Even while more and more consumers are using social media to help them make purchasing decisions, most B2B marketers are not using social networking and digital marketing tools to reach their audiences, according to a study that examines marketing's evolving role in the enterprise.
One-half (50%) of B2B marketers surveyed say they do not blog, 49% say they don't use Twitter, and 42% say they don't use Facebook, and 25% don't use LinkedIn; moreover, many don't use AdWords, marketing automation, and SEO tools, either, the study found.
Success Gauged by Revenue
Even as they struggle with adoption of current marketing tactics, B2B marketers are squarely focused on revenue generation as a key success metric, according to the study from Genius.com and BtoB magazine.
The B2B marketers surveyed align their metrics with bottom-line business objectives: 61% say driving revenue is the most important metric when judging campaign success, while 40% cite Sales-accepted opportunities and 39% cite qualified leads.
Over five times more marketers cite revenue generation as a key metric than they do website traffic or impressions (12%) or click-through rates (12%).
Below, other findings from the first annual B2B Marketer Skills Survey.
Role of Sales and Marketing in Lead Generation
Some 58% of B2B marketers say the involvement of a marketer "never ends," even when a lead has been transitioned to Sales. Fewer marketers (41%) do say their role eventually ends—e.g., once a lead has been qualified and scored (16%) and once a program has started to generate leads (10%).
Meanwhile, 58% of marketers also say they meet with their sales teams just once a month or less for discussions on strategy, success metrics, or marketing campaigns. Nearly one in ten marketers (8%) say they never meet with their counterparts in Sales.
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The Toughest Part of the Job
Nearly three-quarters of marketers (73%) say the most difficult part of their job is "doing more with less," followed by tracking and measuring success (50%) and proving the value of marketing (50%).
Only 29% of B2B marketers cite working with sales teams as the most difficult aspect of their job.
Other findings:
- 56% of B2B marketers say their compensation is not tied to sales goals, while 22% say 1% to 25% of their compensation is tied to such goals.
- There is some inequity in information sharing between marketing and sales organizations: 17% of B2B marketers say they share 10% or less of their data with their sales teams. However, asked how much data they receive from sales, 31% cite 10% or less.
- 55% of B2B marketers ranked their skills in being "sales-driven" (able to map revenue back to marketing tactics) as strong or strongest.
- 52% of B2B marketers say driving qualified leads is Marketing's most important mission.
About the data: Findings are from the B2B Marketer Skills Survey cosponsored by Genius.com and BtoB Magazine. The study was conducted among 544 marketers from primarily B2B organizations across a variety of industries, experience levels, and focus areas, from March 19 to April 5, 2010.
