B2B Prospecting Goes Digital In The Age Of The Customer Marketers Must Follow B2C s Lead To Better Engage Digitally Empowered Buyers

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1 A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper Commissioned By AdRoll September 2015 B2B Prospecting Goes Digital In The Age Of The Customer Marketers Must Follow B2C s Lead To Better Engage Digitally Empowered Buyers

2 Table Of Contents Executive Summary...1 B2B Marketing s Digital Shift Follows B2C s Lead...2 Channel Proliferation Complicates Engagement With Early-Stage Buyers...3 Omnichannel Competency Requires New Marketing Capabilities...4 Emerging Technologies Engage B2B Buyers As They Cross Channels... 6 Key Recommendations...10 Appendix A: Methodology...11 Appendix B: Demographics/Data...11 Appendix C: Endnotes...12 ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING Forrester Consulting provides independent and objective research-based consulting to help leaders succeed in their organizations. Ranging in scope from a short strategy session to custom projects, Forrester s Consulting services connect you directly with research analysts who apply expert insight to your specific business challenges. For more information, visit forrester.com/consulting. 2015, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. For additional information, go to [1-UV1X1T]

3 1 Executive Summary Over the past decade, business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing organizations have had to rethink their business models as their customers and prospects migrated online. The result has been an overhaul of processes, technologies, and strategies to accommodate the social, mobile, and display channels that now enable one in ten retail transactions to take place online. 1 Business-tobusiness (B2B) marketing organizations have been slower to adapt to digital, preferring to continue investing in more traditional channels such as in-person events. 2 While classic lead-generation activities won t disappear anytime soon, B2B marketers must recognize that their buyers are also consumers. As such, they must rethink the role technology plays in how they market offerings to other businesses. In June 2015, AdRoll commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate how effectively B2B marketers use digital technology and channels to reach early-stage buyers. To benchmark their progress, Forrester tested whether more sophisticated use of B2B marketing technology including display programmatic ad targeting correlates with the ability to better engage early-stage buyers at scale. We also hypothesized that while mature marketing technologists would recognize this value, most B2B marketers have yet to realize it. In conducting an in-depth survey of B2B marketers in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia with responsibility for digital channels, lead nurturing, and involvement in marketing technology evaluation and investment, Forrester Consulting found that although B2B marketers are adopting a variety of digital channels, they struggle to engage early-stage buyers who navigate across and between those channels. Furthermore, Forrester Consulting found that most of these marketers have yet to adopt technologies like programmatic ad buying and retargeting. However, those who do are more likely to successfully engage early-stage prospects before they are ready to identify themselves. individual respondents are, on average, personally and frequently responsible for any one of these channels in their roles. Notably, five of the seven channels that earn a higher-than-average rate of personal and frequent use are digital. B2B marketers struggle to engage early-stage prospects investigating solutions on their own. Fiftynine percent of respondents said the discover phase of Forrester s customer life cycle analogous to the top of the funnel presents more challenges than any other stage. Reasons include the increasingly anonymous nature of digital channel engagement and the nonlinear, multichannel journeys prospects take while exploring solutions and vendors. B2B marketing technology and automation maturity leave room for improvement. Over 80% of B2B marketers consider marketing technology comprehension and use as a core requirement of their job. Despite growing adoption of digital channels and enthusiasm for technologies that support their use, most of those surveyed are novices at leveraging them to effectively engage prospects. Only 17% of respondents selfidentified as leading in marketing technology maturity, and even fewer (10%) claimed they can fully execute mature marketing automation strategies. Use of certain technologies is correlated with increased organizational maturity and successful early-stage prospect engagement. B2B marketers who use omnichannel engagement technologies such as programmatic advertising, behavioral targeting, and retargeting are significantly more likely to have higher marketing technology and automation strategy maturity. These marketers who utilize appropriate technologies that navigate multiple touchpoints, anonymous exploration, and nonlinear purchase journeys are able to generate more qualified demand. KEY FINDINGS Forrester s study yielded four key findings: Digital leads the way in the proliferation of B2B channel use. An average of 79% of the B2B marketing organizations we surveyed said their firms use any one of the 16 channels we asked about. Forty percent of

