During economic shifts or downturns, martech budgets are often the first to be evaluated and restructured. 

In TrustRadius’ recent analysis of buyer traffic to 789 software categories, marketing tools comprised 20% of the top 15 surging categories. It seems likely that marketers are asking themselves, “Is there technology I can live without?” or “Is there technology that can help us be more efficient and effective?”

In the words of our Founder and CEO, Vinay Bhagat, “Based on buyer usage of our site, marketing teams are shifting priorities. Surging categories are a reflection of a desire to increase efficiency and improve ROI. Marketing spend is being shifted to areas that will increase demand generation yield and win rates.”

TrustRadius data coupled with Google Trends data suggests that marketers are evaluating their tech stack and deciding whether tools can be consolidated or replaced with all-in-one solutions. They’re seeking to streamline their demand gen and account-based marketing efforts to more efficiently focus on accounts with the highest propensity to buy—and buy quickly. Automation tools offer the ability to do more with less, and content marketing tools enhance the ability to scale content efficiently and affordably. 

These shifts are likely happening because marketers need ways to adapt quickly to buyer behavior without adding more headcount or overspending. In our annual research report, the  2022 B2B Buying Disconnect: The Age of the Self-Serve Buyer, we reveal these critical trends in technology buying behavior:

• Buyers are relying on third-party sources above vendor-provided information
• Buyer expectations for self-service are higher than ever before
• Vendor reps has dropped from the top five most commonly used resources

How do these trends affect the martech world? Well, it means today’s buyers are more elusive than ever before, and marketers have to adapt by marketing in the third-party channels where their buyers conduct research. Scaling their marketing efforts while providing personalization to accounts in their ICP requires identifying efficiencies in the software used, how they integrate with their current tech stack, and which solutions provide the biggest bang for their buck. This is why B2B marketers in 2022 are on the search for all-in-one solutions that include everything they need. 

Not only do today’s marketing departments look for all-encompassing tools that can integrate a variety of channels, they are also on the search for ways to perform outreach in tailored, personalized ways. A Forbes article calls this phenomenon “micro-moments and hyper-personalization,” saying, “Today, consumers expect brands to understand and respond to their needs as individuals, providing them with something that’s unique to them at the time and place that they need it.” Because of this, martech needs to include ways to provide this type of personalization through highly effective ABM and CRM integration with other channels.

We saw a big tie-in when comparing these marketing trends to the data from our site. The following marketing software categories saw the biggest growth, both in terms of TrustRadius site traffic and Google Trends data, year-over-year. The same is true for surging products.

Methodology: We compared TrustRadius site traffic with Google Trends data to determine surging categories in the market. We then applied this same process to surging products within each category. TrustRadius site traffic reflects a % of traffic growth based on a 60-day, year-over-year reporting period to rule out seasonality discrepancies.

Surging martech categories and products

All in all, today’s marketers expect each platform to do more for less cost. Platforms need to either “talk to each other” effectively or include everything that a marketing team needs in one place. And they need to provide lots of automation options. Plus, today’s marketing platforms need to have the ability to pull in marketing data from every corner of the company to enable personalization efforts, including customer data, account details, stage of the buyer’s journey, etc. 

If you’re a marketer on the hunt for your next great martech tool, be sure to read more about each of these tools on our review site! We specialize in offering in-depth user reviews to buyers as they research and evaluate products. TrustRadius reviews are more than 400 words, on average; users spend an average of 11 minutes reading reviews; and each one is vetted for quality, depth, and detail. Plus, we don’t sell leads or paid placements, so you can trust that each review is authentic and verified. 

And if you’re a B2B tech marketer, our powerful, second-party downstream intent data could be a great addition to your martech tool box! We’ve helped vendors boost their marketing programs, dramatically lower the CPC of their paid ad campaigns, and most importantly, find and win in-market buyers for their brands. Stay competitive with buyer demands and learn more about deep buyer insights for tech vendors.