The survey found that fifty% of B2B marketers can’t reach their goals for this year, but when teams are completely aligned on Sales and Marketing efforts and take a Branded Demand approach that comes with each content syndication and display, 80% are in a position to reach their goals – representing a 60% increase.
This is in line with survey results from the ‘H2 2024 State of B2B Pipeline Growth‘ report by Pipeline360, Integrate’s media business,
The survey further examined key challenges, channel usage, sales & marketing alignment, genAI usage, sales cycle length, and data privacy. This study is follow-on research from ‘The H1 2024 State of B2B Pipeline Growth‘ conducted with global research and advisory firm, Demand Metric.
The survey found that B2B marketers’ top three challenges are budget and resource constraints (48%), economic slowdown (46%), and sales and marketing alignment (44%).
To adapt to fewer resources, 62% are consolidating teams and/or job responsibilities, 39% are counting on AI, and 39% are counting on contractors or agencies.
Meanwhile, 85% of B2B marketers are leveraging genAI and 76% are satisfied or very satisfied with their genAI results.
Tony Uphoff, president, Pipeline360, said: “The current B2B market could be very difficult, making it crucial that marketers not only give attention to today’s best practices but in addition explore the potential of recent and emerging solutions.
“These survey results suggest that the long run of B2B marketing would require a better alignment with sales, the necessity to create memorable brand experiences that generate demand and foster long-lasting customer relationships, and embracing recent solutions and technologies corresponding to genAI.”
For those that say their marketing and sales teams are completely aligned:
- 75% are in a position to meet goals to an amazing or very great extent (vs.53% overall)
- 91% in a position to reach their buying groups (vs. 74% overall)
- 85% say they’re satisfied or very satisfied with their lead gen process (vs. 67% overall)
- 86% are satisfied or very satisfied with the amount of leads (vs. 64% overall)
- 86% satisfied or very satisfied with the standard of leads (vs. 69% overall)
- 76% in a position to meet lead generation goals to an amazing or very great extent (50% overall)
Meanwhile, for those that don’t use content syndication and/or display promoting, the numbers skew significantly lower:
- 42% say they can reach goals (vs. 53% overall)
- 65% are in a position to reach their buying groups (vs. 74% overall)
- 34% are in a position to reach lead gen goals (vs. 50% overall)
- 55 % are satisfied or very satisfied with their lead gen process (vs. 67% overall)
- 55% satisfied or very satisfied with quality of leads (vs. 69% overall)
- 57% satisfied or very satisfied with the amount of leads (vs. 64% overall)
The most used channels for lead generation are (1) email marketing (63%), (2) social media (61%), and (3) influencer marketing (49%), with digital display promoting (47%) coming in fourth, and content syndication (34%) coming in eighth.
When it involves content syndication, 78% are satisfied or very satisfied with the standard of content syndication leads, yet 35% cited poor lead quality as the rationale for not using content syndication.
“Lack of alignment with Sales and Marketing creates silos in brand and demand, resulting in a misuse of the tools available to each B2B marketer,” said Uphoff. “Our data suggests that to achieve today’s market, B2B marketers must move away from unbranded leads and put money into a Branded Demand approach that ensures reach, prime quality leads, and pipeline impact.”
The ‘H2 2024 State of B2B Pipeline Growth’ report was fielded in May-July 2024 to 424 respondents across the US and UK. Download the total report here or read an in-depth evaluation of the leads to our blog “Unlocking B2B Growth: Insights from Our Latest Study on Pipeline Success.”
Interested in hearing leading global brands discuss subjects like this in person? Find out more about Digital Marketing World Forum (#DMWF) Europe, London, North America, and Singapore.
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