B2b Insight[2]

PUBLISHED: February 2009

MARKETING

B2B Marketing Insight 2008

Marketing industry network ContaCts

niCky unsworthChairman

gordon [email protected]

Mark gorManHead of [email protected]

keith PriCeHead of [email protected]

riChard drayCottEditor, The [email protected]

eMMa stewartBusiness Development ManagerDirect Dial: 0141 559 [email protected]

Marketing industry networkMercat Building4th Floor26 GallowgateGlasgow G1 5AB

t: 0141 552 5858 F: 0141 559 6050e: [email protected]

Published February 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Copyright © Marketing Industry Network 2009

B2B Marketing Insight 2008

Produced in conjunction with Sponsored by

B2B Marketing Insight 2008A research project into current trends and attitudes within UK business-to-business marketing

CONTENTS

Executive summary 03

Introduction 07

Section 1 State of the market 13

Section 2 Targeting customers 19

Section 3 Marketing channels and techniques 25

Section 4 Digital marketing 33

Section 5 Marketing effectiveness 39

Section 6 Environmental issues and corporate social responsibility 45

Section 7 Marketing data 49

Section 8 Branding 55

Section 9 Keeping up-to-date in B2B marketing 59

Appendices

1. Detailed profile of respondents 64

2. Author biographies 71

www.b2bm.biz www.gyrointernational.com www.maven.co.uk

Executive summary

Executive summary | 0�

B2B Marketing and Gyro International wanted to create a definitive picture of the rapidly emerging B2B marketing sector, to help practitioners develop their marketing strategies in an increasingly challenging market. The key findings are summarised below:

State of the market

The B2B marketing sector once again demonstrated that it is a confident and buoyant part of the

marketing industry, with 91% of companies describing themselves as ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ confident.

The sense of optimism enjoyed by B2B marketers almost certainly relates back to marketing

budgets, which have increased for the majority over the last 1-2 years. 57% of respondents said their

budget had increased, of which more than half said their budget had grown by more than 20%.

Respondents also suggested that optimism would continue, with two thirds expecting budgets to

continue increasing over the next 1-2 years – again, half by at least 20%.

Marketing channels

Digital media continues to increase in popularity, although the survey suggests that traditional

channels are far from redundant, and in some cases may even be experiencing a resurgence.

E-mail marketing was confirmed, once again, as the most popular marketing channel for B2B

marketers, as well as the most effective. 76% of respondents currently use e-mail for marketing

purposes, with 17% citing it as their most effective medium.

But whilst e-mail may have stolen the limelight from traditional channels, direct mail in particular

remains a popular route to market, utilised by 71% of marketers. This is despite the fact that only

4% regard it as their most effective route to market.

Looking ahead, e-mail marketing and search look set to benefit from the biggest increase in

investment, with 60% expecting to raise budgets for e-mail marketing or e-newsletters in the next

1-2 years. This compares with 33% who will increase investment in direct mail, the second most

popular response, whilst 29% who will focus more on search and 24% on events.

The fact that 60% of respondents are concerned about ‘inbox clutter’ suggests that the growth

of e-mail is unlikely to continue at its current rate, and that marketers may even become more

selective with this channel in future.

0� | Executive summary

Executive summary


Measurability

Transparency and accountability of marketing activity is on the rise, according to the research,

with 56% stating that they can track and measure the effectiveness of all campaigns – up from

50% in 2007. A hard core of 15% still remain unable to measure the effectiveness of any of

their campaigns.

E-mail is generally considered to generate better responses than traditional DM, with a response

rate of up to 22% on certain campaigns. By contrast, the best DM campaigns are only likely to

bring in 12%.

ROI is still regarded as the primary success criteria used to evaluate the marketing function, but

despite this less than 50% of respondents have systems in place to measure the effectiveness of

such campaigns.

Education, training and knowledge management

Two thirds of B2B marketers believe they are reasonably or very well informed regarding advances

in digital marketing techniques. However, actual usage appears more limited, and a significant

information gap remains. Only 46% of respondents are using digital techniques either ‘to a great

extent’ or ‘to a certain extent’, whilst 39% of respondents claim to be using digital techniques

either ‘not a great deal’ or ‘not at all’.

Publications continue to be the primary source of information on new developments in marketing

(cited by 85% of respondents), although websites and events are becoming more significant.

Events were cited by 67% of respondents, up from 55% in 2007.

Environment and corporate responsibility

The preoccupation of consumer marketers with environmental issues and corporate social

responsibility has yet to translate to the B2B sector. Only 34% of companies currently claim

to have an operational CSR programme, whilst less than one third currently promote their

environmental credentials to B2B customers.

Brand

Attitudes to branding amongst B2B companies remain mixed, with both understanding and

recognition of the importance of the issue varying widely. Three quarters of respondents suggest

that brands are as important in B2B as they are in B2C, but less than a third have a clearly defined

brand values system, and only 34% have a corporate brand architecture.

