Recently, our Florida-based Head of Content Sales was on Zoom with an American contact who lives in the UK but works for a fintech startup that’s headquartered in Amsterdam and growing like crazy in APAC.
It was a conversation that criss-crossed the globe, and it reflects how B2B marketing for technology brands is changing. Based on research and what we’re seeing with our clients, marketing is becoming an exclusively global game for tech companies as they invest in quick-scale growth strategies for the UK, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.
In response, Unreal Digital Group is beyond thrilled to announce that we’re expanding across the pond into the UK and EMEA, and we’ve added a highly experienced and talented team of marketers who live and work in the UK. We’ve also developed a strategic roadmap that will help us serve our clients no matter where they are—U.S., UK, EMEA or APAC.
Fast-moving trends heat up markets
In addition to our clients pulling us into more global deals, we’ve seen other signals that there’s a need for a scrappy marketing partner with a global footprint in the fast-paced world of business technology:
Venture capital (VC) firms are increasing investments in the UK and EMEA, where the spirit of entrepreneurship is thriving. TechMonitor in January reported on a survey published by Digital Horizons, a London-based VC firm, that found 56% of UK investors are planning to increase their VC allocation in 2023, putting 35% of their dollars into UK companies. This is second only to North American at 44%, which likely reflects the expansion of UK startups into North America.
At the same time, North American VC firms are boosting European investments. According to Sifted, a European media startup that covers other European startups, U.S. VC groups invested more than US$25 billion in European startups in 2022. And although this figure is down from a record-setting US$37.4 billion in 2021, it’s still more than twice 2020’s investment of US$10.7 billion.
Clearly, the money that feeds innovation and growth in technology is starting to flow more freely around the world.
The MarTech industry is expanding globally, and regions that have been slower to adopt new technologies and models are catching up. Globally, MarTech will grow at a 19.8% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research. The APAC market will lead that growth at 21.6%, according to the researchers. One of the reasons this is happening is because the technology is more sophisticated and “makes it possible for marketers to scale their campaigns more holistically,” according to Grand View.
MarTech is also enabling RevOps, an emerging marketing model that aligns sales, marketing, and customer service teams into a unified revenue-generation function. This approach removes the friction that traditionally exists among these groups, so costs and time-to-market decrease while the effectiveness of sales plays goes up. The global market for RevOps platforms was US$2.8 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to $15.3 billion by the end of 2032, according to Future Market Insights.
Technology in general is evolving super quickly in marketing, and this is raising expectations for performance while also requiring new skill sets that many growth-focused companies don’t have.
Business technology has evolved into a global, partner-dependent ecosystem. Innovation can arise anywhere, and in fact it’s happening everywhere. Google, Palo Alto and other UDG clients that are big tech leaders know this and are fortifying their partner networks with much smaller companies that are laser focused on developing solutions for industry- and function-specific applications using breakthrough technologies like APIs and AI.
These companies are popping up across the world, which is pushing up demand for resources like data storage and high-power computing services from Google Cloud, but it also gives Google opportunities to co-develop new capabilities for both Google and partner customers. In fact Google Cloud is in the process of a hefty global expansion of its regions in six countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, South Africa and Sweden. That’s in addition to previously announced new regions in Milan, Paris, Madrid, Columbus and Dallas.
This brings another new aspect into business tech marketing—partner marketing, something that we do a lot of. We expect demand for partner marketing to keep growing as the global ecosystem of business technology expands.
We’re ready for this new world. Are you?
UDG wants to help you align with how B2B marketing has changed. We’re passionate about creating authentic B2B marketing that looks, feels, and sounds different than everyone else. Because we’re a WBENC-certified Women’s Business Enterprise, we bring our clients a unique perspective. And because we’re still a boutique agency, we’re nimble enough to help companies in the UK, EMEA, and APAC seize new opportunities quickly and drive results.
Our end-to-end approach to B2B marketing includes:
–Channel marketing
-Demand generation
-Content marketing
-Marketing automation
-Revenue operations (RevOps)
We also bring a thorough understanding of GDPR and other region-specific data privacy regulations to ensure companies stay compliant.
Meet Our UK & EMEA Team
Who’s going borderless with us? Meet our four new UK-based team members:
Lynsey Barron, Managing Director of UK and EMEA
Lynsey studied economics at university and was a tax advisor until 2008, when she says, “I couldn’t sit in my gray suit and my gray office in gray London doing tax solicitation anymore.” So, she dove head-first into the colorful world of B2B marketing, beginning as a channel marketing specialist. One of her first feats: Bringing Dell’s famous “lollipop” ad into her channel campaigns.
She later served in various B2B and B2C marketing roles, eventually working her way up to CEO of B2B firm Volume Innovate before joining us. “I love everything about marketing—the energy, client interaction, creativity, and strategy,” Lynsey says. “’I am committed to bringing UDG’s unique offering to the the UK & EMEA and supporting our global clients as they expand into new markets.”
James Barnham, Group Account Director
James brings nearly two decades of expertise in aligning and transforming innovative companies. He’s a KPI-driven marketer who sees the big picture and builds trust with stakeholders.
Katie Dryden, Account Director
Katie brings strategic B2B messaging to life and excels in simplifying complex concepts. She has deep experience in marketing and account management and prides herself on maintaining strong team and client relationships.
Ollie Bignall, Junior Account Director
Ollie combines his five-plus years of B2B and B2C marketing experience to forge tight relationships with clients so they can achieve their growth goals.
In addition to the new faces of our new UK colleagues, UDG has also added two U.S.-based experts who will lead our global strategy.
Ashley Svrcek, Global VP of Client Services
Ashley will oversee client services on a global scale. She’s spent her career putting people first, and her empathy, curiosity, and data-driven strategies create deep relationships between business and buyer.
Will Stevens, Global Head of Strategy
We also call Will “the growth catalyst.” As a connoisseur of business innovation and strategic growth, Will has an impressive track record of driving clients’ bottom-line growth by identifying high-leverage activities and building teams of curious doers.
We’re hoping to expand to 10 experts with a physical presence in the UK and EMEA by year’s end. And while we’re structuring our people in regional “pods,” every one of our clients will get guidance from everyone on our entire team, regardless of their physical location.
Get ready to go borderless with us
If you’re ready to make B2B marketing more real and results-driven, please reach out to our Managing Director of UK and EMEA, Lynsey Barron, so we can get something set up!