B2B Marketing's core role is to generate leads that convert to revenue. Therefore, it's self evident that investing in marketing is important to your business growth. Well quite. But exactly how much is enough? Business leaders are struggling to understand: In what type of marketing should you invest? Should you switch to digital tactics? if so, how? How do you measure marketing? Here are some key statistics from a survey on marketing spending from a new Gartner offering called "Gartner for Marketing leaders." The data is revealing. More money is being spent on marketing to attract and acquire new customers. READ MORE ›

With the shift to inbound or pull marketing well underway, there is also a shift in the marketing skillsets required to get the job done. B2B Marketing Managers are struggling to manage their team's skills transition. At the same time marketing agencies (a traditional source of specific skills) are also undergoing a massive change towards hybrid digital-centric agencies. The old days of $5k per month PR retainers are rapidly disappearing in favour of agencies who can provide services across the spectrum. (Marketing Services is no less immune to disintermediation than other sectors). So what is the laundry list of READ MORE ›

According to our benchmark study of 1,400 businesses, one in three of them places alignment between the sales department and the marketing department as the No. 1 priority. Measurement makes a surprising contribution. The study, conducted by align.me in co-operation with United States-based online publishing company MarketingProfs.com, showed that those businesses which had achieved marketing-sales alignment were significantly more successful than their competitors. Those businesses with the greatest degree of alignment were: Growing 5.4 per cent faster than their less-aligned counterparts when compared with businesses within the same industry. Closing 38 per cent more proposals than non-aligned READ MORE ›