1. Introduction Executive summary Focus of demand generation remains quantity, not quality... 4

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2 Contents 1. Introduction Executive summary... 4 Focus of demand generation remains quantity, not quality... 4 Use of content in B2B still mostly tactical... 4 Industry confidence is high, and you can see why Confidence, revenues and budgets General sentiment Past, present and near future Choice of marketing channels Allocation of B2B budgets Content is king? Appendix Profile of client-side respondents Profile of marketing agency respondents Page

3 1. Introduction As the saying goes, if you put 128 B2B marketers in a room together, you ll get 129 different opinions. Perhaps, but we like to think that we can pin them down to something more concrete. That s where the B2B Barometer comes in. The B2B Barometer is the state of the nation study for B2B marketers. It aims to provide an up-to-date and definitive assessment of key issues and trends in the industry. The following pages contain the latest findings from Wave 6 of the B2B Barometer, which took the pulse of B2B marketers in Q online interviews were conducted in April, 73 with client-side B2B marketing professionals controlling a combined budget of 29.1m, and 55 with B2B marketing agencies. This report looks not only at current issues, but also analyses over three years worth of data to look at what has changed in B2B marketing since our benchmark wave in April The charts and data used throughout this report are available on Slideshare to download and share. Participants in this wave s research were entered into a prize draw to win one of three tickets to the IDM B2B Conference in May Congratulations to the winners, who have already been contacted. The B2B Barometer has been prepared by Circle Research, the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) and the Association of B2B Agencies (ABBA). Our thanks to everyone who supported the research by taking part, and to the IDM s B2B Council for their support and feedback in choosing hot topics for this wave. We hope you enjoy the report. 3 Page

4 2. Executive summary Focus of demand generation remains quantity, not quality In the current economic climate, it s no surprise that client-side marketers primary marketing goals for the next 12-months are almost exclusively about generating demand: 1. Generating more leads 2. Greater up-selling, cross-selling 3. Raising brand awareness 4. Generating better quality of leads 5. Better enabling sales teams How do they hope to achieve these goals? Trade shows are expected to take 15% of client-side marketers budgets in the next 12 months, the largest share of any channel. And this is understandable, since client-side marketers also told us that they see trade shows as the most effective channel for generating leads. This raises an interesting question trade shows may create more enquiries, but are they really leads, and what is the quality like compared to more targeted channels with better qualification? Are B2B marketers therefore still focussed on quantity instead of quality? Use of content in B2B still mostly tactical The use of content marketing is widespread amongst B2B marketers 48% use content in most or all of their marketing activity 86% of B2B client-side marketers use content in at least some of their marketing activity and client-side marketers expect its use will only increase. 75% expect to move to a more content-driven approach. 4 Page

5 The findings of this research suggest that many B2B marketers approach to content remains tactical and traditional: The two most important marketing priorities when using content marketing are all about generating demand lead generation and lead nurturing Two most frequently used content types are white papers (31%) and case studies (45%) These results point to the possibility that many B2B marketers are taking an inside out approach and pushing out content that they typically have within a company. But it s not all tactical and traditional: B2B marketers acknowledge less lead-focussed goals as important when using content: supporting brand positioning and boosting SEO While it may not be one of the most frequently used content types, video is seen as one of the most effective the widely anticipated surge in video in B2B raises interesting questions about the use of content in the next few years Industry confidence is high, and you can see why A massive 80% of B2B industry respondents interviewed (both client and agency-side) expressed their confidence in their organisation s outlook for the next 12 months. This figure is higher than any previously measured in the Barometer. This confidence is driven by positive performance in the past year, but also by signs of life for the next 12 months: 61% of agency respondents reported rising revenues in the past 12 months 63% of agencies reported more enquiries in the past six months, 56% reported that these enquiries were of greater quality 48% of client-side marketers expect their B2B marketing budgets to rise in the next 12 months; 15% expect this increase to be of 25% or more 5 Page

6 3. Confidence, revenues and budgets Agency confidence has surged since August 2011; client-side confidence is static Surge is driven by more agency revenues and enquiries Client-side budgets expected to rise through rest of General sentiment A substantive 80% of B2B marketers are confident of their organisation s outlook for the next 12 months. So what, you might say? 80% of turkeys are probably confident of their life prospects in the month of December. They might well be, but as we can see below, this is the most confident B2B marketers have been since we started to capture this data back in November Base: 128 B2B marketers: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents 6 Page

