The areas of responsibility in b2b marketing have changed significantly in recent years. In addition to maintaining your own website, Google Adwords and Facebook Ads need to be placed, various social media channels need to be managed effectively, the potential of AI as a digital assistant needs to be exploited, texts for products that require explanation need to be written, the results in organic Google searches need to be right and the next trade fair or event is also on the agenda. b2b marketers in SMEs have always been good project managers. But many now find it difficult to keep up. And to be honest, it's no wonder given the variety of topics.
Current challenges facing marketing departments
The challenges facing marketing departments are greater than ever. First and foremost is digitalization, which offers a multitude of new distribution channels. This is accompanied by the multitude of data and key figures that are available to b2b marketers today. Linking these intelligently and using them to derive important information for the next campaign only works with the right IT systems. It is no longer so easy to find out what these are. The range on offer is huge and individual tools often overlap in parts. Which makes good planning essential. (As far as digital lead generation is concerned, we took a closer look at the right software in our blog post Inbound marketing software: marketing stack or complete solution?)
Marketers are also expected to keep up with the times, recognize new trends early on and take advantage of them. This requires the necessary flexibility. There is no longer one optimal marketing strategy. Instead, it must be adapted to market conditions in an ongoing process.
The role of the b2b marketing department
Before we look at the marketer, it is important to take a closer look at the organization of the marketing department. In b2b companies, these are often subordinate to sales and work as a service provider in a kind of staff position. As a result, the department is usually chronically overloaded and has to deal with tasks from various clients: "Can you finish the invitation mailing for the trade fair?" "We need a new flyer for the recruitment fair!" or "Have you researched a location for the customer event yet?"
The results are measured by how satisfied the individual "customer" is. If there are no problems, marketing is doing a great job!
Really?
Of course not! What is marketing all about? Of course, we want to attract attention, generate new contacts and support the sales department in increasing sales. All too often these strategic target definitions are still missing, leaving far too much potential lying on the street.
If you look at the distribution of tasks across the sales funnel, marketing was previously responsible for covering the first phase of information. In other words, presenting the face of the company to the outside world. In addition, sales is supported in the subsequent phases with corresponding content marketing. The tasks and marketing channels are usually considered separately. On the other hand, sales measures its work by the turnover generated. However, the two disciplines are not linked and there is little or no interaction between them. In this way, companies lose sales every day.
Areas of responsibility must be clearly defined
Modern b2b marketing can no longer be implemented in this way. The processes in marketing and sales management are complex and multi-layered. The customer journey is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. It often takes months before a purchase is made or at least contact is made with the sales department. The prospective customer has multiple contacts with the company via a wide variety of media. However, this requires clear responsibilities and a person responsible for the entire lead management process. Away from the idea of only carrying out individual measures.
Many marketing departments will have to take on more responsibility in the future. It has never been easier to generate new leads via the Internet. However, these are rarely "sales ready". They need to be developed and passed on to sales at the right moment.
Sales benefits from relevant leads where it makes sense to make contact and the prospect of closing a deal is significantly higher than with an initial contact.
Requirements for the marketing organization of the future
However, the fact that organizations today are mostly based on the old model is not due to a strong sales department and little understanding of these issues among management. No, marketing has also hidden behind its traditional tasks for a long time. Precisely the variety of tasks described above. A little bit of everything, but with too little focus on the entire lead process. To be prepared for the lead generation of tomorrow (see also Mark's eBook b2b Lead Generation), you need a lot of different skills. These include
- Data analytical understanding - numbers, numbers, numbers.... If you can't handle this, you have no business in modern marketing. A large part of the purchasing process takes place online. More or less everything can be measured there. This analytical understanding is a basic prerequisite for generating leads on the Internet today and aligning your campaigns accordingly.
- Understanding marketing strategy - Positioning b2b products today requires a lot of strategic groundwork, because in most cases they are competing with many rival products for the customer's attention. The right strategy is crucial.
- Web (technological) understanding - Google is often the starting point for every product purchase! For this reason, it is important today to know the systematics of the Internet. Starting with the basics of search engine optimization (see also SEO 2018 - topics clusters instead of keywords) through to various channels and advertising options
- Process thinking - keyword customer journey! The b2b marketer must know and understand the sales process from lead to customer instead of thinking in terms of individual campaigns.
- Content affinity - Not everyone is the best copywriter. And they don't have to be. Nevertheless, the b2b marketer needs a feeling for how to transport certain content to the target group via which channels. They need a feel for the market and the topics that move their customers. (see also How it works: Content marketing editorial plan)
- Product and market knowledge - The modern marketer cannot ignore the need to build up solid market and product knowledge over time. To do this, they need to know what makes customers tick and which topics are currently important on the market.
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