The call for marketers to do “more with less” is somewhat of a cliche, but it’s a cliche that still has teeth. The changes happening today—especially with the introduction of generative AI tools—make this call more relevant than ever.
Marketers are juggling more channels, more touchpoints and more demands, all while trying to keep up with a crowded market. The secret to staying ahead? It’s all about making the most of digital tools to work smarter, not harder.
Even for those with budget increases, the targets are likely to increase even more
In many places and industries worldwide, the recent business climate has been one of restraint. As such, many B2B marketers have come to expect their annual budgets will freeze or fall, while the best they can hope for is that targets remain the same.
For some, that situation may be changing. In Forrester’s marketing survey for 2024, almost 900 B2B marketing executives and operations leaders from around the world said they expected an increase in their overall marketing budget. Around two-thirds said they expected their technology budget to go up, while six in 10 expected higher budgets for staffing.
However, with such budget increases, the increase in targets is often even higher. According to Matthew Selheimer, VP and Research Director at Forrester, increases in budget “are often coupled with equally high (or higher) expectations to increase marketing’s impact on revenue and growth.”
The CMO Survey study by Duke supports this view. In Spring 2024, the average increase for overall marketing spend by B2B firms was 3% for those selling products, and 2% for those selling services — and both expected 5% growth in the next 12 months. But revenue growth was expected to be 10% and 18% respectively.
At the same time, B2B marketers are under pressure to prove the value of their overall marketing. One study reports that more than one-quarter of B2B marketers describe this pressure as “overwhelming.”
B2B marketers need to reach buyers on more channels
Multiple studies have shown the average number of channels and touchpoints used by B2B buyers has increased over the years.
McKinsey’s Global B2B Pulse shows that the number of channels used is now double-digit. In addition, B2B companies offering the best experience across multiple channels grow market share by at least 10% annually.
Similarly, the number of touchpoints in a purchasing journey has grown. Even back in 2021, B2B buyers made an average of 27 interactions — a figure nearly double that of six years prior.
All this means that marketers need to deliver more content and increase overall activities to exert the same influence over the buying process.
Digital technology has increased the efficiency of the competition
When ON24 surveyed B2B marketers, a consistent theme separated the top performers from the rest. They are further ahead in their usage of digital technology.
Globally, organizations with high levels of digital maturity are more than twice as likely to exceed their top business goals, according to its State of Digital Maturity in B2B Marketing report. Top performers also have more scalable go-to-market programs, which is a consequence of digital maturity. More recently, ON24 found that among B2B marketers in North America, those using AI were 7X more likely to exceed their goals than miss them.
As a result, not only do B2B marketers need to be doing more marketing — they need to be making the best use of technology to do that. Discover how ON24 can help you to deliver more content, reach more buyers, and drive more revenue from marketing.