The business world has changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the way many people think about work and how they run their businesses. The business-to-business (B2B) sector is no exception.
In the last two years, online interest in entrepreneurship has risen 42%, and business owners both new and experienced want to build impactful businesses for our changing world—and ShareThis data can reveal the trending solutions these entrepreneurs are after. The key is vertical SaaS: personalized software solutions for specific industries rather than the catch-all software solutions of the past.
Finding the Perfect Fit for Clients
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a key trend that allows businesses to target clients by identifying the best solution for that particular client, and ShareThis data shows that signals around ABM increased an average of 34% month-over-month in the last six months. We’re seeing that users interested in ABM are engaging online most with Customer Relationship Management, followed by Web Design and Development, Enterprise Resource Planning, Search Engine Optimization, and Open-Source Software. Keywords reveal that they are looking for detailed information on their prospects—or prospect intelligence—a key goal of ABM.
High Indexing Categories & Top Keyword Results By Users Interested in ABM:
Artificial intelligence enabled sales have also been rising month-over-month. From late fall 2021 to early winter 2022, we’ve seen an increase of 27% in searches around these terms. Using AI to help with buying and selling can cut down on manpower while still targeting what the client needs through algorithms.
High Indexing Categories & Top Keyword Results By Users Interested in AI Sales Platforms:
Simplifying Technology for Business Needs
Every new business needs a website, and often an app too, but it can be hard to get a business off the ground when you need talented engineers. Businesses are adapting by using rising no-code development platforms (NCDPs), like Microsoft PowerApps, which allow entrepreneurs to easily build their own applications without any coding knowledge. Signals around NCDPs have increased by 201% month-over-month in recent months. As entrepreneurship grows, our data indicate that more and more resources like this are becoming available.
Featured B2B Company: Microsoft PowerApps Percent Share of Signals by Month (%):
- New business creation started to peak around the second COVID wave, when we realized society was changing permanently. In conjunction, tools like NCDPs (Example: Microsoft PowerApps) that get startups off the ground fast started to take off
SaaS Supports a Changing Society
With schools going completely virtual at the beginning of the pandemic and many districts facing sporadic closures for disease surges ever since—along with concerned parents choosing to keep their children home for various reasons—education-based software has become a thriving market. Our data shows a predictable rise and fall of online interest, based on whether it’s summer break or the school year, but between September 2021 and January 2022 we saw a 49% rise in online interest in EdTech. High indexing categories also tell us that investors are highly likely to be interested in EdTech endeavors, which means the opportunities in the EdTech SaaS space will only continue to grow.
High Indexing Categories & Most Expressed Keywords By Users Interested in EdTech:
Healthcare also experienced (often painful) growth and change throughout the pandemic, with patient loads surging and staff frequently at less than fighting strength due to illness and burnout in their ranks. Increases in online signaling for healthcare software indicate the interest in new solutions to support the changing landscape of healthcare today. We see a 12% month-over-month increase in signaling around Healthcare SaaS from this fall and winter, with top keywords including “Healthcare Analytics SaaS Solution” and “Leading Healthcare SaaS Platform.”
High Indexing Categories & Most Expressed Keywords By Users Interested in Healthcare SaaS:
Cybersecurity for Remote Offices
Education and healthcare aren’t the only industries that have undergone a revolution in the last two years. Many offices have vastly changed what “going to work” looks like for their employees, changing to a hybrid home/office situation or even switching to completely remote work. Without all workers centralized in one location, the need for innovative security has become essential.
High Indexing Categories & Most Expressed Keywords By Users Interested in Cybersecurity Apps:
There was a clear spike in interest in security in the fall of 2020 when it first became clear that workers would not be able to return to their offices as quickly as anticipated, and interest in cloud-based security apps continues to increase in recent months, with a 22% month-over-month increase from September 2021 to January 2022. Popular category searches include “Counterterrorism” and “Network Security,” and top keywords include “Cybersecurity for Remote Workers” and “Cybersecurity in the Cloud.”
Virtual Currency Trends
Digital currency is everywhere these days, and the business world is no exception. As the world becomes more global and an increasing number of interactions happen online, it’s essential to have ways to transfer value from business to business. In recent months, signals around digital currency have increased 19%, with especially high interest in currencies and foreign exchange. Future international business will rely on efficient cross-border business transactions.
Featured B2B Company: Tribal Credit Percent Share of Signals by Month (%):
- Online interest peaks with each funding round for the crypto-focused enterprise platform Tribal Credit
Conclusions
The business landscape is changing, and the ShareThis data around B2B interests reflect that. Vertical SaaS is the future: We expect to see increases in more specialized, personalized services as well as simplified solutions targeted to specific industries. Barriers are coming down, making it easier to conduct international business while maintaining secure communications. By using data to see trends in the business world, companies can take advantage of this information to make sure they’re not left behind in a dynamic, innovative environment.
Contact ShareThis if you’d like to use our data to serve your client base.
