Meet the tech marketing innovators who are thinking differently

Back in Spring 2021 we identified that client-side tech marketers were under the spotlight and increased pressures like never before. But seeing all of the incredible activity from tech brands, it was undeniable that out of adversity comes opportunity. So we partnered with the team at B2B Marketing to shine a light on the individuals that have been pushing the boundaries in tech marketing. The people who are making a difference by thinking differently.

As part of the judging panel, I was frankly blown-away by the quality of the nominations we reviewed. Shortlisting to just 20 individuals was extremely challenging – in fact too much of a challenge, hence we had to squeeze in two more nominees, under the guise of ‘22 for 2022’!

Today the index is out and three things stand out to me:

1. Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes

It was immediately clear when judging that innovation can come from almost anywhere. For a start, the 22 Innovators’ roles cover the full remit of the marketing mix. We had nominations from people within brand, demand generation, content, go-to-market, ABM, customer advocacy, digital and product roles. Likewise, there were representatives from marketing operations through to the frontline.

It’s equally refreshing to see how tech marketers have embraced innovation to breathe life into different tactics. Whether it’s pioneering TikTok in B2B, creative use of intent data or introducing celebrities into a virtual event series – there is clearly so much fresh-thinking out there and so much we can learn from.

2. Culture drives innovation

Innovation needs the right environment – and the right leadership – to thrive. What many of our Innovators have in common is the feeling that they have ‘permission to fail’; allowing them to experiment with different strategies and tactics. We should also never overlook the power of people and relationships in making innovation happen. The best idea in the world is just an idea unless you have buy-in from leadership and a delivery team on-board.

Seeing how people have looked at new and innovative way of building internal relationships between marketing and product, sales or business stakeholders – shows the importance of culture in successful innovation. This also helps drive inclusivity and a renewed sense of purpose in any organisation.

3. Innovation creates tangible business impact

Many of the nominees attributed impressive results to their out-of-the-box activity. Whether that was leads, pipeline, revenue or organisational change – it’s clear that tech marketers aren’t experimenting for the sake of experimentation. They are actually making a difference.

As much as failure can provide learnings, these successes help marketers gain buy-in from execs within the organisation and lay the foundations and the business case for a culture of innovation.

As mentioned by many of the Innovators, B2B tech is an extremely crowded space. We arguably need to push things more than any other industry to stay ahead. I’m hoping that these stories will inspire other marketers like you to do things differently in your organisation – continuing to push boundaries and raise standards for the industry.

You can learn more at https://go2.b2bmarketing.net/harvard/