4 2 B2B Marketing s Digital Shift Follows B2C s Lead Today, most consumers shop online using sophisticated standalone marketplaces or the ecommerce arms of major brick-and-mortar retailers, but this type of engagement only fully emerged during the past decade. To make the shift, B2C marketers had to fundamentally rethink how they engaged with prospects and customers and invest in new technology to support a transformed business model. 3 Dependent upon traditional sales accounts and territories, B2B marketing organizations have yet to experience a similar transformation. However, a rising tide of evidence shows that their rate of change is about to pick up. Our analysis reveals: Business buyers are following consumers online shopping habits. B2B buyers are also B2C customers. Buyers professional expectations increasingly mimic their personal ones as they research, purchase, and engage with products and services anytime and anywhere they please. B2B companies currently selling online predict they will conduct nearly half (46%) of their sales through online channels in The trend shows no sign of slowing down: Forrester expects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% in B2B ecommerce over the next five years, as marketers address the needs of channel-shifting B2B buyers and reduce costs in tandem. 5 Channel proliferation is the new normal among B2B marketers. B2B buyers are increasingly omnichannel, meaning they expect seamless experiences regardless of whether they choose to engage via social, mobile, in-person events, or any other method. B2B marketers recognize this and are using more channels than ever: Across the sixteen channels we asked about, adoption rates varied from 62% at the lowest to 90% at the highest. Adoption across all channels averaged 79% (see Figure 1). Cross-channel responsibility is growing. B2B responsibilities extend across many channels: Respondents told us they have at least partial ownership of an average of nine channels. On average, 40% said they have personal and frequent responsibility for a given channel in their roles. This is a proxy for high channel reliance among marketing organizations and a testament to the increasingly omnichannel mindset of B2B marketing organizations. Many newer digital channels, including search, mobile, and social, now enjoy greater-than-average rates of frequent use. This reflects the continuing shift of B2B marketing dollars toward digital advertising and away from legacy channels. 6 FIGURE 1 Organizations Use A Litany Of Channels And Technologies But Use Few Frequently Does your firm use the following marketing channels? Rate of overall use by respondent organizations Rate of personal and frequent use by respondents In-person events 47% Print Search Mobile Paid social advertising 48% Direct mail Retargeting Organic social Video Direct buy display 39% SMS/text Programmatic display 33% Blog TV Radio 21% 37% 32% 36% 35% 33% 31% 47% 52% 47% 47% 56% 63% 62% 78% 77% 75% 75% 73% 83% 83% 82% 80% 80% 90% 88% 88% 87% Average rate of overall adoption (79%) Average rate of personal and frequent use (40%) Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AdRoll, July 2015

5 3 Channel Proliferation Complicates Engagement With Early-Stage Buyers As B2B marketers follow buyers online, prospects have also become more selective about the media channels they use. Top marketers recognize that personalized, relevant communication delivered across the channels that individual buyers prefer is essential to winning, serving, and retaining customers. These marketers think about their buyers journey not as a simple funnel, but as a continuous process that Forrester represents as the customer life cycle (see Figure 2). The classic top of the funnel, referred to as the discover phase, is where prospects consider their fundamental needs and possible solutions for the first time. Often, they do so passively, through a variety of digital channels in which they often choose to remain anonymous. 7 B2B marketers in this study struggle the most with engaging early buyers: More than half (59%) said that creating a personalized experience in the discover phase is challenging a higher rate than any other stage (see Figure 3). This challenge is even more amplified in regions such as Australia, where 74% struggle to engage with discover phase prospects, and in European countries including the UK, France, and Germany, where an average of 68% claim the same. Why does the discover phase present more difficulties for marketers? Our study revealed that: FIGURE 2 The Customer Life Cycle Self-directed discovery makes buyers hard to reach in their early-stage exploration. Pricing information, customer reviews, detailed feature comparisons, and a litany of information that used to be guarded by sales representatives are now widely available online. As a result, marketers enjoy less editorial control over the information that buyers can access about their products and services and from whom they get it. With so many sources speaking to potential buyers, marketers find it harder to make their voice heard above the competing cacophony. This digital free-for-all makes it difficult to provide the personalized, relevant experiences that buyers now expect when they first start to investigate options for addressing their business needs. Consequently, 72% of the B2B marketers we surveyed said engaging anonymous buyers before they self-identify is a major challenge (see Figure 3). This is a consistent trend we saw across geographies and company sizes. Increasingly complex B2B buyer journeys risk losing engagement context. Not only do B2B marketers prefer to consume information on their terms, but they also do so across various and increasingly digital channels. Seventyone percent of survey respondents agreed that their prospects buying journeys are becoming more complex and nonlinear as buyers go online, and 67% have seen this become more challenging during the past three years. Unhindered movement across channels and devices has made it harder for B2B marketers to recognize context and maintain continuity of interactions and conversations as they attract and cultivate leads. Indeed, managing disparate prospect touchpoints and interactions has become more difficult, according to 61% of respondents (see Figure 3). ASK ENGAGE DISCOVER EXPLORE Digitally empowered buyers increase acquisition costs and efforts. As the B2B buyers journey becomes more self-directed and as the number of channels they utilize increases, 62% of our survey respondents admitted that identifying early-stage buyers is not only more difficult, but also more expensive. Marketers risk spreading themselves and their dollars too thin without capabilities and processes that accommodate the nuances of the omnichannel B2B buyer s journey, especially in the earliest stages. USE BUY Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

