The B2B market is facing younger buying committees, shifts in expectations about the purchase process, overcomplicated tech stacks, and uncertain economic conditions. These factors are changing how marketers can reach, engage with, and retain business customers, according to our analyst Kelsey Voss. Here are five predictions for how these factors will impact your B2B marketing next year.

1. Digital self-service will dominate the B2B buyer journey.
   Who’s the B2B buyer in 2023?

• Millennials and Gen Z make up the majority of B2B buying committees (65% of buyers are between the ages of 18 and 40, according to a recent American Marketing Association survey).
• “These buyers grew up in a digital world and they also expect to manage their journey on their own terms,” Voss said. Buyers will do their own research (visiting a website or attending a webinar) before accepting a meeting with a salesperson. “These buyers want a self-serve and very personalized experience. B2B marketers need to meet buyers’ higher expectations in 2023 and provide experiences that mirror their consumer experiences.”
• The buying committee is bigger and more diverse. There are more roles involved, which means many responsibilities and preferences (for example, the CFO wants marketing to be cost-effective). According to a Forrester Consulting and Outreach survey, 75% said there are more people in the decision-making process.
• As people involved in the buying cycle expanded, so too did the time. That same Forrester survey found that 75% said the average buying cycle has increased in the last 24 months.

2. Marketers need to get tech integration right.
   The pandemic rush to implement marketing technology (martech) is moving to a new investment phase:

• While martech spending will increase in the next two years, according to our forecasts, growth will drop from 2021’s 21.2% increase to 12.4% next year.
• “The problem many B2B marketers currently face is their stacks are unwieldy and don’t align with tech and other teams,” Voss said. “Data integration and alignment between marketers and sales is crucial to achieve revenue growth expected from both teams and strategic collaboration with customer success teams drives customer retention and loyalty.”

Read more: 5 predictions for B2B marketing in 2023