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Why Innovation Reigns Supreme in 2023 B2B Marketing
By Harry Mackin
Complacency has never been an option in B2B marketing. The products we sell are highly complex, the clients we sell to are highly exacting, our buying cycle is (much) longer, there are fewer customers to go around, and our competition is fierce.
Getting ahead in B2B marketing has always been about innovating faster at scale than everyone else. But in 2023, that kind of innovation isn’t just necessary for standing apart. It’s table stakes for merely keeping up!
2023 has created something of a perfect storm for B2B marketing. We’re facing a recession, budgets are down, customer expectations are up, and, on top of it all, radical new AI applications are changing the way marketing works forever.
As the stakes continue to rise, the B2B marketers who prove up to the challenge will be the ones who are able to transform these challenges into opportunities through innovation.
“As the stakes continue to rise, the B2B marketers who prove up to the challenge will be the ones who are able to transform these challenges into opportunities through innovation.” — Harry Mackin of @TopRank
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Of course, in order to do that, we’ll have to acknowledge and confront those challenges head on. Here are four reasons why B2B marketers will have to innovate to survive in 2023 – along with some analysis on how to turn these challenges into great opportunities to innovate.
1 — Budgets are tightening, but expectations are up
According to over 400 North American and European CMOs surveyed in the latest marketing budget report from Gartner, marketing budgets have still yet to recover from the COVID pandemic. In fact, as the unstable economic climate continues, marketing budgets seem to be caught in the crosshairs once more.
Gains reported by CMOs surveyed in the 2022 Gartner report have slipped from 9.5% of company revenue on average down to 9.1% in 2023. The situation is getting dire enough that over 70% of Gartner’s respondents reported that their enterprise lacked sufficient budget or resources to fully deliver on their 2023 marketing strategy.
But then, when the economy slows and company revenue streams constrict, marketing becomes more important than ever… budget or no budget. Most CMOs surveyed by Gartner in 2023 also reported that their enterprises are counting on them more than ever, with three out of four going so far as to say their c-suite is asking them to “do more with less.”
“When the economy slows and company revenue streams constrict, marketing becomes more important than ever… budget or no budget.” — Harry Mackin of @TopRank
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What does “doing more with less come down to?” Innovation as a necessity. Nearly nine out of ten (86%) of surveyed CMOs reported that they’re under pressure to “make significant changes to how marketing works” in order to achieve sustainable results during difficult times.
- The opportunity: Granted, this sounds like a pretty dire situation. But as Einstein once said, “within every crisis, …read more
Source:: Top Rank Blog
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