2016 b2b technology marketing survey report · 2016 b2b technology marketing survey report page 5...
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2016B2B TECHNOLOGY MARKETINGSURVEY REPORT
LEAD GENERATION
INBOUND/OUTBOUND MARKETING
OUTSOURCING
CONTENT
BLOGGING
COLLABORATIVE MARKETING
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
NURTURE MARKETING
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING AUTOMATION
CLOSING THOUGHTS
RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
ABOUT THE PARTNER MARKETING GROUP
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS FORB2B TECHNOLOGY MARKETERSStaying relevant in the fiercely competitive technology industry is a challenge we know all too well as a longtime marketing partner for this rapidly changing market.
This report illustrates our findings from a poll of software and technology VARs, ISVs and other providers specific to B2B technology marketing. We hope it provides you with helpful insights on how related businesses from small resellers to global technology firms are approaching marketing.
Thank you to all who took the time to respond to this survey and we hope to continue building this report in the years to come. Please contact us at [email protected] if you’re interested in sharing your valuable input in our next survey.
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2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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LEAD GENERATIONTactics used for lead generation
Tactics 2014 2016Email Marketing 90.5% 94.9%Social Media 83.8% 86.4%Webinars 70.5% 78.0%Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 89.5% 76.3%Blogging 74.3% 71.2%Trade Shows 58.1% 64.4%Live Events / Seminars 61.9% 55.9%Search Engine Marketing (Including Re-Targeting and PPC) 31.4% 40.7%Third Party Lead Services (pay-per-lead) 20.0% 27.1%Telemarketing / Telesales 29.5% 27.1%Social Media Advertising (i.e, Linked In or Facebook ads or sponsored updates)
N/A 25.4%
Direct Mail 24.8% 18.6%Advertising (print, billboards, radio) 36.2% 16.9%Other (please specify) 4.80% 6.8%
While Email Marketing remained the top tactic used by technology marketers, outbound tactics such as Direct Mail and Advertising decreased from 2014.
94% of respondents use email for lead generation.
86.4%are using social media, yet many are struggling to measure results from their efforts.
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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LEAD GENERATION (cont.)Personal engagement through live events, webinars and trade shows are delivering the most leads.Many respondents are still struggling to make social media and social advertising work as an effective lead generation strategy.
Effectiveness of lead generation tacticsChart reflects the weighted average of all responses1 = most effective, 5= least effective
“Done alone, most lead generation tactics are only somewhat effective. We have found best results when done as a coordinated effort.”-Respondent comment
*Including LinkedIn and Facebook ads and sponsored updates
4.114
3.793.54
3.383.23.193.17
3.112.7
2.652.51
2.432.38
Direct MailOther (please specify)
Advertising (print ads, billboards, radio)Social Media
Social Media Advertising*Third Party Lead Services (pay-per-lead)
Telemarketing / TelesalesSearch Engine Marketing (Including Re-Targeting and PPC)
Email MarketingBlogging
Search Engine OptimizationTrade Shows
WebinarsLive Events / Seminars
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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52.5%32.2%
10.2%
5.1%
0.0%
5.1%
8.5%
55.9%
15.5%
15.5%
30.5%
INBOUND/OUTBOUND MARKETINGMore than 50% of respondents view content as a high priority and are splitting their marketing dollars equally between inbound and outbound tactics.
Breakdown of inbound vs. outbound5.1%
100% outbound (direct mail, email, telemarketing, networking)
100% inbound (SEO, SEM, PPC, social media, targeted keyword strategy, etc.)
About 50/50
More than 50% outbound
More than 50% inbound
Other percentage split
Importance of content in inbound/outbound strategy
High priority – one of the most important things we can do in marketing
Medium priority – important but not critical
Somewhat a priority
Not a priority
“We want to be primarily focused on inbound for lead generation, and then utilize outbound as a prospect progress through the nurturing or sales cycle.”-Respondent comment
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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INBOUND/OUTBOUND MARKETING (cont.)Biggest challenges in inbound marketingChart reflects the weighted average of all responses1 = most difficult, 5= least difficult As compared to
2014....• Building content
remains the top challenge for effective inbound marketing.
• Getting responses is still the biggest hurdle for outbound marketing.
