The results of a the first wave of a Barometer survey of 2000 B2B client (rather than agency) members of the IDM found that:
Despite the gloom about the economic situation (around two-thirds of businesses
expect the downturn to last for at least a further 12 months) a majority of B2B
marketers are confident about the outlook for their own organisation. This suggests
a natural resilience on the part of B2B marketers and confidence in their ability to
manage their business in challenging times
• New media (primarily website development, email and online advertising) has
captured a significant share of B2B marketing budgets and is expected to account
for nearly 40% of spend. However, traditional media such as direct mail and trade
shows continue to be important. Key challenges facing B2B marketers are to fully
leverage their digital capabilities and successful integrate these with the more
traditional marketing channels
• Looking ahead to the future there are clear winners and losers in terms of channel
or area of spend. Albeit from a low base in terms of current usage, most marketers
predict a rapid increase in usage of social media in B2B. A bright future is also
predicted for email campaigns, company website and online advertising.
• Given pressures on budgets and the increasing requirement for B2B marketers to
justify and substantiate marketing investment, one would expect that measurement
would play an important role. But this is not always the case, with only half of B2B
marketers claiming that they actually measure the return on marketing investment.
Where measurement is undertaken a variety of tools are used, many of which are
more concerned with sales as opposed to marketing effectiveness
• Key priorities identified by B2B marketers are: strengthening their online presence
(especially website content, visibility and interaction and better email marketing);
deriving the maximum value from budgets given recent constraints; improved
database management; and understanding how best to integrate new and
traditional media
• As a profession B2B marketers face a number of challenges and opportunities.
The industry is definitely maturing and is increasingly recognised as a specialist
discipline in its own right. New media has become and will remain relevant in B2B.
But there is a sense that marketing still plays a secondary role to sales; B2B
marketing practitioners have neglected branding and must pay as much attention to
this as their consumer counterparts; but the real prize is the ability of B2B
marketers to fully leverage the exciting opportunities in new media
Here's a link to the Press Release as well as the full report
Despite the gloom about the economic situation (around two-thirds of businesses
expect the downturn to last for at least a further 12 months) a majority of B2B
marketers are confident about the outlook for their own organisation. This suggests
a natural resilience on the part of B2B marketers and confidence in their ability to
manage their business in challenging times
• New media (primarily website development, email and online advertising) has
captured a significant share of B2B marketing budgets and is expected to account
for nearly 40% of spend. However, traditional media such as direct mail and trade
shows continue to be important. Key challenges facing B2B marketers are to fully
leverage their digital capabilities and successful integrate these with the more
traditional marketing channels
• Looking ahead to the future there are clear winners and losers in terms of channel
or area of spend. Albeit from a low base in terms of current usage, most marketers
predict a rapid increase in usage of social media in B2B. A bright future is also
predicted for email campaigns, company website and online advertising.
• Given pressures on budgets and the increasing requirement for B2B marketers to
justify and substantiate marketing investment, one would expect that measurement
would play an important role. But this is not always the case, with only half of B2B
marketers claiming that they actually measure the return on marketing investment.
Where measurement is undertaken a variety of tools are used, many of which are
more concerned with sales as opposed to marketing effectiveness
• Key priorities identified by B2B marketers are: strengthening their online presence
(especially website content, visibility and interaction and better email marketing);
deriving the maximum value from budgets given recent constraints; improved
database management; and understanding how best to integrate new and
traditional media
• As a profession B2B marketers face a number of challenges and opportunities.
The industry is definitely maturing and is increasingly recognised as a specialist
discipline in its own right. New media has become and will remain relevant in B2B.
But there is a sense that marketing still plays a secondary role to sales; B2B
marketing practitioners have neglected branding and must pay as much attention to
this as their consumer counterparts; but the real prize is the ability of B2B
marketers to fully leverage the exciting opportunities in new media
Here's a link to the Press Release as well as the full report
Thank you for the advice. I’ve found your first point to be most effective.