According to the release of the 2015 B2B Marketing Trends, Predictions and Forecasts report from Regalix, B2B marketing leaders in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, are looking closer at deploying a mix of content and channels to get the best yield from marketing efforts. The research indicates a gradual shift among B2B marketers toward investing more in digital channels to meet their marketing goals.
While the traditional channels of marketing aren’t going away, they will see reduced investments in the coming years. In the digital marketing space, Search, Email, and Social continue to dominate, signaling a clear need for further innovation that digital agencies and content providers need to address. In addition, videos and webcasts are growing in importance.
Compared To 2014, Marketers’ Anticipated Marketing Budget Change In 2015
- Increase 50%
- Decrease 14%
- Stays the Same 36%
The report says that increase in revenue continued to be the top priority marketing objective for the coming year, as it was the last year. Improved Engagement/Customer Relationship has fallen in priority, suggesting that marketers, especially in the B2B space, are yet to find a direct correlation between increased customer engagement and sales.
| The Top Marketing Objectives Accomplished In 2014 | |
| Objective | % of Respondents |
| Increase in revenue |
67% |
| Increase in customers acquired |
59% |
| Increase in sales |
63% |
| Increase in leads generated |
65% |
| Improved engagement / customer relationship |
55% |
| Source: Regalix, January 2015 | |
| Top Priority Marketing Objectives For Brand In 2015 | |
| Objective | % of Respondents |
| Increase in revenue |
71% |
| Increase in customers acquired |
65% |
| Increase in sales |
63% |
| Increase in leads generated |
63% |
| Improved brand awareness |
59% |
| Source: Regalix, January 2015 | |
In terms of their planned marketing spend, Digital/Online Marketing dominated with 82% of respondents saying they plan to increase their online spend in 2015. 52% said they plan to spend over 50% of their marketing budget toward digital this year, as compared to 36% last year.
| Planned Allocation Of Marketing Budget Towards Digital/Online Marketing Initiatives (FY 2015) | |
| Allocation |
% of Respondents |
| <10% |
3% |
| 10-25% |
15% |
| 25-50% |
30% |
| >50% |
52% |
| Source: Regalix, January 2015 | |
Among the different online channels that marketers invested into in the year 2014, the Website proved to be the most effective of all, followed by Email, SEO and Social. The same channels have found favor for investment this year too, with increased spends indicated:
- SEO (Organic Search) 57%
- Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn etc) 54%
- Email 48%
- PPC (Paid search) 43%
- Social Communities 40%
Over a third of marketers plan to decrease their spends on Mobile App, Mobile QR Code or Mobile Messaging this year. The only area that can expect an increase in spends in the mobile space is in the development of Mobile Websites.
Plan To Decrease Digital Spend In The Year 2015
- Mobile QR Code 40%
- Mobile Messaging (text messaging) 40%
- Mobile App31%
Plan To Increase Marketing Spend In The Year 2015
- Website Content 67%
- Online videos 65%
- Case Studies 55%
- Blogs 46%
- Social Posts (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) 46%
Marketing Content Types Planned To Decrease
- Spending In The Year 2015
- Handouts 32%
- Billboard 31%
- Brochures29%
- Flyers29%
Among the various marketing programs that our respondents preferred to invest in, search topped the list, followed by Email Marketing, Social and Online Events. In keeping with the trend this year, offline programs can expect lesser investments.
| Marketing Programs Budgeted For 2015 | |
| Program | % of Respondents |
| Search (Organic) |
81% |
| Email Marketing |
79 |
| Online Events (workshops, seminars etc) |
77 |
| Social Marketing |
77 |
| Public Relations |
74 |
| Physical Tradeshows & Events |
73 |
| Search (Paid) |
72 |
| Online Display Marketing |
69 |
| Mobile Marketing |
65 |
| Print Advertising |
65 |
| Telemarketing |
65 |
| Direct Mail |
64 |
| Radio / Television Advertising |
59 |
| Source: Regalix, January 2015 | |
In Search, 46% of respondents indicated that they plan to increase spend in Organic and Paid search in the coming 12 months, says the report. On the Social side, 85% of respondents said that they would spend more on LinkedIn this year, followed by Twitter at 78% and YouTube at 70%. Facebook, on the other hand, appears to be falling out of favor with B2B marketers with as much as 48% of them preferring to spend less on it this year. 61% of the marketers said they plan to increase spend on Lead-nurturing Mailers in the coming year.
The Five Marketing Challenges Faced In The Year 2015 (% of Respondents)
- Converting Leads to Customers 52%
- Measuring ROI 52%
- Acquiring New Customers 40%
- Generating More Leads 38%
- Lack of Resources 35%
- Lack of Budget 31%
With regard to what they think would determine the success of their digital marketing initiatives over the next 3 years, the overriding factors for a majority of the marketers were in understanding the customer buying journey and in delivering the right content to the customer using the right channel at different stages of this journey.
Importance Of Digital Marketing Initiatives Over The Next 3 Years
- 87% say understanding customer buying journey
- 76% say educating and influencing purchase by mapping right content assets and distribution channels to key stages in the customer buying journey
- 57% say attributing and measuring performance of multiple channels used
- by customers in their buying journey
- 46% say measuring effectiveness of digital vs offline marketing activities
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