• Only 5.1% of respondents feel content is not a priority to inbound/outbound marketing.
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Getting traffic to the website
Building powerful consistent content over time
Capturing the leads
Converting the leads to opportunities
Creating and executing an effective nurture program
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
Getting adequate response rates
Building powerful consistent content over time
Capturing the leads
Converting the leads to opportunities
Creating and executing an effective nurture program
Biggest challenges in outbound marketingChart reflects the weighted average of all responses1 = most difficult, 5= least difficult
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Writ
ing
of b
log
post
s
Web
des
ign
Exec
utio
n
Publ
ic re
latio
ns
Oth
er (p
leas
esp
ecify
)
75.9%
24.1%
OUTSOURCING
75.9% of respondents outsource all or a portion of their marketing, up from 61.6% in 2014.
Web design is the most outsourced marketing element, followed closely by content development.
Yes
No
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Marketing activities outsourced
Writing of blog posts
Some content
Web design Execution Strategy & planning
Public relations
Branding Other
Other elements outsourced include:• Marketing automation• Social media management• Webinar execution• Adwords optimization
Outsource any portion of marketing
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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66.1%
33.9%
CONTENTCreate or source original content
Yes
No
33.9% of respondents are not creating any original thought leadership pieces.
91% cite lack of internal resources as the biggest challenge to creating original content, up 7.8% from 2014.
Challenges to creating original content
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%
100.0%
Don’t have internal resources (people or expertise) to create it
Don’t have buy-in from our company to create it
Don’t have budget to create new content
Not important to us to have original content (we
use the publisher’s content)
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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19.0%
36.2%
39.7%
5.2%5.2%
CONTENT (cont.)Number of content pieces created annually
25.6% of respondents create more than 11 pieces of content per year.
More than half create industry-specific content.
12.8%
38.5%23.1%
25.6%1-3
4-7
8-10
11+
Creating industry-specific content
Yes. All of our content is industry-specific
More than 50% is industry-specific
Less than 50% is industry-specific
None – not important to be industry-specific at this time
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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BLOGGINGRespondents with blogs
86.4% of respondents have a blog, with the majority posting at least a few times a month.
6.8% haven’t posted updates in more than 6 months.Frequency of blog posts
86.4%
13.6%
Yes
No
5.1%
11.9%
15.3%
33.9%
15.3%
6.8%
11.9%
Daily
Weekly
A few times a week
A few times a month
Occasionally
Haven’t updated the blog in the last 6 months or more
Not applicable, we don’t have a blog
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%
Partn
ers
with
sim
ilar
solu
tions
in o
ther
geog
raph
ies
Partn
ers
with
com
plem
enta
ryso
lutio
ns ISV'
s
Asso
ciatio
ns
Oth
er (p
leas
esp
ecify
)
COLLABORATIVE MARKETINGEngaged in collaborative marketing
Most respondents are engaging in some type of collaborative marketing.
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%
Group blogs Co-authoredcontent
Joint events orwebinars
Jointly createdand executed
marketingcampaigns
(including emailand integrated
campaigns)
No. We do not doany collaborative
marketing
Partners with similar solutions in other geographies
Partners with complementary solutions
ISVs Associations Other
Groups that respondents are collaborating with Other collaborators include:
• Channel resellers• Software publishers• Group blogs
Group blogs Co-authored content
Joint events or webinars
Jointly created and executed marketing campaigns
No. We do not do any collaborative marketing
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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COLLABORATIVE MARKETING (cont.)Reasons for collaborating
Reasons for not collaborating
Half of those who aren’t collaborating simply hadn’t thought of doing it.
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
There was a groupprogram (i.e. a group
blog) that seemed like agood opportunity
Another partnerapproached us with the
idea
We were looking for away to extend our
reach/resources andapproached partners we
thought could help
Not applicable
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
We don't see the need/ benefits
Have not foundanother company thatcomplements what we
do
Didn’t think of it No budget foradditional marketing
activities
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENTRespondents with customer advocacy programs
Lack of time—for both respondents and their customers—is the biggest barrier to putting customers at the center of marketing efforts.
70.7% of respondents have no customer advocacy program in place.
