2014 inbound marketing benchmark survey: trends by company size

Inbound Marketing Benchmark Survey: Trends by Company Size"

The most challenging obstacles facing inbound marketing success and how SMB and enterprise marketers plan to overcome them in the year ahead."

Client Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Marketing Advocate"

Inbound Marketing Benchmark Survey: Trends by Company SizeClient Connection Research™ conducted by Ascend2 in partnership with Marketing Advocate.!

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. !You may adapt, copy, distribute and transmit this work. However, you must attribute the work as produced by Ascend2 and its Research Partners but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.!

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Table of Contents!

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What is driving the success of inbound marketing? 4Most important objectives for inbound marketing strategy 5Rating the success of inbound to achieve important objectives 6Most challenging obstacles to achieving inbound marketing success 7Measuring the performance of inbound marketing campaigns 8Extent of marketing automation use to manage inbound marketing 9Most effective tactics used to achieve inbound marketing objectives 10Most difficult inbound marketing tactics to execute 14Integrating SEO, social media, PR and content for inbound marketing 12Research methodologies and survey demographics 14About Marketing Advocate 16About Ascend2 17

What is driving the success of inbound marketing?"Long gone are the days when the marketing landscape encompassed only traditional, interruptive methods for engaging with prospects. Today, leaders are shifting the marketing mix faster as inbound and digital continue to represent a huge opportunity for driving demand. A recent B2B study showed that global organizations—regardless of size—are integrating more omni-channel and modern marketing techniques to help drive business forward.

Which led us to this question . . .

As a marketer, what are the most challenging obstacles to your inbound marketing success in the coming year, and how do your SMB and enterprise peers plan to overcome them? To find out, Marketing Advocate (in partnership with Ascend2), commissioned the Inbound Marketing Benchmark Survey, completing interviews with 519 business leaders and marketing practitioners from around the globe. This insightful report is full of graphs, charts, and comparison statistics that contrasts the strategies, practices, and trends of large enterprise organizations to their SMB counterparts to determine which marketing mix is used to develop the highest quality demand generation.  "Please know that this exclusive Client Connection Research™ has been produced for your use. Put it to work in your own marketing strategy planning and presentation materials. Clip the charts and blog about them online, or socialize the findings via your social media channels. Please use and share this research credited as published."

Lastly, we thank the 500+ marketing professionals who shared their opinions and insights. We appreciate your time."Enjoy!"

Paying it forward,Courtney WileyVice President, Marketing"

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Increasing the quantity of leads generated is the goal of most enterprise marketers, while their SMB counterparts are more likely to target improving the quality of leads. !

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Inadequate budgets and headcount are critical obstacles for inbound marketing tactics. Proving ROI will gain confidence and yield new resources.!

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An inadequate budget or headcount is a critical obstacle for inherently time-intensive inbound marketing tactics. Proving ROI will gain confidence and yield new resources. !

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Measuring performance is the first step to attributing ROI to inbound marketing. Twice as many donʼt measure performance as those who do it “very effectively.”"

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Surprisingly, SMBs are more than twice as likely than enterprises to use marketing automation extensively, leveling the playing field for smaller companies.!

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“Lead nurturing and scoring is more likely to be effective for SMBs – the extensive users of marketing automation.” Creating content to nurture leads is most effective for all.!

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Creating content is not only the most effective tactic, it is also the most difficult to execute.!

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Omni-channel marketing is yet to be optimized by both SMBs and enterprise orgs.!

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Notes!

Research methodologies!

Client Connection Research™ surveys are conducted online from Ascend2ʼs panel of more than 50,000 US and international business leaders, marketing decision-makers and practitioners representing a range of contact roles, company types, sizes and geographic regions.

The questionnaire used is standardized to incorporate these methodologies across all studies while maintaining our proven 3-Minute Survey format. Survey findings are examined in a quantitative context by experienced analysts and reported objectively.!

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Survey respondent and company demographics!

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Marketing Advocate accelerates revenue growth through the channel with its Through-Partner Marketing Automation (TPMA) software. The companyʼs industry-leading TPMA solution drives effective B2B channel marketing for many of the worldʼs largest brands, including HP, IBM, Microsoft, and NetApp. By maximizing lead efficiency, generating sales-ready leads, and building pipeline, Marketing Advocate helps global organizations turn channel marketing into a revenue driver. The company was recently recognized as a 2013 Gartner “Cool Vendor” and showcased as a corporation that is innovating sales and marketing techniques to help global IT providers go to market more effectively. For more information, visit MarketingAdvocate.com.Learn more at MarketingAdvocate.com"

About Marketing Advocate!

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Connecting Marketing Firms to Clients with the Power of Research!Marketing agencies and marketing technology providers partner with Ascend2 to create new business opportunities. Our integrated research, content creation and demand generation process delivers richly qualified leads while positioning your firm as a thought-leader for solving marketing challenges. !

Learn more at Ascend2.com!

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About Ascend2!

Corporate HeadquartersCenterville, MA 02632(508) 775.9064 +1 (855) 623.1356 www.MarketingAdvocate.com "