The power of aligned teams is unmatched: When sales and marketing are in lockstep and leverage branded demand strategies, 80% of practitioners see success and meet their yearly goals, new research revealed. This information was uncovered in the “H2 2024 State of B2B Pipeline Growth” report, which was conducted by Pipeline360, Integrate’s media business.
One of the survey’s key findings was that B2B marketers’ top three challenges are:
- Budget and resource constraints (48%);
- Economic slowdown (46%); and
- Sales and marketing alignment (44%).
“Lack of alignment with sales and marketing creates silos in brand and demand, leading to a misuse of the tools available to every B2B marketer,” said Tony Uphoff, President of Pipeline360, in a statement. “Our data suggests that to succeed in today’s market, B2B marketers must move away from unbranded leads and invest in a branded demand approach that ensures reach, high-quality leads and pipeline impact.”
Navigating Budget & Resource Constraints
With budget and resource constraints ranked as practitioners’ No. 1 challenge, the survey delved into how teams are adapting to fewer resources. Specifically:
- 62% are consolidating teams and/or job responsibilities;
- 39% are relying on AI; and
- 39% are relying on contractors or agencies.
Of the folks utilizing AI, 85% are tapping into generative AI, in particular, and more than three-quarters are satisfied or very satisfied with their results.
Shifting over to lead generation, the top three lead generation channels included email marketing, social media and influencer marketing in the top three spots. Beyond that, digital display advertising ranked at No. 4, while content syndication came in at No. 8.
When it comes to content syndication, 78% are satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of content syndication leads, yet 35% cited poor lead quality as the reason for not using content syndication. However, those who failed to use content syndication and/or display advertising saw lower results than those who did implement the strategies:
- 42% reached their goals, compared to 53% overall;
- 65% reached their buying groups, compared to 74% overall;
- 34% reached their lead gen goals, compared to 50% overall;
- 55% were satisfied or very satisfied with their lead gen process, versus 67% overall;
- 55% were satisfied or very satisfied with their lead quality, compared to 69% overall; and
- 57% were satisfied or very satisfied with their lead quantity, versus 64% overall.
Incorporate A Branded Demand Approach
This tees up the concept of a branded demand approach, which seeks to combine brand-building and lead generation efforts to create demand for a product or service. For the 56% of respondents who noted their sales and marketing teams were aligned and leveraged a branded demand approach:
- 75% met their goals to a great or very great extent;
- 91% reached their buying groups;
- 85% were satisfied or very satisfied with their lead generation process;
- 86% were satisfied or very satisfied with the quantity and quality of their leads; while
- 76% met their lead generation goals to a great or very great extent.
“The current B2B market is very challenging, making it crucial that marketers not only focus on today’s best practices but also explore the potential of new and emerging solutions,” said Uphoff. “These survey results suggest that the future of B2B marketing will require a closer alignment with sales, the need to create memorable brand experiences that generate demand and foster long-lasting customer relationships and embracing new solutions and technologies such as gen AI.”