Who doesn’t love a good B2B marketing statistic?!

Whether to back up your marketing strategy, or provide you with some food for thought, check out the 5 most shocking B2B marketing stats we’ve taken note of so far in 2021…

1. B2B Buying Journey

43% of B2B purchases involve 8 or more stakeholders in the decision-making process (Google)

B2B buying journeys and sales cycles can be long.

This makes determining the ROI of marketing efforts particularly difficult, especially for businesses early on in their marketing strategies.

Check out our tips on turning B2B advertising into actual ROI.

With so many stakeholders and decision-makers involved in purchasing decisions, it’s also important for B2B marketers to remember to target all influencers involved. Plus, it’s essential to tailor your messaging to the different personas within the buying process.

2. B2B Podcasting

54% of podcast listeners say they are more likely to consider buying from the brands they hear advertised on podcasts (Edison Research)

Not using podcasting in your marketing strategy?

Based on the clear impact podcast advertising can have on sales, 2021 might be the year you want to start incorporating podcasting into your content or advertising strategy.

In 2018, it was reported that 17% of marketers were actively planning to add podcasting to their strategy (HubSpot).

Considering that the majority of listeners are more likely to make purchasing decisions from brands they hear advertised on podcasts, podcast marketing strategies are set to become priorities for even more marketers in 2021.

Want some podcast recommendations? Check out our top 10 business podcasts.

3. Reaching Modern B2B Buyers

94% of B2B buyers are fully informed about a business before making contact (Google)

This is a staggering statistic that illustrates the importance of not focussing solely on conversions and sales as key performance indicators.

Think of all the times you’ve booked a demo with a company after visiting their website once. Am I right in guessing that those instances are close to zero?

Basing the ‘good results’ of an advertising campaign exclusively on last-click conversions is a short-sighted approach that does not take into consideration the fact that only 6% of people will convert on their first visit to your site.

Focus on educating your audience about your amazing, unique, services to make your marketing work for the long term.

4. Data and Attribution

43% of B2B organisations don’t know which marketing or sales channels are driving them qualified leads (Digital Clarity).

A large proportion of businesses are often unsure of which marketing or sales channels drive the most qualified leads.

Why is this?

More often than not, businesses don’t take the time to delve into the data or keep a track of initial enquiries to qualified leads by channel.

Hubspot’s State of Marketing Report 2021 revealed that only 54% of marketers are using attribution reporting to analyse which marketing channels are influencing buying decisions.

This is a worrying statistic but serves to further illustrate why some businesses are not clear on which marketing channels are providing them with the best results.

5. Marketing and Sales Alignment

42% of B2B marketers rate the alignment between marketing and sales teams to be fair or poor (Content Marketing Institute)

An essential ingredient for B2B companies’ growth is a synergy between marketing and sales.

It’s the marketing team’s role to generate the right leads at scale, as well as building brand recognition. It’s the sales team’s role to nurture these qualified leads and eventually close them.

However, for each to do their job at maximum potential, there must be correspondence and alignment between the two.

A comprehensive CRM system is integral in ensuring marketing and sales teams are able to work together to generate and close the right deals.

67% of marketers said their customer relationship management (CRM) system is important to support their company’s sales enablement efforts (Content Marketing Institute).

How to Utilise B2B Marketing Stats

We’ve curated 5 of the most shocking B2B marketing stats in 2021.

So, what now?

Well, we hope we’ve made you reflect on your own marketing strategy and identified any key opportunities.

Do you need to work on better identifying which marketing channels are performing well?

Does your marketing strategy focus too heavily on conversion rather than a holistic focus on branding?

Do you need to improve the internal process between marketing and sales teams?

Will you be thinking of incorporating some new marketing techniques, such as podcasting, into your 2021/22 strategy?

If you’d like to speak further about how to improve your marketing strategy, reach out to our team or connect with me on LinkedIn.