7 Base: 128 B2B marketers: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents Base: 128 B2B marketers: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents 7 Page

8 Comparing confidence between agencies and clients, it s clear that the overall surge in confidence results from a huge jump in agency confidence. Meanwhile client-side confidence is down slightly, but still at a higher level than in 2009 and The following page will help us to understand why. 8 Page

9 3.2. Past, present and near future In the last 12 months, almost as many client-side marketers report a decrease in their budgets as report an increase. Comparing this finding to the much more positive results in the first half of 2011, this might suggest a tapering off or slow-down in the growth of industry budgets over the past 6 months or so. Base: 73 client-side marketers 9 Page

10 Base: 55 agency respondents But elsewhere a more positive story emerges, and explains the positive market sentiment found in the previous section. Let s take agency performance as a starting point. 61% of agencies report an increase in revenues in the past 12 months, and only 17% tell of a decrease. For the third consecutive wave we note that most agencies are moving in the right direction. Two further positive indicators are the quantity and quality of enquiries to agencies over the last 6 months. 63% of agencies report an increase in the quantity of enquiries they ve received over the past 6 months, while 56% report an increase in the quality of these enquiries. 10 Page

11 Base: 55 agency respondents Base: 55 agency respondents 11 Page

12 Base: 55 agency respondents Given that there is some time-lag with enquiries, some of this increase may not have fed through into revenue yet. A stuffed pipeline might be the source of agencies rocketing confidence. 12 Page

13 Base: 73 client-side marketers And it seems like the pipeline is only going to look rosier. Almost half (48%) of client-side marketers expect their B2B marketing budgets to increase in the next 12 months. As many as 15% expect this budget increase to be an increase of 25% or more. 13 Page

14 4. Choice of marketing channels Client-side focus for next 12 months is mostly demand generation Trade shows to take largest share of budgets in achieving this? Are B2B marketers still focussed on quantity not quality? 4.1. Allocation of B2B budgets If B2B marketing budgets are likely to increase over the next 12 months, where can we expect them to be allocated? Base: 73 client-side marketers Five channels trade shows, direct mail, , website development and print will take 56% of overall budgets. Digital channels are expected to take 31% of budgets, but B2B marketers also recognise the importance of face-to-face, with 22% of budget allocation. 14 Page

15 That s where client-side marketers are spending, but what are they hoping to achieve with it? Client-side marketers were asked to select their three highest marketing priorities for the next 12 months: Base: 73 client-side marketers The first thing that springs out is that the top priorities point to a mostly tactical approach. It s all about selling (lead generation, up- and cross-selling, enabling sales teams) and shouting the loudest (raising brand awareness). In the current economic climate, it probably shouldn t be a surprise that demand generation remains a focus. Of interest is the fact that raising brand awareness is seen as more important than three critical lead generation objectives (generating better quality leads, better enabling sales teams and nurturing leads). It suggests a greater need to cut through the clutter and have an effective brand presence. Less of a priority are the more strategic objectives of refining and communicating a brand positioning. As far as brand goes, it seems that the biggest thing is getting the name out there. 15 Page

16 As an interesting contrast, we also asked agencies what they imagined their clients highest priorities were for the coming 12 months. For the most part, both clients and agencies were aligned in their focus. However, agencies deemed their clients to be far less interested in raising brand awareness than they are in reality. While 32% of client-side marketers said raising brand awareness is one of their top three priorities for the next 12 months, only 15% of agencies believed their clients hold this belief. Base: 55 agency respondents So we know how client-side marketers allocate their budgets, and what they hope to achieve in doing so. But is their approach effective? Participants were asked to score twelve channels according to their effectiveness in achieving their major marketing priorities (10 for most effective, 1 for least effective average score shown in brackets in tables below). 16 Page

17 Base: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents The table above shows the perceived effectiveness of each channel at generating leads, which is what marketers see as their top priority in the coming 12 months. Four channels are seen by client-side marketers as being far more effective at generating leads than any other: Trade shows, , SEO/ PPC and Telemarketing. Trade shows are seen as by far the most effective of these four. This raises an interesting question trade shows may create more enquiries, but are they really leads, and what is the quality like compared to more targeted channels with better qualification? The latter may deliver fewer leads with a higher propensity to convert them does this then suggest that B2B marketers are still focussed on quantity instead of quality? B2B marketing agencies were asked the same question, and came up with the same four channels, with one addition: direct mail. Could there be a reason for the disconnect in opinion over direct mail s effectiveness at generating leads? 17 Page

