MARKETING TRENDS B2B BENCHMARKS FOR 2015

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1 MARKETING TRENDS B2B BENCHMARKS FOR 2015 FIND. NURTURE. CONVERT. Research Conducted by Ascend2 in Partnership with Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex

2 OVERCOMING THE MOST CHALLENGING OBSTACLE TO SUCCESS. With decades of marketing experience behind them, getting B2B prospects to click on a link should be an easy task for most B2B marketers. But 53% of them report that low click-through rates are still the most challenging obstacle to marketing success. We wanted to know why, and what s holding B2B marketers back when it comes to getting maximum returns from their marketing programs. To find out Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex, in partnership with Ascend2, fielded the Marketing Trends Survey. We completed interviews with 317 business, marketing and sales professionals, 195 of whom are dedicated to the B2B channel and are exclusively represented in this report. We thank these busy B2B professionals for sharing their valuable insights with us, and with you. We have produced this research for your use. Put it to work in your own marketing strategy planning and presentation materials. Feel free to clip the charts and write about them in your blog or post them on social media. (And remember, please share this research credited as published.) Lauren Brubaker Director of Demand Generation Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex Lauren serves as the Director of Demand Generation for Dun & Bradstreet NetPropspex. Like most marketers, Lauren wears many hats, from driving highperformance marketing strategy to serving as a thought leader on the company blog. She has extensive experience in maximizing the ROI of marketing technology, developing multi-channel digital programs that align across buyer persona and stage, and is a passionate advocate for sales and marketing alignment. Naturally, she understands that great marketing starts with great data and invites you do learn more about what we do. Visit 1.

3 CAN WE TALK? You have to start a conversation before you can capture and nurture a lead. 60% of B2B marketers surveyed say increasing engagement with s is their most important strategic objective. What are the MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTIVES of an marketing strategy? What are the MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTIVES of an marketing strategy? The B2B buying process is typically longer and less transactional than a traditional B2C buyer s journey because investments are larger, stakes are higher and decisions makers more numerous. Increase engagement Increase lead generation Improve aquisition/retention Improve lead nurturing 43% 42% 57% 60% 87% of B2B marketers cite as one of their top methods for driving leads into the sales funnel*. In order for your target audience to consider your offer you need to be relevant and present in their inbox. *2015 Demand Gen Report & Marketo Increase brand awareness 32% Improve list segmentation 26% Increase list size 14% Improve analytics and reporting 10% 2.

4 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Would you click on an that didn t interest you? Neither will your prospects. Effective strategy based on known segments leads to relevant content that drives action. What are the MOST CHALLENGING OBSTACLES to marketing succcess? What are the MOST CHALLENGING OBSTACLES to marketing success? Low click-through rates Lack of an effective strategy Lack of quality content 33% 42% 53% Strategy and content go hand in hand and meaningful, relevant content is the most efficient way to drive click-throughs. So don t expect to have one without the other. More than half of B2B survey respondents say improving clickthrough rates is still the toughest part of their job. The better your strategy and the more you know about your audience, the easier it is to inspire prospects to engage with marketing. Lack of internal resources 32% Lack of list hygiene 31% Inability to segment lists 21% Budget contraints 14% Mobile device use 10% 3.

5 MAKE THEIR DAY. Give readers a good reason to act (like useful information or a great deal) and they will not only click, they ll thank you. What are the MOST EFFECTIVE methods for increasing click-through rates? What are the MOST EFFECTIVE methods for increasing click-through rates? Sometimes the best solution is also the most obvious one: like, give people a highly relevant and personalized message in your , your click-through rates will improve. Meaningful call-to-action offer List segmentation for targeting 51% 65% Good design and trigger events are not enough to overcome a misaligned message or poorly crafted call-to-action if your objective is to increase clicks and engagement. Message personalization 44% Testing and observation 33% Mobile friendly design 31% Drip/event-triggered campaigns 24% Video 8% Social sharing 7% 4.

6 GARBAGE IN (AND YOU KNOW THE REST) Results of data-driven marketing are only as good as the quality of data you start with. You can realize a superior return on investment by doing the hard work to develop clean and accurate lists up front. What are the MOST DIFFICULT methods to execute for increasing click-through rates? What are the MOST DIFFICULT methods to execute for increasing click-through rates? List segmentation for targeting Testing and optimization 34% 43% Segmentation and targeting are among the most difficult marketing tasks but they can yield the greatest rewards when done properly. The impact of personalized messages, social media and even the most exciting calls to action are amplified when they are directed to individuals who represent an accurate representation of your target audience. Meaningful call-to-action offer 33% Drip/event triggered campaigns 32% Video 28% Message personalization 27% Mobile friendly design 19% Social sharing 15% 5.