6 4 FIGURE 3 The Ambiguous, Often Anonymous Nature Of The Discovery Phase Challenges Marketers Most What degree of challenge does your marketing organization experience with creating a personalized experience for prospects/customers? Very challenging Somewhat challenging Discovery (top funnel) 21% 38% Exploration (mid funnel) 17% 38% Buying (bottom funnel) 18% 32% To what extent do you agree with the following statements about customer acquisition/ lead generation at your organization? (Agree or strongly agree) Engaging anonymous buyers before they identify is a major challenge Our prospects buying journeys are becoming more complex and nonlinear Engaging prospects is more challenging than it was three years ago Identifying early-stage buyers is increasingly difficult and more expensive Managing disparate prospect touchpoints/interactions is increasingly difficult 62% 61% Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AdRoll, July % 71% 67% Omnichannel Competency Requires New Marketing Capabilities Despite the increasing challenges it generates for engaging prospects, buyer migration to online channels creates a boon for sales and retention. Forrester recently found a positive correlation between the number of channels with which B2B buyers engage and increased spending and loyalty, thereby strengthening the case for omnichannel engagement technologies. 8 While our research shows that technological competence is seen as important to marketing success, many respondents admitted their capabilities have yet to mature. Specifically, we found that: B2B marketers see technology as an enabler of positive results. Almost three-quarters (72%) of the B2B marketers we surveyed said their role has become more technical, and 78% expect that trend to continue. Seventy-three percent believe that increased availability of new marketing and advertising technologies, specifically, makes it easier to engage with prospects, and 76% see a boost in qualified opportunities as a result of lead acquisition, scoring, and nurturing capabilities (see Figure 4). Marketers must increase their technological fluency and accountability in an omnichannel world. Technical competence is now an essential part of B2B marketing roles. Eighty-five percent of B2B marketers said they need to better understand how multiple marketing technologies and services interact, and 80% said technology planning and integration is now key to their role. These marketers now test six technologies per year on average or more than nine per year at organizations with over 5,000 employees. However, marketers implement only half of the technologies they test, reflecting rapid technology evolution and increasingly high standards for solutions. This is further supported by the 78% of respondents who say they must work harder to justify marketing technology spend (see Figure 4). Marketing technology maturity is elusive. Despite appreciation for technology s role in new engagement dynamics, only 17% of the B2B marketers we surveyed ranked their organization s marketing technology maturity in the top-tier expert category. The remaining organizations we surveyed fall short in their ability to engage with online prospects and customers in more

