greenhat b2b marketing outlook 2013

B2B Marketing Outlook Australia 2013

measurable b2b marketing


A research report exploring B2B marketing practice, intentions and directions

In association with


measurable b2b marketing

This study was conducted by Green Hat in association with ADMA. We also acknowledge the support of Marketing Magazine.

Green Hat is an Australian marketing consulting agency

working exclusively for the B2B sector. Our services include

market research, strategic planning and execution of

programs that require lead nurturing and progression, lead

generation, marketing automation, digital marketing and

content development. We assist clients that have medium

to long consideration times especially in the high-tech,

professional services, financial services and industrial

sectors. Our client list includes global blue-chip brands

such as IBM, EMC, SingTel Optus, Hitachi, CHEP and Nokia

Siemens, as well as many local organisations.

www.green-hat.com.au

The Association for data-driven marketing and advertising (ADMA)

is the principal industry body for information based marketing

and advertising and is the largest marketing and advertising body

in Australia with over 500 member organisations.

ADMA represents the new era of marketing and advertising

a 3600 view from end to end.

From marketing to advertising

From effective to creative

From above to below

From measurable to engaging

ADMA is the ultimate authority and go-to resource for creative

and effective data-driven marketing across all channels

and platforms, providing knowledge, advocacy, insight and

innovation to advance responsive and enlightened marketing.

www.adma.com.au

Marketing magazine has been exploring the strategic

challenges facing businesses large and small every month

for over 25 years, and it continues to be a trusted resource

for marketers and media professionals in Australia. Each

issue is packed with in-depth reports, commentary and sage

advice from leading industry specialists, and Marketing is

still Australias number one resource for information on

implementing strategies, maximising campaigns and gaining

competitive advantage in the marketplace.

www.marketingmag.com.au


2013 Green Hat Marketing Pty Ltd ABN 30 099 016 752. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior approval of Green Hat Marketing Pty Ltd. Any quotation from this document must be attributed to the author.

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Section 1: Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.1 Key Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Section 2: Research Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.1 Market Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Type of Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Lead Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Typical Order Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2 Marketing Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Size of Marketing Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Size of Marketing Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Change in Marketing Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Budget Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Budget Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.3 Marketing Challenges and Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Marketing Challenges in 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Marketing Objectives in 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.4 Marketing Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Traditional Marketing Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Digital Marketing Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Digital versus Traditional Marketing Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Inbound versus Outbound Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.5 Marketing Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Cost per Marketing Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Marketing and Sales Alignment: Closing the Loop . . . . . . . . . 20

2.6 Social Media Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Social Media Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Social Media Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Satisfaction with Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Social Media Return on Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Section 3: Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

ContEntS

4PAGE2013 Green Hat Marketing Pty Ltd ABN 30 099 016 752. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior approval of Green Hat Marketing Pty Ltd. Any quotation from this document must be attributed to the author.


It has been an interesting year in B2B marketing with a continued shift towards digital

channels and an ever-increasing focus on content marketing a trend seen in both B2B

and B2C sectors.

In 2013, investment in content marketing increased to a huge 15% of B2B marketing budgets

a trend that will continue in coming years as B2B marketers shift strategies from sales focus

to ongoing engagement. This is likely to bring its own challenges to marketing departments

as skillsets need to be reconfigured to introduce journalism, PR and storytelling. This may

also explain the rise of PR as an offline B2B tactic.

Challenges facing B2B marketers mirror those of B2C marketers and relate to data, lead

nurture and measurement. Much of this is attributed to back-office challenges which will

improve as technology plays an increasing role in helping marketers to streamline processes.

So what will we see for the coming year? If the trends continue, 2014 will see B2B

marketing spend on digital channels overtake offline spend for the first time. It will also

be the year that we start to see the role that social media plays in B2B marketing and

whether it produces the results and ROI expected.

What an exciting time to be in B2B marketing. I look forward to seeing the heights that

we reach by this time next year!

FoREwoRd

Jodie SangsterCHIEF ExECuTIVE OFFICER, ADMA

Andrew HausseggerMANAGING DIRECTOR, GREEN HAT

Good news almost 300 B2B professionals contributed to this study, a jump of nearly

60% year on year. As well, contribution is growing from the big end of town 22% of

respondents were from companies with turnover of $500M-plus. Thank you to all who

took the time to participate!

