Download - The New Role of Marketing in B2B Companies
The New Role of Marketing in Business-to-
Business (B2B) Companies
The role of marketing is growing for B2B companies
Background – Why has selling and buying changed?
Reduced friction for buyers (easier to find the skills you need) Easier access to niches for sellers (easier to market to small groups)
A New Generation of Buyers
More informed
More connected
More impatient
More Autonomous
More overloaded
More risk averse
More abundant
Buyer witha problem
Seller / trusted advisor with
solutions to offer
Goes online to research solutions Seller has less
opportunity to give sales pitches
Because buyer behavior has changed, marketing is becoming more relevant for B2B companies
Buyer selects vendors to consider
| 4
Marketing matters to get on the radar
Buyer with a problem TRADITIONAL PURCHASING
PROCESS
NEW PURCHASING PROCESS
55 – 90% of purchase process is
complete before buyer
reaches out to sales
There are 3 implications of the new buyer
1.New pipeline – the sales process has a lot of twists, turns and loops
2.New sales team skills – the old canned approach doesn’t work
3.The growing role of marketing
The sales processOld Funnel - and new reality
New structure full of twists and ‘bounces’ - pinball machine
Sales team skills
1.Buyers are experts – so sales people have to be MORE expert.
- - Experience, expertise and calibration needed- - Canned approaches don’t work well
Marketing has a growing role in revenue generation
The first 57% is marketing
The remaining
43% is sales & marketing
How do you get marketing to work in a B2B company?
3 lessons from
Lesson 1
Provide Support from the Top
Provide Support From The Top• If you don’t, marketing is not likely to succeed in mid-market B2B
companies • Lots of skepticism and lack of experience – requires senior buy-in to
overcome• How to provide that support:
1. Commit to a marketing budget for year one2. Provide leadership time for marketing (weekly meeting with
marketing leader for first 3 - 4 months)3. Put marketing leader on the executive committee4. CEOs should own marketing initiatives internally
Lesson 2
Marketing is not the Art Department
Marketing is not the Art Department• Most people in B2B think marketing = ‘what color is the logo’ • Marketers have to dispel this myth hard and fast • Marketing is about driving profitable revenue. It’s
a combination of quantitative (financial and data) skills and and qualitative (creativity and communications)
• Marketers should talk about ROI• Your lead marketer should not be
‘the brochure lady’
Lesson 3
Have Realistic Expectations
Have Realistic Expectations• Everyone thinks marketing is easy, that anyone can do it, and that
results will happen in a month or two • Because the purchasing cycle in B2B is long, marketing takes time to
have an impact. It isn’t a 3 or 6 month project. • Reality: 6 – 12 months to see pipeline
growth (depending on the buy cycle), and real impact is in years 2 and 3
The Radical Sales Shift
Available on
or from The Mezzanine Group (www.themezzaninegroup.com)