Executive summary | 0�

0� | Executive summary


Introduction

Introduction | 0�

0� | Introduction

Danny Turnbull, General Manager, Gyro International

It’s just over a year since we carried out our first B2B Marketing

Insight research, and I’m very pleased to be associated with this

for the second consecutive year.

In the 16 years that I have worked in B2B communications,

I have seen the industry grow from the old ‘trade and tech’

days when it was perceived to be a poor relation to the more

glamorous B2C sector, into an extremely sophisticated and

competitive multi billion pound, global industry. Latest estimates

from Keynote report suggest global expenditure on B2B

marketing is £11.3 billion per annum in the UK alone.

Both Gyro International and B2B Marketing have their roots very

firmly in this specialist sector and the B2B Marketing Insight

Report underlines our commitment to increasing the formal

knowledge base in this sector.

Whilst the B2B sector has become increasingly crowded,

the rush of new entrants has done little to improve the formal

knowledge base which, though extremely well researched at

an academic level, still suffers terribly in terms of credibility,

cohesiveness and rigour at the cutting edge.

I’m heartened to see that the quality and spread of respondents

has improved year on year which is, I’m sure, a reflection of the

improving stock of the sector. It’s also particularly encouraging

that the sector is so gung ho about activity and expenditure over

the coming year as many of our counterparts in the B2C sector

are reporting the converse. In fact I’m sure there is a famous

quote about what smart marketers do in a recession…

On the other hand it’s no surprise that expenditure is being

increasingly diverted towards the most quantifiable and

responsive media such as direct and digital, with falling

expenditure on press. Conventional channels are still important

tools in the B2B marketer’s armoury but it is digital that

represents the largest growth opportunity with over 40% of

marketers stating that this is not currently being best used, an

issue linked to a lack of understanding of the media. This does

not surprise me and represents an important opportunity or

challenge for digital media providers to address.

Whilst B2B budgets are perhaps less substantial than those in

B2C markets, it’s good to see they are being increased and it

would seem that this correlates with both more formal budgeting

and a drive towards marketing accountability. However it’s

amazing that over 50% of our sample still don’t measure return

on marketing investment, and link this to an inability to do so

(another famous quote struggling to get out!). And whilst the

research shows the importance of brands in this sector is

increasingly being recognised, only 7% of respondents measure

the strength of these!

This report highlights a number of other challenges our

industry faces, some of them perennial and others emerging.

It is disappointing to see a lack of control of customer data

and the resultant unsophisticated targeting. As a marketing

communications practitioner, I’m relieved to see that the

creation of relevant messaging is still such an important issue.

The importance of insight driven creativity is an enduring driver

for success within marketing, and it’s the companies that

can truly master this fundamental and basic skill of effective

communication that will continue to see success as our

market develops.

Evolving challenges in the world of B2B

[email protected]


Joel Harrison, Editor, B2B Marketing

There are many ways to define and describe the role of

marketing within an organisation: some of which are more

accurate and more positive than others. Certainly a key

aspect of marketing’s role is to define the outward face of the

organisation; to establish the manner and the tone with which it

communicates with customers, prospects and the wider world.

Of course, much of the actual communication will be conducted

or executed by other departments – such as sales or customer

service – but it should be marketing that sets the ground rules.

And herein lies one of the great ironies of marketing. Whilst it

is the department responsible for defining how and when the

organisation interacts with others, its practitioners typically

struggle or are reluctant to communicate with one another. Many

marketers effectively work in a vacuum: at worst isolated and

embattled within their organisation, fighting for relevance against

the abrasiveness of sales and the semi-autistic IT function.

Consequently, the opportunities to learn anything of real value

from peers are few and far between, particularly in B2B sectors,

where marketers may work in narrow, highly competitive

niches, where information sharing with potential competitors is

commercial suicide. The disparate and disconnected nature of

the various marketing trade bodies reflects this situation, with

no single body representing the majority of practitioners, and

campaigning for their interests. In short, there is no esprit de

corps in marketing.

Of course, I’m not suggesting it’s an unrewarding profession to

be in – far from it! But I am seeking to highlight the importance

of opportunities for marketers to learn from one another, and

understand the wider environment; particularly those in B2B

sectors. Providing a means to do just this is one of the primary

motivators for this study.

B2B Marketing Insight offers practitioners a rare glimpse into

the mindsets of colleagues from across the community, and

allows them to measure their views and experiences against the

wider market. To date it’s the only attempt to take a meaningful

measure of the key issues facing practitioners and their views

on the future of their markets. As such, it should make essential

reading for anyone seeking to work in or understand this vibrant

and complex community.