The internet has changed (pretty much) everything in B2B marketing. In the past, the sellers

(marketing and sales people) were the trusted advisors for buyers who had business

problems and were seeking solutions. That has now all changed. Buyers launched into

cyberspace, finding a galaxy of valuable information sources which has thrown much of

traditional earthly marketing into disarray.

The trends tell us that B2B marketers will not be generating leads in the future at least,

not in the way it is being done today. Interruption marketing is gradually being replaced

by engagement marketing. Inbound marketing (under a number of guises) features in

this report. Sellers will stop finding buyers. Buyers will find sellers. Think word of mouth

marketing but with a Luna Park-sized online mouth with marketers competing to attract and generate leads via valued content supported by automated back-end processes.

PS: Special mention to Caroline Leslie (Head of Content & Communications at Green Hat)

who did much of the heavy lifting for this study. And, of course, ADMA which is taking

positive action to support B2B marketers in our country!



Inbound and Content Marketing

A higher proportion of respondents (35%) will spend

more on inbound than outbound marketing in 2013,

compared to 31% spending more on outbound

marketing. This is a significant reversal from 2012.

More than $1 in every $7 of B2B marketing budgets

(15%) will be invested in content marketing supporting

the drive to inbound marketing.

Public Relations ranks as the top traditional activity

when we consider who will do more or start this activity

in 2013 further supporting investment in inbound

strategies.

digital Marketing

The gap between 2013 budget allocated to digital

marketing (24%) and traditional/offline marketing (28%)

has reduced to just 4%. The difference reported in this

study last year was 12%.

This result and the trend over recent years strongly

indicates that, by 2014, marketers will spend more on

digital than traditional marketing.

Website/microsite development was rated as the highest

digital tactic respondents would do more of in 2013

(77%), followed by email marketing (67%) , then e-nurture

marketing (personalised email content) and social media

marketing (both 65%).

Automation, Lead nurturing and Marketing Processes

Automating lead nurturing and lead management

processes ranked as the top marketing challenge in 2012

(41%) as it was in 2011 (42%).

Nearly two thirds (65%) will be doing more lead nurture marketing with personalised content, or starting

that activity.

Measuring marketing ROI was the second highest

challenge in 2012 (40%) and the third most significant

objective for marketers in 2013 (53%).

Nearly one third of respondents (31%) are unsure if the

sales team follows up their leads and the same percentage

does not know the cost of a qualified lead. Paradoxically,

Integrating marketing and sales was the second lowest ranking challenge faced in 2012.

This years research into B2B marketing in Australia suggests that some emerging trends may break through significant milestones during 2013. These centre around the rise (and rise) of digital marketing, strong intentions to invest in inbound marketing and the adoption of content marketing. These trends are reinforced consistently throughout the study.

1.0 ExECutIvE SuMMARy

1.1 KEy FINDINGS



Social Media Marketing

More than half of respondents (52%) now consider

themselves creators/publishers of social media content,

up from 33% last year.

Respondents reporting good results from social media

marketing have almost doubled 13% in 2013 from 7%

in 2012.

However, of those investing in social media (75%), three

quarters are unsure of its value stating it is too early to

tell or that their results have been inconsistent. A small

percentage (7%) reported they had no positive results.

Mobile Marketing

Nearly two thirds (62%) will do more/start mobile-

enablement of web, email and online communications.

40% of respondents have been using mobile applications

for B2B marketing, with another 11% planning to start in 2013.

Marketing Budgets

More respondents will receive a marketing increase (37%)

than a decrease (12%) with the rest staying within 5% of

last years budget.


1.1 KEy FINDINGS



1.2 OBSERVATIONS


Its a digital world

Over the last few years, it is evident that B2B marketers are

following B2B buyers online, as we see more investment in

digital marketing. We have created a single chart this year

providing a side-by-side comparison of digital versus offline

trends more specifically addressing who will be doing

more and less of individual tactics (see page 18).

Also this year, we specifically asked about budget allocation

for content development referring to white papers,

videos, articles and website content which has come in

at third place (15%) on debut. Whilst some of this content

may be destined for offline usage or sales collateral, we

assume much of it is to feed digital, e-nurturing and social

media initiatives.

