this year.

Read on, and we hope this list inspires you towards greater adoption and smarter martech innovations utilization!

1. Voice-based search queries

With the rising popularity of mobile devices and voice-based services such as Microsoft Cortana and Google Assistant, voice recognition is one area where any company — big or small —  may distinguish itself from its rivals. In 2022 and beyond, if you have a well-defined online presence, the likelihood that customers will discover your site or marketing content using voice search will skyrocket. A simple strategy you may use in 2023 is to post solutions to commonly asked questions regarding your products on your website. Remember to be precise, detailed, and sincere in your responses.

2. Metaverse and virtual worlds

The metaverse is a futuristic amalgamation of VR and AR, and artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in a breakthrough 3D immersive experience where physical and digital components blend into each other.  Examples include NASCAR’s interactive commercials on Roblox, an interactive gaming platform. Users may develop personalized avatars that enable them to “feel” things without purchasing anything, which can be incredibly beneficial for high-value B2B transactions. We are thankful for another highly engaging channel to add to the typical marketing mix!

3. The demise of cookies

In the last two years, there have been several concerns over the privacy of data harvesting. To address the problem, Google will dominate the advertising technology space in 2023 with its cookie-free business delivery model. Google will introduce new technologies promoting the phasing-out of cookies around the end of 2022. While cookies depend on customer-led information such as email addresses, cookie replacements will require vast quantities of first-party data to be successful. This martech innovation can go a long way in improving customer trust, which we are grateful for.

4. Blockchain for ad fraud prevention

Advertising fraud is an important challenge for marketers. Try using blockchain anti-fraud tools in 2022 to ensure that you can follow the KPI of a campaign clearly and that your money is not being wasted. In addition, blockchain enables marketers to provide consumers with data supporting their claims. A blockchain-based platform may, for instance, store evidence of a product’s validity or origin.

5. Customer data platforms (CDPs)

Customer data platforms are also among this decade’s most anticipated digital marketing technology trends. As the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s data protection legislation restrict the ability of marketers to collect data, data management and organization tools will be essential for processing the business intelligence organizations currently possess more effectively. Lookalike modeling is an added functionality provided by such platforms. Utilizing current customer data, marketers may generate additional profiles of potential consumers and identify new target markets.– now, that’s something to be grateful for!

6. Customer openness to push notifications

Brands are using push notifications more than ever before to sustain customer engagement. The majority of smartphone users have the choice to receive these messages on their cell phones. This implies that, with some artful copywriting, you may create a lasting impression on B2B customers for a minimal price. Nonetheless, it is crucial to recognize that the frequency of such communications per user must be limited. With the right content strategy and delivery frequency, your audience will be as grateful for this martech innovations trend as you.

7. The widespread availability of artificial intelligence (AI)

AI provides consumer behavioral analytics and charts customer journeys across all marketing channels. It automates essential marketing operations including lead generation, behavioral analysis, personalization, customer relationship management (CRM), as well as other routine tasks. This increases work efficiency and lets marketing executives design and evaluate complex marketing models, therefore maximizing return on investment (ROI). No wonder this is a top technology to be grateful for!

8. The use of intent data

B2B marketers may add an intriguing new capability to their account marketing approach by analyzing customer intent data. Intent data offers a more in-depth insight into why an individual seeks information, visits a website, or participates in a webinar. It may assist with content marketing, personalization, and scheduled sales outreach to ensure that each touchpoint is as relevant as possible, hence accelerating the buying process.

9. Powerful content management systems (CMS)

Content is at the core of contemporary SaaS marketing, whether it’s a lengthy white paper or a unique microsite, a product pricing website, or an informative blog post. But without structure, content would be chaos. Visitors would have difficulty locating the materials they need, and we would be unable to manage and segment an ever-growing repository of websites and resources. Content management systems deliver a structure for producing, organizing, optimizing, and distributing content, therefore transforming unstructured and randomized content into marketing-focused business collaterals.

10. The emerging category of “Marketing Operating Systems” or marketers’ OS

With so many tools available, there is a burgeoning demand for marketing services that integrate these diverse point solutions. For smaller businesses, APIs and bespoke integrations may help bring together the marketing puzzle into a single, cohesive whole. However, for larger B2B businesses, more complex marketing plans need dedicated resources.

Therefore, Marketing Operating Systems play an important role. These are all-inclusive systems that embrace the entirety of data- and content-driven modern marketing. They enable you to execute, disseminate, evaluate, and synchronize your marketing plan from a centralized location.

11. Marketing automation

Marketing automation software, such as HubSpot, provides a hyper-connected picture of how your campaign components create qualified leads and assist one another. For instance, if you determine that a certain content marketing campaign garnered 12 high-quality leads via organic tweets, you then can justify expanding that effort. Even further, you might enroll your current leads in an automatic email nurturing or pipeline linked to the Twitter article that first piqued their interest. While marketing automation has been around for a while, we are always grateful for the sheer efficiency it enables.

12. The use of Web3 in marketing

Web3 marketing intends to decentralize marketing and create an interactive and gamified user experience. To allow customized marketing, decentralized site hosting, ad fraud detection, or peer-to-peer (P2P) interactions — startups and expanding B2B businesses may leverage blockchain-based solutions.

Already, businesses are using NFT artifacts, high-value tokens, digital ticketing, and digital asset possession verification to create excitement. In addition, Web3 technologies protect the privacy of customer data via its private-by-design architecture. While this martech innovation is still in its infancy, it will be something B2B marketers are grateful for in the next five years.

13. Web experimentation platforms

Whether you’re focused on product creation, sales, or marketing development, testing is essential for identifying your strengths and weaknesses. While this is true, it is not always sufficient to depend on your fundamental understanding of tests to get statistically significant results. Experimentation tools like Optimizely, VWO, etc., may assist you with A/B analysis, split trialing, multivariate checking, and multipage experiments across websites, mobile applications, and connected devices. This helps deliver user experiences that both the buyer and the B2B marketer are grateful for!

14. B2B video marketing

In recent years, video has taken on a greater role in marketing, particularly as pricing obstacles to entry have decreased. Almost everyone can now capture high-quality video. When this is complemented by YouTube — now, the second-largest online search engine on the Internet, the opportunity is pretty apparent. YouTube channels may help establish a community surrounding your B2B business and increase social engagement since it is dynamic and can be utilized for demos, L&D, and even entertainment.

15. Digital twin of a customer (DToC)

A DToC is a dynamic visual depiction of a consumer that learns to replicate, imitate, and predict behavior. DToCs enable data-rich organizations to provide a more customized, curated CX for customers, many of whose purchasing patterns have altered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, hyperinflation, the threat of recession, and other market fluctuations. This martech innovation is new to Gartner Hype Cycle for Digital Marketing in 2022, and we are grateful for the addition.

Final Thoughts

B2B marketing has come a long way in the last few years, from DIY outreach systems and manual customer lists to seamless automation and immersive worlds. As you explore the top tools for which we are grateful this year, also consider the 10 revolutionary martech trends that will pave the way in 2023. Thanks for reading and happy Thanksgiving!