the state of b2b marketing: new marketing automation stats for 2017
TRANSCRIPT
NEW MARKETING AUTOMATION STATS FOR 2017
Overall, just over half (53%) of B2B organizations surveyed are USING marketing automation technology, and a further 37% say they are PLANNING to implement it.
www.act-on.com
Using MA
SOURCE:The State of B2B Marketing Automation report, published by Econsultancy & Act-On
Many of the available marketing automation stats we regularly use – to make strategic decisions, craft presentations, prepare for sales calls – are getting a bit long in the tooth. So we set off to uncover the most recent marketing stats by surveying
more than 350 marketing professionals in North America and Europe to get their take on how investing in marketing automation impacts business performance. The most
noteworthy results are included below.
MA ADOPTION
TOP REASONS FOR PURCHASING
53% 37%
Planning toImplement
Leaders* are 24% more likely than their peers to say they are
CURRENTLY USING marketing automation.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of these companies EMPLOY marketing
automation technology, compared to 50% for the Mainstream.
* businesses with high-performing marketing departments, defined as those companies with marketing functions that exceeded their top business objective in 2016
50%
62%
Across all areas, North American organizations are 14% more likely to USE MARKETING AUTOMATION
than their European counterparts.
North America
Europe
Our respondents rated the TOP THREE REASONS
for adopting marketing automation:
Higher Quality Leads
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents rank
HIGHER QUALITY LEADS as being among their top
three reasons for implementing automation.
123
Increase Revenue
Align Sales & Marketing
66%
(volume) is also an important objective for marketing automation
cited as a top-three reason for its implementation by 41% of
those surveyed.
of respondents sayINCREASED REVENUEis the reason they want to adopt MA.
GENERATING MORE LEADS
+14%
ROI WITH MA
of respondents agree that effective marketing automation is critical to LONG-TERM BUSINESS SUCCESS
98%
of respondents strongly agree that marketing automation INCREASES
marketing’s contribution to pipeline.
+=
A significantly higher proportion of respondents based in North America indicate that marketing
automation has delivered their organizations with RETURN ON INVESTMENT than those in Europe
(91 percent versus 72 percent).
91% 72%
58% of respondents strongly agree that marketing
automation makes marketing teams more efficient. 58%
57%
The vast majority of Leaders say that marketing automation has delivered a RETURN ON INVESTMENT
(93%) or INCREASED CONTRIBUTION TO PIPELINE (90%), compared to just over two-thirds of Mainstream
organizations (69% and 68% respectively)
93% 90%
LEADERS MAINSTREAM
ROI PipelineROI Pipeline
93% 90%
69% 68%
MA USAGE
Only two in five survey respondents (41%) believe
their organizations are using marketing automation to its
FULLEST CAPACITY.
2 / 5
More than half of respondents are only using THREE BASIC FUNCTIONS of marketing
automation: email (73%), web forms (63%), and landing pages (56%).
93%
73%
63%56%
Marketing Automation Functions
Fewer than three in ten users are IMPLEMENTING MORE ADVANCED TACTICS such as automated creation
of dynamic content and account-based marketing
>
58% of Leaders are using LEAD NURTURING vs only 35% of the non-leaders. Lead Nurturing
Lead Scoring
35%
58%
37%
48%
47%
50%It was seen that both these areas are very much on the radar, with 50% and 47% of companies, respectively, PLANNING TO USE THESE TACTICS.
48% of Leaders are using LEAD SCORING vs only 37% of non-leaders.
Both
Measurement of MARKETING QUALIFIED LEADS (65% versus 48% in Europe) and
SALES ACCEPTED LEADS (56% versus 39%) is much more common in North America.
65%
56% measurement of SALs
measurement of MQLs 48%
39% measurement of SALs
measurement of MQLs
Leaders are significantly more likely to measure the contribution marketing makes to the
SALES PIPELINE or REVENUE using their marketing automation system or CRM.
The State of B2B Marketing:
BARRIERS TO ADOPTION
The foremost obstacle to adoption is the PERCEIVED COMPLEXITY of marketing automation
which is cited as a significant challenge by more than 4 in 10 respondents.
>
Half of respondents referenced LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF SKILLED EXPERIENCE as a barrier to success.
50%
DATA MANAGEMENT (cited by almost half of those surveyed as a key
challenge) and INTEGRATION
(highlighted by more than a third).
50%
>33%
RESOURCES were highlighted by six in ten respondents as a
marketing automation challenge but only 11% cited pure cost, indicating broader constraints.
44% of respondents rated ALIGNING SALES AND MARKETING for mutual
success as their top reasons for implementing MA.
44%