Inbound (and Social) reach the tipping point

It is interesting to see the strong intention to invest in inbound

marketing supported by intentions to develop content,

invest in social media and drive up online marketing. As

well, PR appears to be swept up in this momentum. We see

marketers are generally more satisfied with brand outcomes

(than dissatisfied) from their social media activities, but this

is reversed for lead generation outcomes.

Because inbound marketing is generally considered a mid-

to long-term play when looking to generate leads (the top

marketing objective in 2013), this strategy could create some

contention between marketing and lead-hungry sales teams.

Alignment of marketing/sales goals and responsibilities will be

critical for success, especially given the importance placed on

ROI measurement.

A key social media finding is that more respondents rate

themselves as creators/publishers than do not a significant

uplift from last year. Overall, more are now active (85%) and

we expect most (93%) to have invested by the end of the 2013.

Marketers need to think left-brain and systemise

Generally, marketers appear challenged by back-office/

internal processes. If we consider areas such as marketing

automation, lead management, performance measurement,

database maintenance and marketing/sales integration as

back-office activities, we find they represent approximately

70% of all reported challenges. Key drivers to re-engineer

marketing processes include integrating multi-channel

campaigns (online and offline), delivering more relevant

segmented communications and demonstrating ROI.



1.2 OBSERVATIONS

traditional marketing methods are not cutting it

Traditional marketing tactics are in decline, losing a

significant 5% share of budget in 2013. This is expected

to be re-directed to digital, content and lead nurturing

initiatives. Measurement of some of these activities is

challenging and is not attracting the online buyer. However,

in-person events are holding their own as a tactic in fact

no-one plans to stop doing them. We believe this is due to

events becoming smaller and more targeted.

what does this all mean for the B2B marketer?

The findings in this study confirm that life is changing

significantly for the B2B marketer. The nature of digital

marketing means the above- versus below-the-line activities

are blurring as communications channels become tightly

integrated.

The skills and capabilities of marketing teams must adapt

to this new paradigm. Teams need to include marketing

technologists and process/operations experts who can design

and operate automation, CRM and online tools to nurture

and manage leads, as well as measure digital engagement

and ROI performance.

Teams will also have content and social media specialists.

They will brainstorm inbound ideas as much as they do

outbound ones. And everyone will be a digital marketer in

one form or another.




What best describes your market offering? What is the typical sale lead time from prospect introduction to order closure?

Over the past three years of this research, we have seen more B2B marketers

describing their organisations as solutions businesses 70% in 2013, compared

to 60% in 2011.

Organisations with turnover of $500M are the most likely to be a solutions company

83% versus just 67% of companies with revenues of $50-500M.

Information, Media & Telecommunications (hereafter termed Information)

businesses are the most likely to be solutions companies (80%) while Professional,

Scientific & Technical Services (Professional) are more likely to be divided between

services (42%) and solutions (58%).

Typical sale lead times, from initial prospect engagement to order closure, can have

a major impact on marketing activities. The general trend with lead times is that

the larger the value, the longer it takes to sell which has significant repercussions

on the marketing process, and especially lead management and marketing/sales

alignment.

Just under half (48%) of 2013 respondents say their organisation has a typical lead

time of 4-12 months. This closely corresponds to responses to both our 2011 and

2012 surveys, giving us confidence in comparing year-on-year results.

Market products only

Market services only

Market solutions (combination of products & services)

6%

24%

70%

Less than one month

1 to 3 months

4 to 12 months

12 months or more

12%

30%

48%

10%

type of offering Lead times

2.0 RESEARCH RESuLtS

2.1 MARKET OFFERING



2.1 MARKET OFFERING 2.2 MARKETING RESOuRCES

Order value can be a significant factor in B2B marketing activities, as it typically

indicates the complexity of the customers buying decision assuming that

the larger the order value, the more people involved in the decision within the

customer organisation. In range, responses in 2013 correspond closely to our 2012 survey.

Overall, typical order values are significantly higher for Information businesses

with 40% reporting $100K plus, compared to the average of 24%.

Being a B2B marketer is to be part of a minority within the marketing/advertising

profession. The majority of marketers are B2C and, within the organisations they

work, many B2B marketers can expect to be part of a small team even in larger

organisations. If you are a member of a B2B marketing team of five or more people,

then you are the exception.

