A major proposal at the beginning of 2017.
This is how BtoB sites and web marketing should be.

Happy new year
My name is Tatsuta, and I am the head of the marketing department.

The marketing department has a team called the BtoB team.
As the name suggests, we are a team specializing in researching, planning, and creating websites for B2B companies .
As a member of that team, I work hard every day with web managers from B2B companies to create websites.

This is the first BtoB seminar of the new year brought to you by the BtoB team.

I would like to think about BtoB websites and web marketing in 2017 while organizing my thoughts on a daily basis and recent web trends.

This article will be written with the aim of providing reference especially to web managers of B2B companies who are planning to renew their websites in 2017.

Mobile compatibility goes from recommended to required

It was in 2008 that the iPhone was released and smartphones first appeared on the market.
With the improvement of communication environment and the rise of SNS, the way users interact with the web has changed dramatically in just a few years. In proportion to this, web production has also continued to change dramatically.
"Mobile first," "responsive web design," "flat design"...
This has given rise to many new ideas and production methods related to smartphones.

When smartphones first appeared, the purpose of creating smartphone-compatible websites was to improve usability (ease of use). The idea was to make the website easy for smartphone users to use and encourage them to take action or make a purchase from there.

However, in 2015, something happened that dramatically changed this way of thinking.
Google has introduced a new search algorithm, which they call the " Mobile Friendly Algorithm ."
Essentially, what it means is that "whether or not a site is mobile-compatible will be added to the search ranking criteria when searching on a smartphone."
In other words, smartphone compatibility, which previously was intended to improve usability, now also affects search rankings.

Then, in the fall of 2016, an even bigger announcement was made.
This is the " Mobile First Index ." This is a really big thing, so all webmasters should be aware of it.

Until now, Google's algorithm has basically looked at PC sites to determine rankings. However, once the "mobile-first index" is officially introduced, this will no longer be the case. Instead of looking at PC sites, Google will look at smartphone sites to determine rankings.
Smartphone sites are used to determine rankings in search results, and PC sites are rarely looked at.

The 2015 "mobile-friendly algorithm" was merely "one factor that influences the search ranking of a smartphone site when searching on a smartphone," but from now on, search rankings for both PCs and smartphones will be determined by looking at the smartphone site in the first place.

It is not yet clear when the algorithm will officially launch.
There is a lot of different information circulating in our industry, such as "Will it be around February 2017?" and "No, the effects are already starting to be felt."
But it's likely to start in 2017.

Compared to BtoC companies, BtoB companies are lagging behind in terms of smartphone compatibility.
"We are a B2B company, so our website can't be viewed on smartphones and we don't need to make it smartphone compatible."
We are now in an age where we can no longer say this.

The reality is that most of the B2B companies we work with are seeing an increase in the number of users accessing their sites from smartphones every year.

2017 will be the year in which mobile compatibility will become essential for B2B websites.

Service sites will once again become more important in new ways

I think many companies build service sites for each service or product in addition to a corporate website that compiles company information.
In addition to our corporate website, we also operate service sites for multiple services.

Looking back, there was a time when the number of service sites increased dramatically. However, after that, there was a trend to consolidate the sites due to the lack of consistency in brand image, the spread of information and leads, and the complexity of operation.
Now in 2017, I believe the importance of service sites will increase once again.

There are a few reasons that led me to think this way.

Last year, there was a big change in the projects requested by the BtoB team. Until now, there were many requests to use the website as a sales support tool, or to improve the brand image and name recognition, but last year, the number of companies that set the purpose of their website as "obtaining leads and project consultations from the website" really increased. Suddenly.
This means that more companies are shifting from using the web for public relations to using it for marketing. In other words, this fact also means that competition in web marketing is becoming more intense. Your competitors may also be starting to focus on web marketing.

Next, let's look at recent topics surrounding web marketing, not just B2B.

