SAN FRANCISCO — Dec. 17, 2012 — According to a national marketing study released today by Demandbase, Inc., the real-time targeting and personalization platform, and produced with the assistance of Ziff Davis, a leading technology media company, today’s enterprise marketers are struggling to overcome misalignment between long term strategies and the tactical activities which consume budget and resources.
Crafted based on feedback from hundreds of B2B executives from small, mid-size and large organizations in multiple industries, the study analyzes a broad overview of current marketing practices and helps to create a roadmap for the future of online marketing for businesses.
“As we enter 2013, marketers must get smarter in the face of continued budgetary and resource restrictions, bridging the gap between their ongoing goals and the practices necessary to achieve those goals,” said Jason Stewart, director of marketing at Demandbase. “B2B marketers are under pressure to take advantage of new strategies to stay competitive, but long term success will only be achievable if businesses are marrying their short-term strategies with long-term priorities.”
FINDINGS INCLUDE:
Long Term Gain, Short Term Strain: Disconnect Between Resource Allocation, Practices and Long-Term Goals
Account-based information is considered important in resource allocation, but buyer demographics dominate lead scoring and tactical efforts. The survey asked marketers to define the importance of key marketing targets, activities around those targets, and resource allocation; findings include:
“Strategic accounts scored third overall when marketers were asked about the most important marketing targets, but this ranking is not reflected in resource allocations and named accounts are not getting the attention they deserve,” continued Stewart. “Each time companies are dedicating resources to a specific department or executive title they could well be targeting the right people, but at the wrong companies.”
Social Media Rivaling Search:
B2B marketers are heeding the call for content that educates and builds prospect trust. Social media has jumped to the top of the marketing strategy mix as a delivery mechanism for that content, ranking second only to organic search optimization and just above inbound marketing/content creation.
Time and Money:
“Perhaps the most shocking statistic of the study is that 50 percent of respondents admitted that they only have a basic understanding of their target markets and who they can sell to. There is a process step in the creation of understanding the buyer that many B2Bs are skipping,” said Craig Rosenberg, sales and marketing consultant and Funnelholic blogger. “Overall, the study demonstrates that, while marketers have multiple new strategies at their fingertips to better target their prospects and customers, they continue to struggle with how to select the types of companies they should be targeting in the first place.”
The 2012 Demandbase National Business Marketer Survey was conducted among the Ziff Davis network. The survey was conducted online between Aug. 7-27, 2012.
About Demandbase
Demandbase helps B2B companies hit their revenue goals using fewer resources. How? By using the power of AI to identify and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase. We combine your sales and marketing data with our validated B2B data and AI to create Account Intelligence that informs every step of your buyer’s journey.
Media Contact
Kristin Hege
PR@demandbase.com
480.540.6496