Australian B2B marketing teams are generally growing. Where 80% of respondents

in 2011 reported that teams consisted of under five full time equivalents (FTEs), this

reduced to 69% in 2013, indicating that teams are expanding in size.

28%

28%

20%

19%

5%

Less than $10K

$10K to less than $50K

$50K to less than $100K

$100K to less than $1M

$1M or more

Less than 5 FTE

5 to 9 FTE

10 to 20 FTE

More than 20 FTE69%

11%

10%

10%


What is your typical order value? What is your planned marketing team for 2013 (full-time equivalents)?

typical order value Size of Marketing team



This year, we have more representation from companies with marketing budgets

over $1M than in prior years (22% of respondents).

While around half of respondents say their marketing budgets will remain much

the same in 2013, three-quarters of the other half are seeing increases in excess of

5% rather than a decrease in their budget.

Companies with smaller budgets (up to $500K) are more likely to increase than

those with larger budgets.

Key FindingThree times more respondents expect an increase in their 2013 marketing budget than expect a decrease.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Less than $100K $101K to $500K $501K to $1M More than $1M

2013 20112012

Will increase by 5% or more

Will stay the same (within 5%)

Will decrease by 5% or more

37%

51%

12%


2.2 MARKETING RESOuRCES

What is your planned marketing budget for 2013 (excluding salaries)?

How does this compare to your 2012 marketing budget?

Size of Marketing Budget Change in Marketing Budget



20132012

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Sales leads attributedto marketing

Sales revenue attributedto marketing

Brand awareness

Level of marketing activity

Other 7%

9%

49%

47%

43%

48%

66%

62%

56%

63%



How do you justify your marketing budget internally? multiples allowedBudget Justification

Budget justification strategies are similar to last years results.

When we drill down, we find:

Companies with large marketing budgets ($500K plus) are the

most likely to use their level of marketing activity to justify

funds

Information businesses are the most likely to use sales leads (75%) and sales revenue (73%) to justify their marketing

budgets

Financial Services businesses are the most likely to use brand awareness (71%, compared to an average of 48%)



2013 (planned)

2012 (actual)

Traditional demand generation(inc events, trade shows, telemarketing, DM)

Digital marketing(inc website, online ads, SEO,

search marketing, social media, webinars)

Advertising & sponsorship(excluding online)

Content development(inc white papers, videos, articles,

web/social content)

Lead nurturing & management program(inc marketing automation)

28%

24%

15%

12%

9%

7%

5%

33%

21%

12%

14%

7%

7%

6%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Public Relations

Other



How did/will you spend your marketing budget? multiples allowedBudget Allocation

Over the past three years we have asked respondents to tell us

how they spent their previous years marketing budget and how

they plan to spend it in the coming year (to an enforced total of

100%). In 2012, we added the option lead nurturing and lead

management program (including marketing automation) and,

in this years survey, we added content development.

In interpreting this graph, bear in mind that these new categories

may have been represented amongst other categories in previous

years. For example, spend on content development may have

been allocated to PR or digital marketing in earlier years.

The gap between spend on digital marketing and traditional

demand generation activity is expected to further close. In 2012,

the differential was 12% but in 2013 it is expected to narrow

to 4%. This is on track to fulfil our prediction last year that

expenditure on digital marketing will overtake traditional tactics

in 2014.

And to fuel this digital direction, marketers are planning to invest

about $1 in every $7 on developing content for their target audience.

We expect this will include thought leadership papers, videos, sales

collateral, social media content as well as website content.

Key FindingSpend on digital marketing is closing in on traditional demand generation and as predicted last year is on track to exceed it in 2014.


B2B Marketing Outlook Australia 20132.0 RESEARCH RESuLtS

2.3 MARKETING CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES

How challenging were the following activities in 2012?Marketing Challenges in 2012

For the second year running, automating lead nurturing and

lead management processes and measuring marketing RoI rate as the highest challenges in B2B marketing.

It would seem that developing systematic back-office process

using marketing automation/CRM technology is new for many

marketers, but it still features on their priority list. They are also

contending with big data, more effective measurement and the

move to 1-to-1 marketing.

