Report: More CMOs Prioritizing New Buyers in Growth Strategies
As CMOs look ahead to the New Year and beyond, research suggests that they will be moving from a more product-centric marketing strategy to a buyer-centric model.
The “2017 Global CMO Study” from SiriusDecisions recently looked at responses from 271 B2B CMOs from around the globe. Marketers were asked to rank their growth strategies in terms of importance to their company over the next two years on a scale of 0 to 100. The majority of respondents said that new buyers (24.2) was most critical to their methodology. This was followed by new markets (23.5), new offerings (21.7), productivity (20) and acquisition (10.6).
“CMOs are increasingly championing a range of transformational initiatives designed to adapt marketing to support new strategies,” wrote the authors of the report. “There is one initiative in particular that continues to be top of mind for CMOs, and that is the shift from product-centricity to audience-centricity.”
However, CMOs are aware that they may face a few challenges along the way. When asked to name their two top obstacles, respondents said “Developing content that satisfies buyers’ needs throughout their decision-making process” and a “Lack of buyer insights.” Other anticipated hurdles include organizational readiness, insufficient data, prioritizing growth opportunities and generating high-quality leads.
B2B Marketers and Customer Relationships
B2B marketers, in particular, have already been faced with similar challenges, according to previous research.
Part 3 of Merkle Loyalty Solution’s “B-to-B Loyalty Report” recently uncovered the types of obstacles B2B marketers are facing as they look to achieve their top objectives. Thirty-one percent of buyers stated that marketers do not understand their needs. About 30 percent claimed that they do not understand their company.
“B-to-B sellers who can hit the ground running with their new clients — already familiar with their business operations, daily challenges, and pending opportunities — have a far better chance of creating additional B-to-B relationships and closing deals than sellers without the necessary background or industry knowledge,” wrote the authors of the report.