Why 2024 Is a Critical Year To Invest in Industry Strategies

When Gartner released their 2024 Top Strategic Technology Trends, one stat jumped off the page at me.

“By 2027, more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023.”

It’s a bold and exciting growth projection for a space I’m passionate about.

I love seeing technology companies embrace industry strategies because it usually means they’re solving complex, previously ignored problems. The nuance that exists at the industry level is messy—but important—and it’s a space that’s ripe for innovation.

The Gartner projection, to me, means that demand for this industry-specific platform is growing fast. But how technology players should prepare for this shift depends on where they’re at today.

1. Players who’ve already built industry-specific products have a head start. They need a sustained go-to-market (GTM) motion that rides this wave of potential demand. They have a chance to dominate the market and should have sales and marketing strategies that act as one.

But, often, these are big tech players who have strong horizontal offerings, and industry is more of a side project. Too often, industry sales motions are underfunded and deprioritized compared to horizontal sales motions, leaving sales poorly equipped to win in industry conversations and industry marketing not breaking through. If that’s the case, now is the time to invest in industry marketing and enablement to make sure you’re prepared to ride the rising tide of industry cloud.

2. Players who’ve played it safe with industry should look to scale those efforts. Whether it’s industry-specific capabilities built into horizontal products or a small industry marketing team, this is a good time to invest in what you’ve already built.

3. Players with horizontal products—and no plans to build industry cloud products or capabilities—need to embrace industry strategies to de-risk the rise of industry cloud. By 2027, even more deals will be won and lost on industry credibility. Industry products may not fit in your roadmap, but they can’t be ignored. You need an industry GTM motion around your core product, including messaging, enablement and marketing.

One thing that will be interesting to watch is how the industry cloud wave impacts B2B sales strategies outside of tech. Tech isn’t the only industry where buyers want to buy from people who understand their unique problems and how to solve them. Tech’s shift to industry strategies might drive buying behavior across other industries. Whether you sell to the HR lead, CMO or CFO, chances are, tech is selling there too. As they shift to industry cloud, they’ll shift your buyers’ expectations with them.

If you’re interested in building (or scaling) your industry strategy, I’d love to talk. Please email inquiries@standingpartnership.com to get connected today!