Overall, more companies were measuring marketing RoI in 2012 (94%, compared to 89% in 2010) and more are finding

it challenging than they did three years ago (75% versus 68% in 2010).

The most likely to have found maintaining contact database

quality and currency challenging in 2012 were Financial Services

organisations (52% compared to 27% in the Information industry)

and businesses with turnover over $50M (nearly half, compared

to just 15% of the smallest companies).

Interestingly, only 22% find integrating marketing with sales

challenging, which was similar to last year. However, there are

still many marketers who do not know the outcome of leads

passed to sales (refer to Marketing Metrics section below), which

suggests this area may be more challenging than reported here.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Automate lead nurturing & lead management processes

Measure marketing ROI

Generate leads

Maintain contact database quality

Implement content marketing process

Obtain sucient marketing budget

Grow brand awareness

Integrate marketing with sales

Up-sell/cross-sell to current customers

Challenging Not challenging N/ASomewhat challenging



2.3 MARKETING CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES

How significant are the following marketing objectives in 2013?Marketing objectives in 2013

The most significant objectives for Australian B2B marketers

in 2013 are generating leads and upselling/cross-selling to

existing customers. Measuring marketing RoI and maintaining database quality tied in third place, closely followed by growing brand awareness.

Measuring marketing RoI has become more significant over the

past three years with 53% citing it as significant compared

to just 37% in 2011. Drilling down, those most likely to see

measuring marketing ROI as a significant marketing objective in

2013 are companies with turnover between $50M and $500M

(74%, contrasting with just 39% of the smallest companies) and

Financial companies (72% compared with just under half of

Information & Professional Services businesses).

Whilst coming off low bases from 2012, automating lead

nurturing/management processes and implementing content

marketing process are the fastest movers in the list. Their

percentage ratings have increased 45% and 20% respectively.

We believe these areas are interconnected as marketers strive

to build more engaging content and, at the same time, use

automation to get the right content to the right buyers.0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Generate leads

Up-sell & cross-sell to current customers

Measure marketing ROI

Maintain contact database quality

Grow brand awareness

Automate lead nurturing & lead management processes

Integrate marketing with sales

Implement content marketing process

Obtain sucient marketing budget

Signicant Not signicant N/ASomewhat signicant



2.4 MARKETING CHANNELS

How will you use the following traditional marketing tactics in 2013?traditional Marketing tactics

When considering growth trends (Will start and Will do

more), Public Relations leads among the traditional marketing

tactics planned in 2013, overtaking the 2012 leaders in-person

events and surveys/research. We believe this aligns with the

drive by marketers to improve their content marketing efforts

and increase customer loyalty/good will.

Overall, in-person events have grown slightly less popular over

the past three years. Information companies are the most likely

to be using more in-person events in 2013 (43%) and Financial

companies the least likely (20%).

telemarketing has been becoming less popular since 2011 as

a B2B marketing tactic. Only about one quarter of respondents

plan to do more or start this activity in 2013, and about half say

they will do less, stop or indicate that the activity is not relevant

to their marketing approach.

Generally, use of tradeshows, print advertising and tv/radio/outdoor advertising have all been declining over recent years

as B2B marketers seek to engage their customers and prospects

online.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%90%70%50%30%10%

TV/radio/outdoor advertising

Print advertising

Tradeshows/conferences

Telemarketing

Direct mail

Surveys/research

In-person events

Public Relations

Will do more Will do the same Will do less Will stopWill startWill do more Will do the same Will do less Will stopWill start




How will you use the following digital marketing tactics in 2013?digital Marketing tactics

We see significant growth in digital marketing activity during 2013.

website and microsites lead, with 77% saying they expect to

grow their web presence this year. We attribute this in part

to Content Management Systems (CMS) and open source

technologies making it easier for B2B marketers to launch and

update sites. As well, the growth in digital, social and content

marketing is driving marketers to continuously update their

online presence and information.

Email campaigns are also in growth mode, with 97% of

B2B marketers now using them. It would appear marketing

automation technologies are helping marketers move from mass

email to more personal communications.

Social media is the third most likely digital tactic to increase in

activity and we explore this in more detail later in this report.

A similar number (65%) of respondents will start using or increase

e-nurture marketing in 2013. Overall, 88% of the companies we

surveyed plan to use digital tactics to nurture their prospects

this year.