7 5 FIGURE 4 B2B Marketing Roles Are Increasingly Technical, And The Trend Is Paying Off To what extent do you agree with the following statements about marketing or advertising technology as they relate to your role? (Agree or strongly agree) To perform my job well, I must understand how multiple marketing technologies/services interact Planning or executing the integration of multiple marketing technologies/services is a core element of my role I anticipate my role to become increasingly technical 78% Justifying marketing spend has become increasingly important 78% Evaluating, selecting, and implementing technology/services is a core element of my role I am increasingly required to report on more granular performance metrics My role has become increasingly technical 77% 73% 72% To what extent do you agree with the following statements about customer acquisition/ lead generation at your organization? (Agree or strongly agree) Using lead acquisition, nurturing, scoring capability, marketing contributes share of qualified opportunity to pipeline 85% 80% 76% relevant, personalized ways. Nearly half (45%) fall below the second-tier optimizer level defined by refined capabilities for direct response, inbound predictive marketing, and sales enablement (see Figure 5). 9 Even among the largest companies we surveyed (those with 5,000 or more employees), marketing technology maturity is the exception to the norm, with less than half (45%) self-identifying as optimizers and 25% reaching only the lower half of maturity tiers. Germany holds claim to the only significantly higher-than-average levels of regional maturity, with 43% of respondents from that country claiming top-tier status. In contrast, only two of the thirtyone marketers we surveyed in Australia have expert levels of marketing technology maturity. B2B marketers must learn to use their marketing automation more strategically. The B2B marketers we surveyed have yet to step up their use of omnichannel capabilities when deploying marketing automation, which Forrester defines as business systems for marketers whose offerings mandate a long, complex, or highly considered buying process to drive effective customer engagement across the customer life cycle. A mere 10% of respondents ranked themselves as top-notch marketing automation predictors who can anticipate demand using customer purchase-intent models and adjust marketing interactions based on changes in buyer behavior dynamically across channels. At the same time, more than a third (35%) of respondents continue to deploy online advertising campaigns based on broadly segmented categories like company size or industry or use no segmentation at all (see Figure 5). 10 In Australia, more than half of organizations still rely on these basic methods. Increased availability of new marketing and advertising technology makes it easier to engage with prospects 73% Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

8 6 FIGURE 5 Despite Enthusiasm For Technology, Marketing Technology And Marketing Automation Strategy Maturity Remain Elusive For B2B Organizations Marketing technology maturity Marketing automation strategy maturity Marketing technologists Maturity level Experts Optimizers Crosschannel integrators Operational novices Criteria Lead peers in adoption/ useof technology for personalized engagement Developing strengths in direct response, inbound, and predictive marketing/ sales enablement Developing data integration and marketing systems for campaigns across channels Basic capabilities (databases, process, measurement) for discrete channels/lobs % B2B marketers Maturity level Criteria 17% Predictors Personalized touch campaigns that adjust to behavior across channels through predictive models and multiple data sources 38% Optimizers Interactions across customer life cycle are coordinated/connect 27% Campaigners Simple segmented campaigns (demographics, characteristics) 18% Batchers and blasters Blast ads to all contacts for leads % B2B marketers 10% 55% 25% 10% Marketing automation strategists Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Emerging Technologies Engage B2B Buyers As They Cross Channels In order to engage more empowered business buyers, marketers need a way to recognize early-stage prospects and provide them with personalized content regardless of where they journey online. Programmatic ad buying (automation for buying, placing, and optimizing media inventory) and retargeting (technology that programmatically presents ads to prospects as they move across an array of digital channels and captures contextual and identifying characteristics that can otherwise be lost) offer appealing solutions to those struggling to engage early-stage buyers. Our survey shows B2B marketers stand to benefit from taking a closer look at these tactics and technologies since: Low B2B adoption rates of programmatic advertising and retargeting technology mask their high impact on lead generation. We compared marketing channel popularity against channel effectiveness and found that although relatively few B2B marketers use retargeting and programmatic display advertising, those who do find them as effective for lead generation as other tactics like search and in-person events. In fact, these marketers find retargeting and programmatic advertising to be more effective than standalone digital channels like and organic social. Through linear regression analysis, we found that retargeting and programmatic display are two of only three technologies/channels that fall above one standard deviation from the effectiveness/popularity line (see Figure 6). Programmatic advertising and retargeting are valuable tools for mature marketing technologists. Respondents who lead in their use of marketing technology (those we call mature marketing technologists in Figure 5) are 48% more likely to utilize behavioral/contextual targeting than their less mature counterparts. They are also 39% more likely to use programmatic ad buying and 26% more likely to use retargeting than those with less mature automation (see Figure 7). These technologies aren t just another tool in a mature technologist s arsenal, however. These respondents are 31% more likely to say retargeting provides a major benefit when engaging anonymous prospects. Also, compared with their less technologically mature counterparts, mature marketing technologists are 37% more likely to rate behavioral targeting and programmatic buying as major benefits to their firms.