7 FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS. More effective in generating interest and actions (and less difficult than developing clean lists of your target segments) meaningful calls to action are still the best way to engage customers. What are the most effective methods versus the most difficult methods to execute? What are the most effective methods versus most difficult methods to execute? Most Effective Most Difficult Focus your marketing resources on activities that provide the greatest lift in results with the least amount of effort. Don t discount the importance of developing personas and targeting your most profitable segments, but remember that a relevant offer is still the easiest and most important thing you can do to prompt action. Meaningful call-to-action offer 33% 66% List segmentation for targeting 43% 51% Message personalization Testing and observation 27% 33% 34% 44% Mobile friendly design Drip/event-triggered campaigns 19% 24% 31% 32% Video 8% 28% Social sharing 7% 15% 6.

8 PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. 41% of B2B marketers say click-through rates are increasing. The most successful strategies are continually refined based on lessons learned from previous campaigns and executions. Which Which best best describes how click-through rates rates are changing? are changing? Marketers can expect to be more successful when they use marketing automation to compare and analyze results from versioned s and landing pages over time. 36% 32% A/B testing and other research methods are still the best way to learn what compels a reader to click and a visitor to convert to a customer. 21% 5% 6% Increasing significantly Increasing modestly Not changing Decrease modestly Decrease significantly 7.

9 THE CLICK IS STILL THE TRICK. Click-throughs, followed closely by conversions, are still the gold standard when it comes to measuring the success of marketing. What are the MOST USEFUL METRICS for measuring marketing performance? What are the MOST USEFUL METRICS for measuring marketing performance? Most B2B marketers develop contact databases over several years from a wide variety of sources. As a result 66% of files have at best questionable deliverability. Click-though rate Conversion rate Open rate ROI 40% 42% 71% 73% Click-through rates are the most useful metric for measuring marketing performance but prospects can t click on an they never receive. Keep lists as clean and robust as possible (almost all campaign metrics will suffer from inefficient maintenance.) Social shares 11% Opt-out rate 10% Inbox delivery rate 9% Bounce rate 8% 8.

10 BETTER RESULTS EVERY YEAR. 30% of respondents say their marketing is very successful. That s almost 3x more marketers who felt very successful compared to last year. How do you RATE THE SUCCESS of marketing to achieve important objectives? How do you RATE THE SUCCESS of marketing to achieve important objectives? There s a reason that B2B CMOs are investing in technology at an accelerating rate: because they understand that data management, process measurement and compelling marketing campaigns are all connected. Very unsuccessful 1% Somewhat unsuccessful 8% Very successful 30% IDC predicts that CMOs will drive up to $32.3B in marketing technology spend by (That s a 12.4% CAGR.) Somewhat successful 61% 9.

11 TWO (OR MORE) HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE. More than 70% of B2B marketers outsource all or part of their marketing programs to gain expertise they don t have and to build more effective strategies. What are the MOST EFFECTIVE RESOURCES for executing Which are the MOST EFFECTIVE RESOURCES for executing marketing campaigns? marketing campaigns? Outsource to an marketing specialist 11% More and more B2B marketers are acknowledging that they can benefit from tapping outside experts to nurture prospects and build relationships with existing customers. Outsourced resources can help you succeed quickly by finding the most profitable segments in your target audience. They can also help you develop quality content once you ve found the sweet spots in your customer database. In-house marketing resources only 27% Combination of outsourced and in-house resources 62% 10.

12 WHAT DO 223 MILLION RECORDS HAVE IN COMMON? READ OUR ANNUAL B2B BENCHMARK REPORT TO FIND OUT. Our third annual B2B data benchmark report reveals shocking results about the health of marketing databases across companies of various sizes and industries. It provides a detailed snapshot in regard to data hygiene, accuracy, and completeness. Download The State of Marketing Data Benchmark Report today. What you ll learn: The costs of NOT targeting campaigns How marketing automation adoption is fueling the need for marketing data management The key that robust data plays in inbound lead scoring Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex has a long history in data. We ve been managing B2B contact and company data on a massive scale for almost a decade now. It has been our mission to leverage that experience to help our customers understand more about the data that lives in their marketing and CRM databases. We hope you find this report insightful. 11.

13 ABOUT Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex is the premiere cloud-based B2B marketing data management services and solution provider, committed to helping customers unlock maximum value from their relationships between data points, between businesses and between people. We help thousands of B2B marketing and sales organizations optimize their revenue impact by increasing the quality and effectiveness of their marketing database through better segmentation, targeting and communication with their ideal customers. Tightly integrated with Dun & Bradstreet s proprietary global business data and analytics, Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex offers a suite of data services that make marketing databases accurate, targeted, and actionable. Dun & Bradstreet NetProspex is headquartered in Waltham, MA. Visit Marketing agencies, marketing software and data companies partner with Ascend2 to provide research-based demand generation. Our Research Partner Programs are transparent spotlighting your brand and the interests of your market. Visit 12.

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