As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in business, companies need to stay up to date with the latest industry trends and strategies. Looking ahead to 2023, Gartner identifies four key trends that are set to shape the way that businesses approach technology adoption and customer engagement. These trends are:
- the move towards more federated enterprise tech buying
- increase in product-led growth strategies
- the rise of digital marketplaces
- the incorporation of metaverse technologies into marketing and customer engagement
Let’s look at each of these trends in more detail, examining the opportunities and challenges they present for businesses, and providing insights into how companies can stay ahead of the curve in the years ahead.
#Trend 1: The move towards more federated enterprise tech buying will involve decision-makers from outside of IT
Impact:
As the number of authorized decision-makers and influencers from outside IT continues to rise, businesses are shifting their focus from simply purchasing technology to investing in value scenarios and outcomes.
To take advantage of this emerging trend, businesses should:
- Pivot their go-to-market strategies from technology-based to customer-oriented value scenarios. By demonstrating how their products or services can help achieve targeted business outcomes for each influencer or buyer involved in the process, businesses can increase their chances of success.
- Leverage ideal customer profiles (ICPs) to gain a deeper understanding of the customer’s buying approach and improve the probability of high-quality deals.
- Build a stronger vendor-client relationship by guiding less experienced buyers on effective decision-making practices and helping companies mature in the federated buying environment.
#Trend 2: The increase in product-led growth strategies will offer prospects early experience of the product
Impact:
Product-led growth (PLG) is a strategy that prioritizes the product itself by offering prospects some form of product experience to demonstrate its value before they interact with sales.
According to Gartner, by 2025, PLG is expected to be a standard component of go-to-market practices for 90% of SaaS companies, up from 58% today.
This strategy begins with self-service product experiences and is driven by aggregated data signals to sales-driven conversion or expansion plays. The goal is to achieve fast growth at a lower cost than traditional marketing and sales tactics. However, success is not guaranteed and requires careful consideration and effort. PLG at scale is data-intensive, encompassing user or buyer awareness and onboarding, product usage, and ultimately conversion and expansion based on usage value, advocacy, and influence.
The first step in implementing a PLG strategy is to assess whether it is viable or optimal by evaluating the product’s suitability for its intended audience. This includes considerations such as whether the product offers intuitive user experiences, easy/fast onboarding, and the ability for users to quickly recognize and capture its value relative to its cost.
#Trend 3: The rise of digital marketplaces will make it easier for potential buyers to find, procure, implement, and integrate technology solutions
Impact:
The increasing reliance on technology has led to a rise in digital marketplaces, with an increasing number of non-tech buyers seeking easily consumable and composable solutions. Gartner predicts that by 2026, all major cloud platforms and enterprise application providers will offer business component marketplaces, providing customers with composable strategies and differentiating by quality, convenience, and security.
To take advantage of this trend, businesses should
- Assess the importance of a marketplace channel by analyzing the potential market size, determining how well their solution fits within the marketplace, and understanding their target audience’s preferences.
- Prepare for a shift in buying behavior among non-tech buyers by adjusting their go-to-market strategy. This includes selling through a marketplace that highlights the compatibility of their solution with existing infrastructure and emphasizes the ease of integration.
- Consider becoming part of a marketplace to better serve your target customers. This can involve evaluating existing marketplaces for suitability or launching their marketplace.
#Trend 4: The incorporation of metaverse technologies into marketing and customer experience (CX) to build customer engagement
Impact:
Metaverse technologies are quickly gaining momentum in marketing, offering the potential for unique experiences, impactful interactions, and novel engagement. By 2027, most B2C enterprise CMOs will have a dedicated budget for digital humans in metaverse experiences, predicts Gartner.
However, given the early stage of metaverse technologies, product leaders must first determine how and when to take action. They must:
- Evaluate the viability of these technologies, such as large-scale multiplayer virtual spaces, virtual reality, and avatars, in terms of audience reach and engagement rates.
- Identify areas where metaverse technologies can create unique opportunities to engage potential customers and provide memorable experiences for existing customers.
- Build a strategy for ongoing evaluation, including assessing potential partnerships and ecosystem expansion, as these technologies continue to develop and converge over the next five to ten years.
Tech providers need to assess the effects of these trends on their business, regardless of the technology segment, and decide on the necessary actions to be taken.
Source: Gartner
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