According to Demand Spring’s 5th Annual Revenue Marketing B2B Benchmark Report, B2B businesses have a range of revenue marketing priorities this year, but none are higher than driving conversions by nurturing the middle/bottom of the funnel.
When asked to rate various initiatives as “highest,” “high,” “medium,” or “low,” about 18 percent of respondents ranked improving conversion rates as a “highest” priority. Another 40% rated it “high”. That is, 58% rate it as a “highest” or “high” priority, which also represents the broadest consensus.
According to the report, the most successful strategy for achieving this appears to be the use of webinars. About 40% of respondents said that webinars have been the most successful for them in the past year as they generate or develop leads mid-funnel, followed by live/virtual events (35 %).
Quality and Quantity
In addition to improving conversion rates, B2B companies are also thinking about how to improve the quantity and quality of leads. About 17% rank increasing the number of leads at the top of the funnel as a “top priority,” second only to improving conversion rates; and 14% rank focusing on lead quality over quantity as a “top priority.”
The impact of marketing on sales and channels
According to the report, the main metric for measuring B2B businesses is revenue; 82% of respondents said they measure it based on the sales funnel launched, a record high in the report’s history. 34% of respondents said they expected to launch at least 30% of their channels, while 66% expected to launch at least 20%.
Meanwhile, 78% of respondents said they were measured in terms of influencer sales channels, with one-third expecting to influence at least half of those channels.
Encouragingly, about 8 in 10 respondents claim to have achieved their goals, although only 41% are actively measuring ad attribution.
Barriers to Marketing Technology
Interestingly, the largest percentage (40%) of respondents cite technology as the main barrier to driving pipeline and revenue, outpacing budget (37%) and talent (33%).
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