B2B marketers need to bridge the disconnect between senior management expectations and themselves, survey says

The new study was conducted by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and surveyed 237 marketers in conjunction with GfK, a global market research firm, releasing the results at the ANA/BMA16: Masters of B2B Marketing Conference this past week.

While marketers believe their key role is to build a brand and drive growth, the survey showed the disconnect between their goals and those of senior executives.

“Boosting brand awareness, customer experience and increasing customer loyalty is what CMOs said they are focused on but CEOs in the survey indicated they have different objectives," said Michelle M. Smith, vice president of marketing for O.C. Tanner during the conference. “Senior leadership want their marketing leaders to understand sales, think company wide, be a company wide brand leader and focus on customer acquisition.”

CEOs surveyed were clear that the job of the marketing manager was to understand sales and support them while many marketers said they focus most on customer experience and not product and sales. In fact, 81 per cent of marketers said they did not think it was important to be well versed in sales, which show a true disconnect as senior leaders feel quite the contrary.

“Are CEOs not making their objectives clear?” Smith asked. “The opportunity exists for a simple solution. Marketers need to have more conversations and clarity with senior leaders, and it is still possible to turn this disconnect around. Leaders want B2B marketers to demonstrate ROI, and understand how the customer works while CMOs say they are frustrated with the company culture and feel they do not have sufficient resources, whereas leadership says they have enough resources. As marketers, we will never become strategic and relevant if we can't have alignment within our own department and senior leaders."

Additionally, 98 per cent of marketers surveyed say they don't think it is important or their role to develop or recruit talent, while senior management sees it very differently. What this may indicate is that across the board marketers feel that they have the talent in house but it is not being tapped, have an ongoing disconnect with their sales departments, and are not being heard by senior management.

The study showed that 39 per cent of B-to-B marketers surveyed believe their roles are to ensure that the voice of the customer informs business strategy and to bring expert marketing competencies to the table. However, many also indicated that they are still struggling to be viewed as business drivers rather than as an extension of their companies’ sales divisions.

For example, only 42 percent said they have a seat at the top management table, and only 37 percent said they enjoy strong endorsement from senior management. In addition, 35 percent of respondents said senior management is still focused on the product and price and not on insights into the customer.

To help B-to-B marketers achieve their goals and overcome obstacles, the ANA study offered the following recommendations:

• Partner with sales to drive business growth. Business marketers’ should work as a strategic partner with sales to drive revenue growth, boost brand awareness, and increase customer loyalty and retention.
• Shift the focus of strategy from product to consumer. B-to-B companies that achieve higher revenue relative to their competition focus marketing efforts on driving a consistent brand identity across buyer touch points, strengthening strategic brand imagery, and boosting brand awareness.
• Inspire the entire organization to build business growth. Marketing managers in companies with higher revenue relative to their competition are more likely to agree that researchers, sales teams, and IT are receptive to their marketing efforts.
• Prove ROI to ensure marketing is perceived as a competitive advantage. Measuring campaign results elevates marketing’s contribution to business growth and enables it to be perceived as a competitive advantage.
• Acquire the tools and digital skill sets needed to compete today. When asked where B-to-B marketing will be in the next three to five years, 71 percent of respondents said that digital marketing and technological skill sets will be required of them. However, only 7 percent reported having effective processes in place for capturing data on buyer behavior, attitudes, and engagement.