B2B MARKETING OUTLOOK
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F
inding leads that ultimately convert and engaging the right target
prospects are the top challenges for B2B marketers, according
to Chief Marketer’s 2019 B2B Marketing Outlook Report. And it’s
a sentiment echoed by many in the industry.
“The companies we market to are bombarded with messages from
our competitors,” said one respondent. “We’re present on a lot of different
platforms, but it’s difficult to stand out without putting a lot of money
behind any one marketing effort.”
Finding leads that are marketing qualified is part of the problem.
“For us, a prospect’s company must have a certain amount in revenue
to meet our minimum requirements,” said another respondent. “Finding
that revenue number at a low–or no–cost is a complex process.”
And then, there’s the issue of a lengthy sales cycle, a problem for
many B2B organizations. “We’re relying more and more on social to
engage and start a conversation, but it doesn’t lead to an immediate
conversion, so we’re always looking at acquisition trends,” says Tricia
Syed, vp-campaign marketing strategy and execution at Informa Engage.
According to the study, which surveyed 309 B2B marketers in over 20
verticals, cost of conversion (56 percent) and amount of time to convert
(53 percent) are the metrics that matter most, followed by channel (34
percent), first click (29 percent) and last click (22 percent).
Clearly, every B2B company has its own specific sets of issues that
differentiate how they go to market. “We’re in a vertical market, which
makes us different in the sense that we know who our buyers are,” says
Gordon Burnes, CMO at recruiting software firm Bullhorn. “First touch
isn’t interesting for us. It’s all about last touch.”
Those touches are coming from a variety of sources. Email was the
top source of B2B leads for respondents. Search and live events both held
steady with last year, at 43 percent and 41 percent, respectively. These
three channels were also the top sources of leads with the highest ROI
for the second year in a row.
For many companies, it’s difficult to know where leads are actually
coming from, Burnes says. “How do you develop an attribution model if
you don’t have referring information? We’re digging into this, to figure
out what percentage of our leads are prior site visitors.”
Syed notes that her company looks closely at cost and channel when
gauging marketing ROI. “We track every single email and segment, to
help make smarter decisions on future campaigns.”
“For us, the time to close a sale is usually in the three-to-six month
continued on pg. 2
CHIEF MARKETER
2019 B2B MARKETING OUTLOOK
ANNUAL SURVEY SHOWS FINDING AND ENGAGING
PROSPECTS AMONG TOP B2B MARKETING CHALLENGES
Email
Search
WHICH CHANNELS ARE YOUR LARGEST SOURCES
OF B2B LEADS?
(CHOOSE TOP 3)
44%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
10%
36%
6%
10%
18%
Social
Content Marketing
Retargeting
PPC/Display
Print
Other
22%
Live Events
41%
43%
Chief Marketer 2019 B2B Marketing Outlook Report
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