Barriers to putting customers at the center of marketing
Yes
No
Other
27.6%
70.7%
1.7%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%
We
don’
t kno
w w
here
to
star
t / h
ow to
bui
ld a
pl
an
Our
cus
tom
ers d
on’t
have
the
time t
o pa
rtici
pate
We
do n
ot w
ant t
o pu
tou
r cus
tom
ers i
n ou
rm
ater
ials
(con
cern
edab
out c
ompe
titio
n,ot
her r
easo
ns)
We don’t know where to start / how to build a plan
We don’t have the time to manage
Our customers don’t have the time to participate
Our customers do not want to go public
We do not want to put our customers in our materials (concerned about competition, other reasons)
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT (cont.)How respondents engage with customers
33.9%don’t ask customers to publicly promote their business.
How many customers partners rely on to promote business through events, social media, etc.
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%
100.0%
Case
Stu
dies
Cust
omer
spe
aker
sat
eve
nts o
r web
inar
s
Cust
omer
s en
gage
din
you
r soc
ial m
edia
netw
orks
(eng
agem
ent m
eans
not j
ust f
ollo
win
gbu
t pos
ting
as w
ell).Case studies Testimonial
videosCustomer speakers at events or webinars
Customer stories in our marketing campaigns
Customers engaged in social media
None. We don’ ask customers to support us this way
3 or less
4 or more
33.9%
22.0%
44.1%
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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27.1%
35.6%
18.6%
16.9%
1.7%
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT (cont.)Customers that have provided a case study, testimonial or quote for public use
Less than 1%
2-5%
6-15%
16-30%
More than 50%
1.7% 87% of respondents are using case studies to engage with customers.
Top 3 biggest barriers to putting your customers at the center of your marketing efforts*
63.6% We don’t have time to manage.49.1% Our customers don’t have time to participate.32.7% Our customers do not want to go public.
*More than one answer allowed.
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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NURTURE MARKETING
More than half of respondents have some type of nurture marketing program in place.
56.4% of respondents are struggling to find a regular rhythm with their nurture touches.
55.9%23.7%
20.3%
14.5%
5.5%
23.6%56.4%
0.0%Frequency of nurture touches
Top 3 reasons for not nurturing*50.0% Too difficult to set up and execute47.4% Don’t have the content to support nurture21.1% No budget allocated
*More than one answer allowed.
Nurture program in place (other than a monthly newsletter)
Yes
No
No, but we’re planning to launch one in the next 6 months
Our nurture is based on a prospects’ interaction with our offers (we have a marketing automation tool and are using it)
We have a weekly nurture email
We have a monthly nurture email
We don’t have a regular nurture rhythm or it is infrequent (more than a month apart)
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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NURTURE MARKETING (cont.)Who respondents are nurturing
97% of respondents are nurturing prospects.
The majority of respondents are not segmenting their nurture touches by prospects, customers, influencers, channel partners, etc.
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
Prospects Customers Influencers Channel partnersand/or ISVs
Other (pleasespecify)
Those with different nurture programs in place for the above audiences
45.5%
54.5%
Yes
No
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Link
edIn
pers
onal
…
Link
edIn
grou
ps
Face
book
YouT
ube
Pint
eres
t
Oth
er (p
leas
esp
ecify
)
SOCIAL MEDIAMost active social networks
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%
Microsoft Yammer groups
LinkedIn personal profile
LinkedIn corporate profile
Twitter Facebook Google+ YouTube Pinterest
Most effective social networks
LinkedIn personal profile
LinkedIn corporate profile
LinkedIn groups
Twitter Facebook Google+ YouTube Xing Pinterest None – we don’t get leads through our social media efforts
23.7% of respondents report they get no leads through social media.
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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SOCIAL MEDIA (cont.)Frequency of posts and updates
5.1%
15.3%
42.4%
20.3%
6.8%
10.2%
Never
Rarely
Multiple times per week
Weekly
A few times a month
Monthly
42.4% post updates multiple times per week across social networks.
“Measuring success via social media seems to be a challenge thus increasing budget in this area is difficult. We have been very successful hosting live events.”-Respondent comment
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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MARKETING AUTOMATIONUsing marketing automation
67.8% of respondents use a marketing automation system, up 8.2% from 2014.
