Staying ahead of the game. Being proactive. Reading the play. These are the type of terms marketers have drilled into their ears almost daily. Stand still and you go backwards – there’s another – so how exactly do marketers avoid these catchphrase?

Thorough research of the market, knowing your brand better than anyone and believing in the outcome, according to Sarah Pern of g2m Solutions, a Sydney-based B2B marketing agency. Pern has outlined several major trends for online B2B marketing in the year ahead.

Valuable advice

Pern predicts the demise of the culture of pumping out keywords in the hope of sailing to first page placement in search results. Why? Because everyone is doing it, and the market is saturated – plus with Google’s increased focus on personal endorsements and social signals, the area is close to flooding.

So what to do? Shift focus from ‘content creation’ to ‘value creation’ – more creative, unique and insightful use of marketers’ time. By investing more into exactly ‘what’ content target clients are after, you will see benefit. Be at one with them by focusing on neglected niche markets and even becoming thought leaders within that space – before soon word will spread.

Community calling

Relationship building and social interaction trumps mechanically-driven SEO. Many successful B2B online marketers are now spending more of their resources visiting LinkedIn groups, Google Communities and cultivating relevant, interested Twitter followings.

Participation and engagement is the rule here. Don’t just get in to this sphere for content distribution, instead look to create real value and cultivate relationships by personalising everything. Work from a single database, keep it simple and connect at an individual level.

Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm and its new Graph Search application will be integral for marketers, helping us search for content within personal networks and zone in on specific markets.

Content types

Content is king, but context is better. Look into the world of infographics, video, and creative blogging to suit what your audience needs, and be creative it with, like these guys:

Be an expert

“Smart B2B marketers are already focusing on their Klout scores and Google’s author rank, as they have picked up on the fact that personal online reputation impacts search rank, social reach and online influence,” says Pern.

Building relationships, reputation and leveraging social rank also benefits organisations as it is all these factors that will have you informed when converting a sales conversation into a genuine sale. Know your stuff and reap the online marketing rewards.