It's 2024. B2B marketing has changed, but a lot of B2B companies still didn't make the necessary changes... 1. ROLE OF MARKETING IS STILL BEING SALES-ORDER TAKERS OR LEAD GEN. Current state: - Sharing on social press releases and mediocre content - Taking orders from sales (slides, case studies...) - Inbound lead gen (gated ebooks, product pitching webinars) Necessary changes: - Prioritizing marketing and making marketing a strategic role - Focusing on full-funnel marketing operations and everybody-sourced revenue (credits for the term to Jon Miller). 2. INVESTMENTS IN MARKETING ARE APPROVED IF THERE IS A CLEAR ATTRIBUTION AND FAST SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES. Our peers often mention they are facing significant budget cuts. Stakeholders mostly approve lead gen or demand capturing activities. Necessary changes: - Adjusting marketing budget and allocating money for brand awareness and demand generation - Measuring efficiency by positive changes in sales pipeline velocity, target account engagement, inbound opportunities, brand signals. 3. LACK OF MARKETING AND SALES ALIGNMENT IS THE #1 BOTTLENECK. We've surveyed 148 VPs of marketing of B2B tech companies last year. Most of them said that sales and marketing are 2 siloed functions. Sales focus on prospecting and outbound without closely collaborating with marketing. Current state: - Lack of agreement on ICP and target accounts - No regular pipeline and revenue overview - No common plays to warm up and activate target accounts - No alignment on marketing message and unique value proposition Necessary change: - An aligned, account-based allbound approach, where sales and marketing collaborate on the same target --- It's 2024, but still, a lot of B2B companies run obsolete marketing and sales playbooks. The B2B world has changed. What worked decades ago doesn't work now. But the good news are: This gives a competitive advantage to B2B companies that are not scared to change. #b2bmarketing
Big part of the reason Marketing doesn't get comped like sales is because either they can't prove their ROI or simply don't bring ROI. When we make the switch you propose the conversation suddenly changes. "We did ABM, I can prove it works, I'm the only one that knows how to train people on this, let's talk".
The future of B2B marketing = Account-Based GTM Great post Andrei Zinkevich, love this graphic
Number two really skews investments towards paid demand gen, especially if (like most are) you are using last touch. Really comprehensive!
Andrei, absolutely on point, especially about the need for marketing to evolve beyond being mere sales support. Another aspect worth considering is leveraging data analytics and AI to predict customer behavior and personalize marketing efforts further. This can enhance engagement and conversion rates significantly. Companies adopting these forward-thinking strategies can indeed gain a competitive edge in the dynamic B2B landscape.
Agree on the 2nd point. Any suggestions on how to convince the stakeholders? 😅 Especially for Growth-stage!
Spot on! It's all about having a hand in the whole buyer's journey, not just the front door.
🎯 Andrei Zinkevich 💪
Helping Premium Brands Stand Out with Strategic Storytelling & Marketing That Drives Measurable Results | Women’s Health & Wealth Champion
9moMultichannel program aligned with the journey stage. Love it. Excellent visual