Over half of B2B brands ‘fail to understand’ marketing’s potential beyond lead gen
A focus on pipeline is putting pressure on marketers, with over a third expected to deliver leads regardless of quality.
The importance of lead generation is only ramping up within B2B brands nationwide, but is the approach fundamentally broken, as some marketers suggest?
Over a third (37.7%) of the 450 brand marketers responding to Marketing Week’s State of B2B Marketing survey claim their department is under pressure to deliver marketing qualified leads (MQLs) regardless of quality.
Indeed, for over a quarter (26.7%) delivering leads is the only metric of success marketing is measured on, while over half (52.1%) claim senior leadership fail to understand the potential of marketing beyond lead generation.
The obsession with volume over value is even more worrying given the increased focus on lead gen within many businesses as they chase results quarter to quarter. Some 71.1% of the total sample say lead generation is a bigger focus in their company than it was three years ago.
Two-thirds of B2B marketers say lead gen tactics changing
However, well over a fifth (28.4%) claim the approach to generating leads is not fit for purpose. Looking at the free text comments, marketers talk about limited understanding within the wider business about how nuanced lead generation is, little focus on brand building and poor alignment with sales on metrics, the quality of leads required and a general lack of trust.
The free text tallies with the experience of over two fifths (44.2%) of the sample, who say their business does not understand the value of a long-term strategy. A fifth (39%) also claim senior leadership does not understand the length or complexity of the sales cycle.
Flawed tactics
Most (72.9%) respondents working within SMEs (250 employees and under) say lead generation has become a greater focus over the past three years, an opinion shared by 69.5% of their counterparts in large businesses.
A third (33.2%) of marketers in these larger firms claim the approach to lead generation isn’t fit for purpose. While marketers in smaller brands appear happier with the state of lead gen in their business, a quarter (23.8%) still say the tactics are flawed.
Over a third (35.2%) of marketers within SMEs agree they are under pressure to deliver leads regardless of quality, as do two fifths (40.5%) of their peers in large firms.
A third (31.4%) of marketers working in big B2B businesses are also more likely to claim delivering leads is the only metric of success their department is measured on, compared with 22.3% of their peers in smaller firms.
Well over half (59%) of marketers in bigger firms agree senior leadership fail to understand the potential of marketing beyond lead generation, an opinion shared by 45.6% of their SME counterparts.
Half (50%) of those respondents in large B2B brands claim their business does not understand the value of a long-term strategy. A fifth (39.6%) of their counterparts within SMEs also highlight a lack of understanding of longer-term thinking.
The data reveals the need for better education across the organisation. More than two fifths (42.7%) of marketers in big B2B firms report senior leadership do not understand the length or complexity of the sales cycle. Over a third (35.2%) of their SME peers are in agreement.
We will continue reporting from Marketing Week’s State of B2B Marketing research over the coming weeks. Read all the content so far here.
