Whenever significant research is undertaken to highlight the outlook for Australian B2B marketing, it must be congratulated. So here’s to the ADMA, Marketing Magazine and researchers Green Hat Marketing.
As I’ve noted before, there’s plenty of stats coming out of the United States for us here in Australia to discuss but never enough locally-sourced research.
This particular report didn’t unveil anything radical but it probably confirms the changes that everyone in the industry is feeling. I thought what the report highlighted as five ‘key observations’ was interesting to read and I wanted to bring them to your attention and throw in my own thoughts.
It’s a digital world
The observation is based primarily on the fact that marketing budgets for digital and traditional are almost at a par and one would suggest digital will supersede traditional this time next year.
An interesting stat to check out in the report is the one that highlights the trends for intended use of traditional and digital marketing activities. Website, email, social media and mobile activation are the key activities driving the strong trend to digital.
Inbound (and social) reach tipping point
This may be a little misleading. The report notes that there may be disparate opinions between sales teams looking for immediate leads and the marketing department looking to create content marketing platforms for future strength.
Marketers need to think ‘left-brain’ and systemise
The report highlights that many of the key challenges faced by marketers include marketing automation, lead generation, data maintenance, etc all challenges that can be solved with the right system processes. If the marketer gets these processes right they will find themselves making more efficient and effective decisions, if they do not then they run the risk of falling into that chasm of irrelevance.
Traditional marketing methods are not cutting it
The difference in marketing budgets between traditional and digital was 12% in favour of traditional in 2012. This time around the difference is just 4%.
But bucking the trends is public relations and in-person events, with more than 30% of respondents stating they will do more of both activities in the next year.
What does all this mean for the B2B marketer?
Life sure is changing for the B2B marketer. Within the next 12 months digital marketing will have a greater share of our marketing budgets. The marketer must diversify, they must play well with the IT department to automate processes, and they must learn to accurately demonstrate ROI performance.
The numbers we all love
The gap between 2013 budget allocated to digital marketing (24%) and traditional/offline marketing (28%) has reduced to just 4%. The difference reported in this study last year was 12%.
Nearly two thirds (65%) will be doing more lead nurture marketing with personalised content, or starting that activity.
To check out the report in full check it out ‘B2B Marketing Outlook Australia 2013‘.