I hope readers find its conclusions as engaging and thought-

provoking as I have, and use it to help drive the evolution of their

marketing strategies. And just as importantly, I hope it manages

to make the B2B marketing sector just that bit more empowered

and more connected. After all, working in a vacuum can get very

lonely – as the strapline from a Hollywood blockbuster once

read, in space no one can hear you scream.

Introduction | 0�

[email protected]

Knowledge is power

10 | Introduction

About this report

Background

In 2006 B2B Marketing and Gyro International carried out a study

into current trends and attitudes within UK B2B marketing. This

was the most in-depth study of its kind to probe into the UK B2B

landscape, which the final data showed to be an industry turning

over just under £10 billion a year. This year’s report builds

upon the initial findings and aims to provide a more in-depth

knowledge of the issues facing marketers, and current focus

points for the B2B industry.

Objectives

The objectives of this research were to:

• Provide clear insights on marketing trends that can be used

by practitioners to help enhance their strategies and the

success of their organisation

• Provide meaningful insight into B2B marketing

• Assess how the industry is evolving

• Gauge practitioners’ understanding of key marketing issues

Methodology

The research took the form of an online survey of B2B Marketing

subscribers, trailers and contacts. Potential respondents were

e-mailed a closed link to the survey, which allowed them to start

the survey, and re-access it at a later stage if they did not have

time to complete it in one sitting.

This method ensured that opinions were captured only once per

respondent, and also enabled us to track who had completed

the survey and who hadn’t. This information was used to send

reminder e-mails to those who had not yet taken part. An open

link was also featured on the B2B Marketing home page to allow

visitors to the site to take part in the research. Fieldwork took

place during January and February 2008, and 192 respondents

took part in the 20 minute survey.

All results in this report are expressed as a percentage of the

responses given, unless otherwise stated.


Gender 200� 200�

Female 46% 48%

Male 54% 52%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 1�0 1�2

Age 200� 200�

Under 25 8% 7%

25-34 42% 37%

35-44 37% 36%

45-54 9% 13%

55 and over 4% 7%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 1�� 1�2

Salary Bands 200� 200�

Up to £20k 8% 7%

£21k-£30k 21% 19%

£31k-£40k 25% 18%

£41k-£50k 14% 14%

£51k-£60k 6% 5%

£61k-£80k 12% 10%

£81k-£100k 6% 7%

More than £100k 1% 7%

Prefer not to say 8% 14%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 1�� 1�2

Number of Employees

200� 200�

1-9 2% 20%

10-49 31% 24%

50-249 34% 26%

250 + 32% 30%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 12� 1�2

Company Turnover (to nearest million)

200� 200�

£1 million - 26%

£2-£5 million - 22%

£6-£10 million - 11%

£11-£40 million - 15%

£41 million and above - 26%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 12� 1�2

Scope of Business

200� 200�

Within the local area 1% 3%

Within the region 11% 10%

National/within UK 44% 36%

Extends to European markets 9% 13%

Extends internationally /worldwide 34% 39%

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 1�0 1�2

Respondent profile

Respondents were all required to be marketing decision

makers in companies targeting a B2B audience. The chart

below summarises the profile of participants, and compares it

to B2B Marketing Insight 2007. More information on the profile

of the participants can be found in the Appendix, starting on

page 63.

Introduction | 11

12 | Introduction


Section 1State of the marketA key objective of Insight was to gauge the level of confidence of the B2B marketing sector. Business-to-business marketers are gradually shaking off the ‘poor relation’ tag that has historically been attributed to them. The authors wanted to understand how confident marketers operating in the B2B sector are, and what’s been happening to their marketing budgets in recent months. Insight 200� confirms the finding of the previous year’s study, that B2B marketers remain confident about the future prospects for their organisation, and that marketing budgets are generally rising.

State of the market | 1�

1.1 Q Has your overall marketing spend increased or decreased in the last 1 to 2 years?

B2B marketers remain bullish about the future, with 57% having seen

an increase in marketing budget over recent years, while only 11%

have seen this figure decline. This is broadly similar to the findings in

last year’s Insight report.

2007

2008

25% 15% 4%

26% 11% 7%

Stayed the same Don’t knowDecreasedIncreased

56%

57%

1.2 Q By what percentage?

1-10%

11-20%

21-30%

31-40%

41-50%

51-60%

21%31%

23%19%

20%6%

61-70%

5%6%

3%6%

71-80%3%

6%

81-90%

91-100%

Increased

Decreased

1� | State of the market

15%25%

0%0%

10%0%

1%0%


1.3 Q Reasons given for the forecasted changes in marketing budgets include:

INCREASE

• Business growth – marketing is valued within the company to

create brand awareness, new customer acquisition and also

for customer retention.

• Aggressive growth strategy, an acquisitive board, and

expanded marketing department responsibilities.