18 Base: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents Turning to raising brand awareness, client-side marketers see the five most effective channels as: 18 Page Trade shows PR Content creation Website development Again there is a disconnect in opinion marketing agencies disagree that trade shows and marketing are the most effective channels for raising brand awareness. Bringing the two together raises some interesting questions and findings. It s clear to see why trade shows take the largest share (15%) of B2B marketing budgets, given their perceived effectiveness at both lead generation and brand, plus associated costs to do this versus other channels.. By contrast it s surprising that print advertising takes as much as 9% of budgets given its perceived lack of effectiveness at achieving two major marketing priorities.

19 On the one hand telemarketing is seen as one of the most effective channels at marketers top priority, generating leads. On the other it is seen as completely ineffective at raising brand awareness this could potentially be a reason that it comprises only 4% of B2B marketing budgets? 19 Page

20 5. Content is king? Content use is widespread and only expected to increase Approaches to content mostly remain tactical and traditional, with less of a focus on aligning content to right stage in buyer journey Each wave of the Barometer investigates a key trend or hot topic within the industry. Wave 6 explored content marketing. Why do marketers use content in their activity, and how are they using it? Base: 73 client-side marketers Let s start with some basic facts. First, content use is widespread. 86% of B2B marketers use it in at least some of their activity, while almost half (48%) use it in all or most of their activity. 20 Page

21 Base: 73 client-side marketers And it appears that in the next 12 months the use of content in B2B marketing is only likely to increase. Three quarters (75%) expect to move closer to a contentdriven marketing approach, while only 2% expect to move further away. Base: 73 client-side marketers, 55 agency respondents 21 Page

22 The most important goals when using content marketing align with marketers main goals overall, that is, lead generation and nurturing. But marketers also see content marketing as a useful way to support brand positioning. Here, thought leadership allows B2B organisations to show they re the expert in their field. Interestingly, enabling sales teams is not one of the primary goals of content marketing. This is particularly relevant if we consider the finding in wave 5 that 79% of client-side marketers think their sales and marketing functions could be better aligned. Base: 73 client-side marketers The most extensively used forms of content are the more traditional forms, which have an emphasis on lead generation. In particular, case studies, white papers and seminars. This should come as no surprise when considering that these two forms of content are seen as amongst the most effective (see slide on the next page). But the focus on more traditional forms of content raises an interesting question. Is this a case of B2B marketers taking an inside out approach and pushing out content that they typically have within a company, rather than aligning content to the right stage in the buyer journey? 22 Page

23 By contrast, video is seen as the second most effective channel by client-side marketers. We are currently seeing a massive growth in the use of video content. Clearly this growth is based on a true belief in video s effectiveness. Base: 73 client-side marketers 23 Page

24 Base: 73 client-side marketer Having created the content, what s the next step? A clear pattern emerges in terms of how client-side marketers distribute their content. Interest is lowest in techniques which marketers have less control over (other websites, trade press), and highest in techniques where marketers are more likely to be engaging directly with the recipient (events, website, marketing). 24 Page

25 6. Appendix 6.1. Profile of client-side respondents 25 Page

26 6.2. Profile of marketing agency respondents 26 Page

27 Want to know more about the B2B Barometer? Visit the website for a full update where you can read more about the creation of the B2B Barometer and even register for the next wave if you are a company or agency in the qualifying B2B sector. Further details of the research and the background to the project can be obtained from the following sponsors and contributors: Andrew Dalglish Director Circle Research 71 Hopton Street London SE1 9LR T: +44 (0) andrew.dalglish@circle-research.com Olwyn Bloor General Secretary Association of Business to Business Agencies Clarence Mill, Clarence Road Bollington, Macclesfield, SK10 5JZ T: info@abba.co.uk Caroline Robertson F IDM Membership Director The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing 1 Park Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0AR T: +44 (0) Page

28 Copyright notice 2012 ABBA The Association of Business to Business Agencies. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of the B2B Barometer research content, including by framing or similar means, is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of ABBA, Circle Research or the IDM. The B2B Barometer symbol and text is a registered trademark belonging to ABBA. Any person or persons wishing to reproduce part or parts of this research should contact ABBA or Circle Research using the contact information listed in the report. 28 Page

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