This is the first year we asked about plans for mobile enablement

of websites, microsites and emails that is, making them

smartphone/tablet friendly finding that 86% plan to do this in

2013, with over half (53%) planning to do more than last year. Will do more Will do the same Will do less Will stopWill start

Mobile-enablement(web, email)

e-nurture marketing(personalised email content)

0% 20%10% 30% 50% 70% 90%40% 60% 80% 100%

Website and microsites

Email campaigns

Social Media marketing

Online videos

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Online communities,portals and forums

Webinars

Online paid advertising

Online surveys

Mobile apps

Viral marketing

SMS marketing



Will Stop Will do More Will StartWill do Less

-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Public RelationsIn-person events

Surveys/ResearchDirect mail

TelemarketingTradeshows/conferences

Print advertisingTV/radio/outdoor advertising

Website/microsites Email campaigns

Mobile-enablement (website, emails)e-nurture marketing

Social Media marketing (exc paid)

Online paid advertising (exc search)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)Online communities, portals, forums

Webinars

Online surveys

Online video

Viral marketing SMS marketing

Mobile apps

Trad

ition

al

Digi

tal



digital versus traditional Marketing trends

This graph provides a combined snapshot of intentions for use

of digital and non-digital tactics for 2013 compared to 2012.

Note that it shows trends rather than total usage of the various

tactics, as it does not show respondents who are doing the same

as last year or not using them at all.



More expenditure on OutboundSimilar expenditure on both More expenditure on Inbound

22%

43%

35%

35%

31%

34%

Spent in2012

Will spend in2013



In comparing Inbound (pull marketing) versus Outbound (push marketing) tactics, how did/will you spend your marketing budget?

Inbound versus outbound Marketing

In 2012, more respondents reported that their outbound

marketing budget will exceed that for inbound marketing.

However, respondents reported the reverse with regards to their

budget intentions in 2013 indicating that an important turning

point has being reached.

This finding is supported by growth trends in content

development, social media and arguably Public Relations.

Key FindingInbound marketing breaks the line with a higher proportion of B2B marketers expecting to spend more on inbound than outbound marketing in 2013.



$1 to $250

$251 to $500

$501 to $2,000

$2,001+

Not sure

30%31%

5%

19%15%

For this question, we defined a qualified marketing lead as a prospect with an

identified need to be addressed within a timeframe acceptable to your sales cycle.

In terms of measuring the cost of a marketing lead, Not sure reduced from last

years survey (when 50% could not identify cost-of-lead from their lead nurture

programs and 34% from their lead generation campaigns). However, nearly one in

three (31%) still seems, to us, to be way too high.

This graph tells us (for example) that 32% of respondents say 80%-plus of their

marketing leads are followed up by the sales team. However, it would appear that still

too many companies suffer from a lack of communication on the outcome of leads

passed from marketing to sales especially the larger companies. Nearly one third of

all respondents did not know if leads they had passed to sales had closed, and 26%

did not know if sales had followed up their leads.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Accepted/followedup by Sales

Marketing leadsconverted to orders

0%-20% Not sure80%+ 41%-60% 21%-40%61%-80%


2.5 MARKETING METRICS

What did it cost you to generate a qualified marketing lead from your Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing campaigns during 2012?

What percentage of leads passed from Marketing to Sales is accepted and followed up by Sales? What percentage of leads passed from Marketing to Sales convert to orders?

Cost per Marketing Lead Marketing and Sales Alignment: Closing the Loop



2013

2011

2012

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Industry & Professional blogs

Google+

Pinterest

Other


2.6 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Which of the following social media sites and online communities does your organisation use? multiples allowed

Social Media Platforms

The vast majority (91%) of respondents organisations are now

using social media up from 87% in 2012 and 82% in 2011, with

the percentage of companies not using social media halved since

2011. At 76%, Financial Services companies are currently the

least likely to use social media.

The number of respondents using Facebook, twitter and

youtube has nearly doubled since our 2011 survey. Looking at

new entrants, Pinterest use is insignificant as yet, but around a

quarter are using Google+.



