This year’s HubSpot-hosted Inbound event has come to a close; and there’s plenty of new strategies and concepts we’ve learned from the event. From hacking inbound sales and lead generation, to a new inbound marketing model from HubSpot, these are the takeaways from Inbound 2018 that will shape the future of marketing and sales.

For b2b marketing, generating leads is only half the challenge when attracting attention to your business and brand. Without proper lead nurturing strategies, your leads won’t see the same value from your brand overtime. Worst of all, they may feel neglected!

It’s one of the biggest fears for any branding agency; what happens when your brand no longer resonates with your audience? Unfortunately, as prospects demand more customized service and content, smaller b2b brands may struggle to keep up with their increased expectations.

Digital marketing can be a major asset to build brand recognition online. Some b2b marketers choose to focus on content creation or blogging, while others lean more toward advertising their brand through social media. When it comes to building your brand recognition, you’ll want to start by following these b2b digital marketing strategies.

Since the major update to search engine algorithms last year, marketers have had to make significant changes to their SEO strategies. Topic clusters and pillar pages are a marketer’s new best friend when keeping content linked and up-to-date with SEO.

A blog is a great way for b2b digital marketers to educate prospects with informative content related to their industry; your b2b organization may already have a dedicated, up-to-date blog of its own.

In b2b marketing, a successful website is key to attracting new visitors and generating qualified leads. Your website must have a purpose and send a personal message to visitors, in the same way your brand's voice will resonate with your audience. 

Take a moment to think about the many tech buzzwords digital marketers tend to use today; AI, machine learning, and the Internet of Things are all major topics of interest. Since digital marketing is constantly evolving, this year will once again bring technology advancements along for the long run.

Here are several innovations in technology for digital marketing that we’re expecting in the near future.

The amount of analytics information the average b2b business must keep track of is no doubt overwhelming. Whether it’s organic and direct traffic, session durations, or entrances and exits, there is a vast array of data to measure. In some cases, your website may even experience a spike in bounce rate for seemingly no reason.

The truth is, there is an underlying pattern behind the rise and fall of your bounce rate. Here’s what you need to know to understand and improve your b2b website’s bounce rate through Google analytics. 

From topic clusters to personalization, 2018 has given marketers plenty of options to expand their audience. Now that we’ve reached the halfway point of the year, it’s time to think about what lies ahead for the future of marketing. Here are some upcoming marketing trends you’ll want to keep an eye on going into 2019.