Content marketing is a marketing method that provides users with valuable information to nurture, convert, and retain potential customers.

SEO algorithm updates: Algorithms are updated daily to ensure that the information users are really looking for is displayed at the top of the results.

AMP
A mechanism for speeding up the display speed of web pages in order to improve the experience for smartphone users.

Marketing automation is a mechanism for automating actions based on user behavior history and attributes in order to "deliver the best content at the best time in the best way" (see below).

Both of these methods are expected to become mainstream in the future, and many success stories have already been produced about them.

Considering the threats and opportunities we have looked at so far, and the likely needs of users, I believe that a service site would be an effective medium, and building and strengthening it would be an effective way to achieve the purpose of the website.

However, it is no longer enough to simply explain the service content or introduce product information as in the past. The key is to be able to assemble a new concept based on the content and solutions that users want.

This is one of the themes that we would like to propose as a BtoB team in 2017.

Marketing automation, plus or minus alpha

I'm sure you've all heard of the term Marketing Automation (MA). It is a system that has been developed and introduced in the United States, a country that is advanced in marketing, for over 10 years, and has produced many success stories.
It was first introduced into Japan in 2014. Several products that have proven successful in the US are now available in Japan.
Since then, Japanese companies, both BtoC and BtoB, have begun to adopt various approaches to marketing. However, its adoption is limited to a small number of companies, particularly those with advanced marketing capabilities.
The author believes that this situation will gradually change and that smartphones will start to become more widespread starting from 2017.

I think there are a few reasons why it hasn't become more widespread yet.

One is the absence of marketing ideas, functions, departments, and personnel.
Introducing MA will bring about major changes to marketing and sales activities. In order to make this a reality, many departments will be involved. Of course, the sales department will need to work with the systems department to introduce the new system, and the manufacturing and development departments will need to work with the content production for operation.
Although this is a major project that involves the entire company, the reality is that many B2B companies do not have a department or person in charge of the core of the project. In fact, many of the people we work with belong to the PR or general affairs department, and they often work on the website renewal while also working on other tasks outside of the web.

I hear that it is common for American companies to place their marketing teams at the heart of their organization, with many of their top executives coming from there.
I feel that this background is the reason for the difference in the rate of adoption between Japan and the United States.

Another reason is that we have strong sales.
Japanese companies are said to be weak in marketing. On the other hand, they are really strong in sales. Based on Japan's unique business practices, it is sales that generate a lot of work by building relationships and making proposals.
In fact, I think the reality for many B2B companies is that they have been able to increase sales without putting much effort into marketing.

However, I think this will gradually change.

Of course, I don't want to talk about abandoning traditional sales and introducing MA. In fact, I think that the element of sales turning into opportunities should not be eliminated. Personally, I also love the culture of "sales being the star."
I believe that by introducing MA, we will be able to achieve even better results by adding a marketing element to what has previously been a sales-only approach.

"When restructuring the marketing-sales system, shouldn't we keep our strength in sales?"
In this way, in order for us to achieve results with MA, I think we need to create a Japanese-style, and a company-style, way of using MA. I don't think we can just copy America.

This year, I'm going to explore this using our own website. I hope that the success stories we have had will provide some elements that can be used in your company.

Based on that

• Marketing using MA - Sales construction know-how
• Low-burden operation that enables staff to produce results even while working on other tasks
• A mechanism for maintaining the accuracy of content during operation
  

We would also like to consider developing services using MA such as the following.

lastly

Website renewal can be extremely difficult for web managers, as it requires juggling regular work with the project and the hassle of coordinating with other employees within the company.
However, in our daily work, we feel that what determines the success or failure of a renewal is whether the person in charge of the web site has the "will" to do so.
"I want to make a website like this!"
"I want to implement this measure!"
To help you have that "will," we would like to support you not only during the renewal process but also in the preparation stages.

We hope that 2017 will be a meaningful year for your company's web marketing.