0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Other

2013

20112012

Creator/publisher of blogs and online content

Commentator/participator in discussions but generally do not create

Joiner/member of groups but generally do not participate

Monitor/consumer of content but generally do not become member

Inactive



Which of the following best describes your organisations involvement in social media?Social Media Engagement

Participation in social media is increasing only 15% are now

inactive, compared with 23% in both 2012 and 2011, although

the number watching from the fence has stayed much the

same at around one in ten. Over half (52%) of companies are

now actively creating/publishing of blogs, tweets and online

content with Information companies being the most active

industry sector (65%).

Key FindingThe majority of B2B marketers (52%) now say their organisations are engaged in social media as publishers or creators of social media content.



-60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Brand positioning

Brand awareness

Brand defence

Customer service

Sta recruitment

Lead generation

Cross sell and upsell

Lead nurture

Highly satised Somewhat satisedDissatised



How satisfied are you with the following results of your social media activities?Satisfaction with Social Media

This is the first year we asked respondents to break down their

social media results. Overall, social media is enhancing brand awareness/defence, customer service and staff recruitment by

those deploying it for these purposes.

The main areas of dissatisfaction are when using social media for

generating leads and, to a lesser degree, nurturing leads. The

underlying message here is that social media appears to assist

in brand building and brand management but is less effective

in driving prospects into the sales funnel and progressing them

through it.



2012

2013

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

No results - waste of time and money

Some results but notcost eective or consistent

Have invested but too early to tell

Had good results and ROI

Not invested in social mediabut plan to this year

Not invested in social mediaand do not plan to this year

Key FindingWhile still small, the percentage of respondents experiencing good results from social media has almost doubled to 13% from just 7% last year.



How would you best describe the effectiveness of your social media marketing activity?Social Media Return on Investment

There has been a slight improvement in social media

effectiveness with good results and RoI doubling year on year

albeit from a low base. However, of the respondents reportedly

investing in social media, 75% state they are unsure of the value

of their investment. Either it is too early to tell or the results are

inconsistent or not cost effective. Whilst this is an improvement

on last year (75% in 2013 versus 82% in 2012), this metric will

need to improve significantly for social media to move from

hype to reality for B2B marketers.

One quarter of respondents have not invested in social, whereas

only 15% of all respondents say they are inactive. We assume

the delta will be those experimenting with social media without

an investment plan as yet.



This research was conducted from December 2012 to February 2013. Respondents were approached by email and telephone

with 294 responses collected via an online survey, many of them being participants in the previous years research.

This represents a 57% increase in the sample size from last years research (187 responses). The demography of the respondents

remains much the same.

3.0 MEtHodoLoGy

24%

5%

7%

39%

3%

22%

CEO/MD/DirectorHead of Marketing

Head of Sales

Marketing Professional

Business Development/SalesOther

18%

46%

14%

22%Less than $1m

Over $500m

$50m to $500m

$1m to $50m

Industry

Altogether, 11 different industries were represented in

the research this year. As expected, these were strongly

concentrated on those most active in B2B marketing.

Revenue

Respondents were asked to indicate the range of their

annual revenues, in order to gauge organisation size. The

sample is similar to that of our 2012 research, although

there are slightly less companies in the $50-500M bracket

and the $500M-plus segment is subsequently larger, now

representing over one in five of respondents.

Role types

We asked respondents to select from a list of role types, in

order to understand the angle they were taking on B2B

marketing. Overall, dedicated marketers comprised 61% of

the sample and sales professionals just 10%. CEOs, Managing

Directors and other Directors represented nearly a quarter,

with over 90% of these coming from companies with annual

revenues under $50M.

31%

22%10%

7%

30%

Information, Media & Telecommunications

Professional, Scientic & Technical Services

Finance/Insurance

Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Other



For further information on this research, please contact the report authors: Melbourne Level 1, 39 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 Phone +61 3 9290 9777

Sydney Level 7, 33 Chandos Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065 Phone +61 2 9947 1220

www.green-hat.com.au

email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/green-hat

Twitter: @greenhatmktg

Andrew Haussegger

Managing Director

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/andrewhaussegger

+61 3 9290 9777

Caroline Leslie

Head of Content & Communications

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/carolineleslie

+61 3 9290 9777

greenhat b2b marketing outlook 2013

Documents

marketing lead

marketing challenges

marketing channels

marketing objectives

marketing automation

largest marketing

outbound marketing

marketing metrics