9 7 FIGURE 6 Programmatic Advertising And Retargeting Are More Effective At Lead Generation Than Their Adoption Rates Lead On More effective 100% Percentage responsible for channel who find it effective for lead generation 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% Retargeting Programmatic display Radio TV Direct buy Video display Blog SMS/Text Direct mail In-person events Organic social Paid social advertising Print Mobile Search Linear regression line +/-1 standard deviation 0% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% 60% Percentage of respondents who are personally and frequently responsible for channel More popular Source: Forrester Research, Inc. FIGURE 7 Mature B2B Marketing Technologists Are More Likely To Utilize Programmatic Advertising And Retargeting, While Also Maximizing Their Benefits Adoption rate Mature marketing technologists* Immature marketing technologists* Behavioral/ contextual targeting 46% 68% +48% Level of benefit in targeting the right prospects at the right time with the right content (answers of major benefit ) Mature marketing technologists* Immature marketing technologists* Retargeting 42% 32% +31% Programmatic ad buying 51% 71% +39% Social media 56% monitoring/scheduling 42% +33% Retargeting 67% 53% +26% Behavioral/ 56% contextual targeting 41% +37% Search engine 78% optimization (SEO) 63% +24% Programmatic 51% ad buying 44% +16% Social media 70% monitoring/scheduling 58% +21% Search engine 48% optimization (SEO) 49% -2% *For definitions of marketing technology maturity stages, see endnote 9. Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

10 8 Programmatic ad buying and retargeting help B2B marketers increase lead generation effectiveness through more strategic use of automation. Marketing technologies alone don t help navigate the omnichannel journeys that business buyers take today. To put their capabilities into full effect, these technologies must be part of a broader marketing automation strategy that executes against processes that drive engagement. Mature automation strategists (as defined in Figure 5) are not only more likely to use these technologies, but also see more benefit from targeting the right prospect at the right time. In particular, mature automation strategists are more than twice as likely to report a high degree of benefit when using retargeting. They are 29% more likely to see benefits in using behavioral targeting and 24% more likely to benefit from programmatic ad buying than their less mature counterparts (see Figure 8). than their soon-to-adopt counterparts anticipate. Marketers using programmatic advertising are particularly confident in its power to generate and develop more qualified demand and provide intelligence about a prospect s stage in the customer journey (see Figure 9) Post-adoption benefits prove greater than preadoption expectations. Marketers who plan to implement programmatic advertising understimate the level of benefit they ll reap in developing leads. On average, those marketers who use programmatic ad buying are 65% more likely to rate it as having a major benefit on one of the six early-stage metrics we explored FIGURE 8 B2B Marketers With Solid Marketing Automation Strategy Are Significantly More Likely To Use And Report Major Benefit From Technologies That Address The Discovery Phase Adoption rate Mature marketing automation strategists* Immature marketing automation strategists* Programmatic 69% ad buying 51% +35% Level of benefit in targeting the right prospects at the right time with the right content (answers of major benefit ) Mature marketing automation strategists* Immature marketing automation strategists* Retargeting 22% 46% +109% Behavioral/ 63% contextual targeting 49% +29% Social media monitoring/scheduling 35% 57% +63% Social media 70% monitoring/scheduling 55% +27% Behavioral/ 54% contextual targeting 42% +29% Search engine 75% optimization (SEO) 64% +17% Programmatic 51% ad buying 41% +24% Retargeting 64% 56% +14% Search engine 52% optimization (SEO) 42% +24% *For definitions of marketing automation strategy maturity stages, see endnote 10. Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

