Revealing What’s Fact and What’s Fiction

If the term “new normal” makes you want to roll your eyes, you’re not alone. But eye roll or not, COVID-19 has colored the way many of us work and live—even how we view the world at large. Here’s just one example.

We recently surveyed 215 marketing and sales professionals in a wide variety of industries and asked them what the biggest buzzword was in the B2B sales and marketing space in 2020. While we were ready to accept that they’d largely gravitate to marketing jargon and hyped trends like “personalization,” “AI” and “ABM,” we were surprised to find that COVID-19 co-opted our every thought. We are consumed by all things related to the “new reality” and the new world in which we’re living and working.

But even amidst the uncertainty and chaos of a global pandemic, we all still have marketing goals to hit, campaigns to execute and content to create. Marketing and sales teams have tried their hardest to keep the machine running, rewriting their messaging, pivoting their plans and overhauling in-person experiences for virtual channels. While some organizations have successfully adapted and evolved, some have hung on to preconceived notions and past experiences to guide the way.

As we barrel toward 2021 and see an ongoing shift in business dynamics and buyer behaviors, we thought it would be the perfect time to survey our community of practitioners.