ClickDimensions remains the most popular marketing automation platform among respondents.
Marketing automation systems used
67.8%
32.2%
Yes
No
42.5%
15.0%
7.5%
5.0%0.0%2.5%
5.0%
5.0%
17.5%ClickDimensions
HubSpot
Marketo
CoreMotives
SalesFusion
Pardot
ActOn
Other systems, including:• Butterfly Publisher• Microsoft Dynamics Marketing• BizActions• SharpSpring
2.5%
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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CLOSING THOUGHTSBecause we’ve spent decades marketing software and technology from inside and outside publisher, VAR, ISV and vendor organizations, this survey and report is a passion of ours. It’s interesting to learn what the industry is doing in terms of marketing—what’s changed, what hasn’t and what the biggest hurdles are—and there are always a few surprises.
The best part for us is being able to provide this level of targeted insight for an amazing community that often struggles to find ways to stand out and grow in their marketing.
For 2016, here are a few things that stood out for our team:
• Content struggles. While more than 50% of respondents view content as a ‘high priority’ to their marketing strategies, it’s also stated to be the biggest challenge.
• Lack of time. A recurring issue cited throughout the survey was lack of time, resources and expertise to execute. A large group (91%) said this is the reason for not creating original content.
• Social media. We see in B2B technology marketing, social media still hasn’t proven itself for lead generation. It was great to see that 86% of respondents have a blog though!
• More outsourcing. Likely due to the lack of time and expertise reported, outsourcing is on the rise with 75% of respondents outsourcing at least a portion of their marketing, up from 2014.
• Customer advocacy. A surprising statistic for us was that 33% of respondents do not ask customers to publicly promote them—at all. As one of the best marketing assets you have, we hope to see this number increase next year.
Many respondents reported the same roadblocks to taking their marketing to the next level.Common challenges cited:
• Lack of time• Lack of internal resources• Measuring results• Hiring the right people• Creating original content
This is an indicator of why we are also seeing more outsourcing across the board.
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICSAnnual marketing budget, excluding salaries
26.3%of respondents work with a marketing budget of $10,000 or less.
45.6%expect to increase marketing budgets over the next year.
Expected change in budget over next 12 months
$0-$10,000
$10,001-$25,000
$25,001-$50,000
$50,001-$100,000
$100,001+
45.6% expect increase48.3% expect the same3.4% expect decrease
25.9%
10.3%
29.3%
10.3%
24.1%
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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91.2%have a marketing team of 1-4 people, about the same as 2014.
Number of employees worldwide
Number of people on the marketing team worldwide
1.7%
16.9%
30.5%
22.0%
16.9%
11.9%
1 to 4
5 to 10
11 to 25
26 to 50
51 to 100
101+
1.7%
89.7%
6.9%
3.4%1.7%
1 to 4
5 to 10
11 to 25
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
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Roles of respondents (may be more than one)
34.4%respondents have more than one role.
18.9%of firms are both a reseller/services partner and an ISV.
67.2%of firms represent more than one mid-market ERP product.
Type of firm (may be more than one)
Mid-market ERP products represented(may be more than one)
Headquarters country96.6% US, 1.7% Canada, 1.7% Other
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%
Acumatica Epicor Intacct Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Microsoft Dynamics ERP
NetSuite Sage CRM Sage ERP Salesforce Other
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Marketing Sales Leadership Technical
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
A reseller orservices partner
An ISV An Influencer
2016 B2B Technology Marketing Survey Report
Page 25
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ABOUT THE PARTNER MARKETING GROUP
Marketing Solutions for Software and Technology Vendors, Resellers and ProvidersThe Partner Marketing Group is 100% dedicated to B2B technology marketing which is why we can confidently add the highest level of industry expertise and experience to your team.
Marketing support on your terms.Marketing must be targeted, strategic and consistent to stand out in this industry. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you had professional B2B marketers on your team who understand your world—your customers, your products, your channel, your vision—from day one? We offer flexible services and guidance to supplement your marketing efforts and staff, and accelerate your ability to compete. Like you, we’re passionate about technology and know how to illustrate your unique value to engage customers across multiple channels and markets.
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