11 9 FIGURE 9 Marketers Who Have Yet To Adopt Programmatic Advertising Underestimate Its Impact On Lead Generation And Customer Acquisition, According To Those Who Already Use It You indicated that you have already implemented or are planning to implement programmatic advertising. What level of benefit have you already realized or do you expect to realize across the following? (Answers of major benefit ) Realized rate of major benefit among firms that have adopted programmatic advertising Expected rate of major benefit among firms planning to implement programmatic advertising Ability to generate and develop more qualified demand 23% 45% +96% Intelligence on prospect/customer s stage in customer journey 25% 46% +84% Ability to serve customized content to prospects/customers Ability to understand a buyer s issues or concerns more deeply Engagement with the right buyers earlier in their purchase process Ability to help focus on promising leads and close more opportunities 49% 29% 47% 29% 51% 33% 44% 36% +69% +62% +55% +22% Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AdRoll, July 2015

12 10 Key Recommendations As a marketing leader, you should take the following steps to develop the practices and technology portfolio required for online customer and prospect engagement: Determine the role of omnichannel engagement technology in your marketing mix. B2B marketers must start with a firmwide assessment of the key business objectives automated media buying and targeting are expected to achieve. Goals like increased awareness, greater traffic volume, more qualified leads, and improved ability to identify upsell opportunities require different approaches. Compare capabilities of various solutions to ensure they address your expected outcomes. Adopt technology based on your marketing automation strategy, not vice versa. Technology adoption without an automation strategy backed by specific business goals will fail. A solid automation strategy should include documented buyer personas that define the key issues and concerns of different buyers. It should link these concerns to the capabilities your solutions provide and use this insight to inform content and messaging decisions. Finally, buyer personas should also include a hypothesis about the channels buyers prefer and the steps they take in their progression from problem discovery to solution exploration to purchase decision. Develop an audience management strategy. Top B2B marketers know their audiences well. A sound customer data strategy will allow you to understand true customer value and the influence of different players on buying decisions during the purchase process. Combine and analyze different sources of data, both internal (e.g., marketing, CRM, service, warranty, and contracts) and external (e.g., partner, social listening, demographic, and third-party), to understand what differentiates your better customers from the rest. Use this insight to programmatically model early-stage leads, improve advertising effectiveness, and align audiences against marketing objectives. Pick a pilot project to initiate your programmatic ad buying experience. Lack of widespread adoption leads to few reliable proof points, especially for those who need industry evidence or strong case studies to warrant further investment. Find or create a pilot campaign leveraging new marketing technologies, and compare results with those of a standard campaign that lacks these components. Evaluate the extent to which these capabilities help better identify and engage anonymous opportunities before formal acquisition and nurturing processes take over. Leverage behavioral targeting throughout the entire buying process. B2B customers like consumers are increasingly cross-channel and device agnostic as they progress through purchase decision-making on their own accord. To better engage them, marketers must segment and target prospects across the various channels they use during the discovery phase, not just in isolation. Marketers should leverage lookalike targeting to identify digital prospects, drive them to their sites, and deliver personalized content wherever buyers happen to be, regardless of channel or device used. Reassess measures with an eye on business impact. Demonstrating the effectiveness of marketing technology to skeptical stakeholders requires metrics that articulate the value of cross-channel engagement in business terms. Now is the time to reassess your measurement approach. Ensure that you can capture the value that comes with your new ability to recognize and follow buyers more closely. A simple first step can be a pathway analysis of search and display data pulled from your ad server. Use this to understand what display ad views came before a prospect used a paid search term.

13 11 Appendix A: Methodology In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 251 B2B marketing professionals at the manager level or higher, with responsibility for customer acquisition and/or lead generation and exposure to or direct responsibility for marketing technology investment decisions. Respondents included B2B marketers from organizations across industries (with retail and consumer packaged goods excluded) in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia. The objective of the study was to determine the rate at which channels are being added at B2B marketing organizations, the challenges associated with engaging with early-stage prospects in the context of new digital channels, plans for investment in new marketing technologies, and experiences with marketing technologies that have already been implemented at their companies. Respondents were offered a small incentive, determined by their respective survey panels, as a thank you for time spent on the survey. The study began in June 2015 and was completed in July Appendix B: Demographics/Data FIGURE 10 Respondent Demographics Where are you located? UK 12% US 40% Germany 12% Japan 12% France 12% Australia 12% Using your best estimate, how many employees work for your organization worldwide? 20,000 or more employees 5,000 to 19,999 employees 6% Which best describes your position at your organization? C-level executive 24% 15% Vice president 1,000 to 4,999 employees 500 to 999 employees 100 to 499 employees 19% 17% Director 26% 36% (percentages may not total 100 because of rounding) Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AdRoll, July 2015 Manager 44% 12%

