Key themes and challenges for B2B Leaders - results from the B2B Leaders Report 2013

1. Insights from B2B Leaders

2. 2
Today’s agenda
#1. Top priorities
#2. Brand transformation
#3. Mobile and social
#4. Sales and marketing collaboration
#5. Bridging the Boardroom gap

3. 3
Some fuel for debate
100 interviews
On, or report to, senior leadership team
Average 15 years in profession
Control budgets of £188 million
Variety of industry sectors

4. 4
Top priorities

5. 5
B2B marketers’ five highest priorities
Senior level buy-in
Resource management
• Getting budget
• Reducing costs
Team development
Approach in-line with
marketing trends
Generating leads
External
Internal

6. 6
Is there too much internal focus?
How have they changed in the last 12 months?
Are these your priorities?

7. 7
B2B marketers’ five highest priorities
Senior level buy-in
Resource management
• Getting budget
• Reducing costs
Team development
Approach in-line with
marketing trends
Generating leads
External
Internal

8. 8
79% feel their team has skills gaps
Data analytics and reporting (41%)
Customer or market insight (34%)
Digital marketing techniques (31%)
Marketing technology (28%)

9. 9
Time, money and process are barriers
Only 48% have a development programme for majority of team
47% have problems finding budget for training
68% say team too busy to take time out for development

10. 10
B2B marketers’ five highest priorities
Senior level buy-in
Resource management
• Getting budget
• Reducing costs
Team development
Approach in-line with
marketing trends
Generating leads
External
Internal

11. 11
Average B2B marketing budget
=
4% of turnover

12. 12
28%
14%
20%
4%
12%
3%
0%
3%
0%
8% 8%
1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11%+
62% spend 3% or less of
annual turnover on marketing
Two thirds spend 3% or less of turnover on marketing

13. 13
Majority of spend still on ‘traditional’ activities
2%
1%
3%
3%
3%
3%
4%
4%
6%
7%
7%
9%
9%
11%
12%
15%
Other
Brand identity
Online advertising
Telemarketing
Marketing research
Marketing strategy
SEO/PPC
Social media
Content creation
PR
Direct sales
Website development
Print
Email
Direct mail
Trade shows
Digital
‘Traditional’

14. 14
It’s much less
than needed
16%
It’s less
than needed
59% It’s about right
22% It’s a little
too generous
3%
Three quarters feel their marketing budget is insufficient

15. 15
Ideal B2B marketing budget
=
7% of turnover

16. 16
17%
25%
23%
29%
6%
Rarely or not at allSome of the time About half of the time Most of the timeAll of the time
42% struggle to
measure ROI
35% can
measure ROI

17. 17
A vicious cycle?
“It exacerbates the divide between marketing and
sales. It is very difficult to quantify awareness and
brand activities if you are a sales person, all you see is
money flowing away from the business.”
“Although the business is beginning to understand that
there are some things we just can't measure in short-term
financial returns there is still not 100% conviction that this
is or should be the case.”

18. 18
Brand transformation

19. 19
77% feel that brand is
key to success

20. 20
Most have the pieces in place
80% say brand clearly defined
85% have sound understanding of customers and market
72% say brand is differentiated

21. 21
But the challenge is in execution
Resources - lower priority than
revenue generating activity
Positioning which…
• appeals to all segments
• is flexible enough to evolve
• gets internal agreement
Delivery – front line
don’t live brand

22. 22
IBM and Salesforce held in highest regard

23. 23
The secrets of Salesforce’s success
#1. It’s not your brand
#3. Don’t just state it, live it
#2. It’s not marketing’s brand
#5. Have a clear, bold and simple central idea
#7. Be obsessively customer centric
#9. Continuously evolve to stay relevant
#10. Always push the boundaries
#6. Be authentic and true to yourself
#8. Never breach their trust
#4. Lead from the top

24. 24
Sales and marketing collaboration

25. 25
The impact of mis-alignment
Tension damages morale (34%)
Bottom line hit as leads not fully nurtured (61%)
Brand suffers as messages inconsistent (43%)
SALESMARKETING

26. 26
The solution?
Setting shared goals (67%)
Tracking performance to raise visibility
and accountability (48%)
Aligning resources around goals (47%)
MARKETING
SALES

27. 27
Bridging the gap to the Boardroom

28. 28
Only 33% feel
marketing is a key
priority for the Board

29. 29
A B2B marketing leader is…
A visionary
A B2B leader is…
A statesman
An expert
An entrepreneur

30. 30
• Strategic, big picture thinker with clear vision
• Business acumen and commercial focus
• Analytical yet creative
• Mindful of non-marketing colleagues’ agendas
• Able to navigate organisation and join-up siloes
• Outstanding communication and influencing skills
• Deep market understanding
• Insight into customer motivations
• Experienced in all key marketing disciplines
• Open-minded, forward-thinking, embraces new ideas
• Leads by example and gets hands dirty when needed
• Determined, tenacious and fights their corner
• Gutsy and takes calculated risks
Visionary
Statesman
Expert
Entrepreneur