B2B: Financial literacy ‘critical’ to secure investment

Are you financially fluent? It’s a tricky, but important question to answer.

Most B2B marketers (79%) believe financial literacy will become a ‘critical skill’ over the next three years, according to the 2025 State of B2B Marketing survey.

Some 77.8% of B2B marketers working in SMEs (250 employees and under) and 80.7% of their peers in large firms agree financial literacy will emerge as a key skill between now and 2028.

Some 81.8% of CMOs/marketing directors believe financial fluency will become a critical marketing skill in the next three years, an opinion shared by 82.3% of managers and 72% of junior marketers.

Most of the 450 marketers surveyed (90.7%) claim financial fluency helps marketers make a stronger case for investment, while over half (56.9%) say such knowledge ensures they are seen as business leaders.

Over a third (35.7%) say a good working knowledge of finance naturally helps build a closer relationship with the CFO, and a similar number (31.2%) see it as a key skill preparing marketers for the transition into general management.

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The numbers are similar regardless of business size. The vast majority of B2B marketers working in SMEs (91.2%) and large corporates (90.1%) say being more financially fluent would help them build a stronger case for investment.

Over half of marketers in smaller firms (57.7%) and their peers in big businesses (56.1%) say a stronger understanding of finance would help position themselves as business leaders.

Almost a two-fifths (39.2%) of marketers in large corporates say financial literacy builds a closer relationship with the CFO, an opinion shared by 32.4% of those working in SMEs. Marketers in small businesses are more likely to see financial fluency as a route into general management (34.6%) than their counterparts in big brands (27.5%).

Most (85.1%) senior marketers surveyed say being more financially proficient helps make a stronger case for investment, while over two thirds (66.9%) believe such skills position them as business leaders.

More than two-fifths (42.1%) claim it is possible to forge a closer relationship with the CFO by improving their financial fluency, while over a third (34.7%) view these skills as a bridge to general management.

Top priority?

Yet, despite more than a third of B2B marketers claiming a better commercial understanding helps build closer bonds with finance, the data reveals this isn’t a relationship many are prioritising.

Well over half (60.3%) of the total sample say the relationship with the CEO is the most important within their organisation, followed by the chief sales officer/head of sales (48.4%).

Indeed, the State of B2B Marketing respondents are twice as likely to be prioritising the relationship with the CEO as they are with the CFO/finance director (27%).

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Marketers are, however, prioritising the bond with finance over the relationship with the chief operating officer (16.7%), chief technology officer (15.9%) and chief digital officer (8.7%).

For most B2B CMOs, the CEO (76.4%) is their most important relationship, followed by the chief sales officer/head of sales (63.8%) and some way behind by the CFO/finance director (41.7%).

A similar pattern emerges if you cut the data by company size. Most B2B marketers (69.5%) in small firms view the CEO as their key relationship, while over two fifths (43%) describe sales as their priority. Under a third (28.5%) say the same about the CFO.

Indeed, marketers in big B2B brands are twice as likely to say the CEO (50.6%) and chief sales officer (54.5%) are their most important relationships, compared to the CFO (25.6%).

Relationship building

Over a third of the total sample claim to have more of a relationship (38.6%) with the CEO than they did 12 months ago, while 43.7% say their relationship is unchanged. A tenth (10.8%) of the marketers surveyed claim to have less of a relationship with the CEO than a year prior.

Some 41.6% of respondents report having more of a relationship with the chief sales officer/head of sales than a year ago, while for 40.3% the working relationship is unchanged. Only 5.3% claim their relationship with sales has deteriorated over the past 12 months.

The picture differs when looking at the relationship with the CFO. Over half (53.3%) report an unchanged relationship versus a year ago, while just over a quarter (26.8%) claim the bond has strengthened. Some 8.5% of B2B marketers say their relationship with finance has grown worse.

SME marketers are more likely (43.5%) to have developed a stronger relationship with the CEO and chief sales officer (38.5%) than the CFO (28.5%).

Within larger firms, the relationship with sales has improved (45.1%) over the past year to a greater extent than with the CEO (33.5%) or CFO (25.1%).

Over two-fifths (44.1%) of CMOs say they have developed a stronger bond with the CEO over the past 12 months, while half (50.8%) claim to be closer to the sales team. By comparison, over a third (37.3%) of senior marketers report an improved relationship with finance.

Marketing Week will continue reporting from the State of B2B Marketing survey over the coming weeks.