High tech is rampant with tenacious start-ups, constant acquisitions, and endless restructuring. The volatile landscape has created a fight for talent, tight margins, and an emphasis on innovation and differentiation through customer experience. Adding to the challenge, customer engagement often occurs in complex ecosystems with multi-tier distributors or across long sales cycles with numerous stakeholders.

Customers are looking for high tech brands that provide positive experiences, not just feature-rich products. As a result, top organizations in this industry are moving away from only “selling products” and are focusing on creating experiences that are effortless, compelling, and valuable. In order to meet these emerging customer requirements and to differentiate from the competition, high tech brands of all types must move to more flexible, digital-centric business models, like those that have transformed the software industry.

What is disrupting the industry?

High Tech companies are undergoing change at an unprecedented speed.

Pressure to innovate quickly, be on the bleeding edge and remain nimble.Customers and partners expect retail-like experiences across omni-channel journeys.

• Business models are shifting to redefine “value” and introduce new sources of revenue.
• Data drives decisions, budgets and priorities and creates the bridge between marketing and sales.

What is the industry doing about it?

Prioritizing customer experiences. A large number of high tech companies are investing in customer experience, which increasingly includes digital transformation.

What B2B Marketing Executives regard as their top exciting prospect for marketing in 2020

1. 28% - IOT / connected devices e.g. wearables, audience tracking
2. 26% - Utilizing AI – bots to drive campaigns and experiences
3. 24% - Enhanced audiences through virtual or AR

Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. High tech brands are looking to AI and ML to improve the customer experience and to automate repeatable tasks in order to focus on higher strategic-level thinking.

Status of Adoption of AI/Machine Learning – IT Managers

• 33% In Use/Implementing
• 19% Piloting
• 11% Active Plans to Deploy within 12 Months

Shifting business models. Shifting customer desires and demands have driven organizations to consider new sources of revenue, such as SaaS offerings, premium service, and data. They are also re-evaluating how they sell and service their offerings.

Marketing Executives top responses to competitive threats and rising customer expectations

1. New product/service introduction
2. Deploying AI and automation to streamline process and services
3. More focus on digital customer engagement

Finding new efficiencies. High tech brands are looking for solutions such as cloud-hosted services and unified platforms to create new efficiencies, cost savings, and flexibility.

Providing Value to the ecosystem. Leveraging marketing technologies to address non-marketing uses, such as connecting marketing to sales, providing self-serve support, and enabling the field and partners with real-time tools.

Top Sales Enablement Solution Features for Sr. B2B Sales Professional’s

1. A quick searchable sales collateral repository
2. Integration with CRM
3. Ability to create/edit content in a rapid fashion

• Broad data silos with disconnected teams and systems
• Lengthy and complex processes are slow and disjointed
• Diverse audiences (partners, engineers, procurement, managers) with distinct needs
• Legacy structures and mindsets leave little time for innovation and insights

1. How do you share data across your organization?
2. Can you deliver relevant content for your field, partners, buyers, and users?
3. Are you challenged to keep this content up-to-date? Or manage changes to the content?
4. Do you trust your data enough to deliver insights that can shape your strategy?
5. Are you GDPR compliant?
6. Are you meeting online revenue goals?
7. Do you think your customer experience differentiates you in the marketplace?