14 12 Appendix C: Endnotes 1 Source: Forrester Research ecommerce Forecast, 2014 To 2019 (US), Forrester Research, Inc., April 22, Forrester s most recent B2B marketing program budget survey showed that B2B marketers spend, on average, 14% of budgets on inperson events and 9% on digital marketing/advertising. Of this 9%, display advertising spend averages 14% of the total. Multiplying the two averages shows that B2B marketers spend roughly 1% of program budgets on digital display advertising. Source: Forrester/DMN 2014 North American Digital Marketing Online Survey, Forrester Research, Inc. and Q North American B2B Marketing Budget Online Survey, Forrester Research, Inc. 3 Read a reflection on the B2C marketing and ecommerce transformation that peaked years ago. Source: Brian Walker, What Every Exec Needs To Know About The Future Of ecommerce Technology, Brian Walker s Blog, August 27, 2010 ( 4 Source: Build A World-Class B2B ecommerce Business, Forrester Research, Inc., June 25, Source: US B2B ecommerce Forecast: 2015 To 2020, Forrester Research, Inc., April 2, Asked about their firms plans to shift marketing spend in 2015, 76% of B2B marketing organizations said they expected increased spend on digital channels more than any other category. In contrast, 30% expected a decrease in spending on traditional advertising channels, which is a more dramatic decrease than for any other category. Source: Forrester/DMN 2014 North American Digital Marketing Online Survey, Forrester Research, Inc. and Q North American B2B Marketing Budget Online Survey, Forrester Research, Inc. 7 Source: The Customer Life Cycle: A Blueprint For Customer-Obsessed Enterprises, Forrester Research, Inc., April 14, Source: The Case For Channel-Shifting Offline Customer Online, Forrester Research, Inc., June 24, To assess their organizations overall marketing technology maturity (e.g., adoption of marketing automation, campaign management, marketing analytics, and data and digital asset management) relative to their peers, survey respondents were asked to self-identify in one of the following four categories: 1. Operational novices: Focused on establishing essential capabilities such as databases, technology, process, and measurement capabilities in discrete channels or individual business units. 2. Cross-channel integrators: Focused on integrating data and marketing systems that support customer-focused campaigns across channels. 3. Optimizers: Mature in technology adoption and developing strengths in optimizing direct response, inbound, and predictive marketing and sales enablement. 4. Experts: Leaders among peers in the adoption and use of marketing technology. Focused on optimizing capabilities to engage with customers in more relevant, personalized ways. Respondents with answers of operational novices and cross-channel integrators were deemed immature marketing technologists, and respondents with answers of optimizers and experts were deemed mature marketing technologists for the analysis in Figure To assess their organizations overall marketing automation strategy maturity relative to their peers, survey respondents were asked to self-identify in one of the following four categories: 1. Batching and blasting: Marketing blasts ads to all contacts to generate more leads into the sales pipeline. 2. Campaigning: Marketing runs segmented campaigns with targeting based on demographics and behaviors. 3. Optimizing: Marketing coordinates and connects all interactions across the customer life cycle. Campaign content is tightly aligned with buyer needs at each stage. Marketing executes multiple lead nurturing programs through sophisticated means such as retargeting. 4. Predicting: Marketing can predict demand reliably through the use of personalized touch campaigns that adjust to buyer behavior across various channels. To help achieve this, marketing builds custom predictive models using various data types and sources (e.g., first-, second-, and third-party data). Respondents with answers of batching and blasting and campaigning were deemed immature marketing automation strategists, and respondents with answers of optimizing and predicting were deemed mature marketing automation strategists for the analysis in Figure 7.