• Because in a hard market we will need to spend more to

attract customers.

• Because we will need to market our product to countries

outside the UK.

DECREASE

• All budgets are being cut.

• Based on business performance and rumblings by the board of

a lack of proven ROI on the marketing spend to justify anything

other than a similar or lower budget for 2008/2009.

• Our board is unfamiliar with how much should be allocated to

marketing and I am in the process of educating members on

the benefits. Also there was a management buyout last year

which has made the team uneasy on spending at the moment.


It is interesting that ‘lack of ROI’ is cited as a reason for a cut in

marketing investment. The ability of digital channels to provide

vastly improved measurement capabilities has proven to be both a

great opportunity and significant headache for marketers in many

organisations, with directors increasingly seeing any form of marketing

investment that cannot be measured as wasted. The result is that

such firms are only conducting marketing that can be measured,

regardless of whether it is the best way of meeting organisational

objectives. The push towards ROI is also undermining investment in

effective targeting and creative thinking.

Over half of all respondents have seen an increase specifically within

their B2B marketing spend in the last 1-2 years – more than half of

these have seen an increase of more than 20%.

• Communication

• CRM

• Data quality and management

• Differentiation of offerings

• Use and misuse of e-marketing

• Measuring ROI/success

• Technology

• Understanding B2B communication

Respondents were asked to list what they felt were the three most important current issues in B2B marketing. Some of the most common themes included:

1.4 Q How confident are you about the future economic climate for your organisation?

The majority of B2B marketers surveyed (91%) were relatively

confident about the future economic climate in the context of their

own business. No significant differences in these results were

identified by segment.

It is very interesting to note that confidence remains buoyant amongst

the B2B marketing community, despite ongoing negative reporting

of the economic prospects in the general media. The research was

conducted at the beginning of 2008, when fears about a possible

recession were already gathering momentum. The most likely reason

why respondents remain bullish is probably that there is a lag between

any impact on the consumer economy and business buying, and that

B2B organisations had not yet begun to feel the tightening of budgets.

It will be very interesting to track.

2007

2008

28% 65% 7%

26% 65% 9%

Very confident Not very confidentFairly confident




1.5 Q Do you expect your overall marketing spend to increase or decrease in the next 1 to 2 years?

2007

2008

38% 4% 6%

26% 4% 6%

Stay the same Don’t knowDecreaseIncrease

52%

64%

1.6 Q By what percentage?

1 – 10%

11 – 20%

21 – 30%

31 – 40%

41 – 50%

51 – 60%

30%

24%

18%

61 – 70%

1%

12%

71 – 80%

81 – 90%

91 – 100% 13%

1%

Increased

1%

0%

0%


Section 2Targeting customersThe B2B sector encompasses a wide variety of industries with very different dynamics and correspondingly a disparate range of target audiences. It therefore follows that marketing to these different customer bases would also vary widely, and the authors wanted to illustrate the extent to which different medias and messages were used for different objectives, and their relative effectiveness. This section also examines the various challenges faced by marketers targeting business decision makers in different industries.

Targeting customers | 1�

2.1 Q Which sizes of organisation does your business target?

34%

53%

Micro business

Small business

71%

76%

Medium business

Large business

It is interesting to note that most respondents are targeting larger

organisations ahead of smaller ones. This may explain why confi dence

remains high amongst respondents, with large corporates less likely to

be hit hard by growing economic uncertainly, or to reign in their spend.

However, given the size of the SME community, and its collective

spending power, it is possible that companies are missing

opportunities to provide services to the SME sector, which is

increasingly recognised as the ‘engine’ of the economy, driving most

growth and creating most opportunities.

20 | Targeting customers


59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008

34% Extends internationally/worldwide

9% Extends to european markets

34% National/within the UK

11% Within the region

15% Within the local area






2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No

7% Not at all well informed

29% Not very well informed

51% Fairly well informed

13% Very well informed

13% No

50% Yes for some campaigns

37% Yes for all campaigns

15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes

28% Less important than in B2C marketing

5% More important than in B2C marketing

66% As important as in B2C marketing

26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail

40% Partial access only

22% No direct access/difficult to collate

38% Yes direct and immediate access

2.3 Q Do you use different channels to target different sizes of organisation?

2.2 Q Do you use different creative to target different sizes of organisation?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




The fact that the majority of organisations do not tailor creative to appeal

to different sizes of organisation is a very interesting fi nding from this

research. Business decision makers at SMEs behave and think in a very

different way to their counterparts in larger organisations, and will have

different pain points. Not devising creative to appeal to these particularly

emotional and/or rational touch-points is surprising and perhaps

worrying. It suggests a lack of willingness to invest in creative and a

lack of sophistication amongst marketers. It would seem that they are

breaking one of the cardinal rules of B2B marketing: know your audience,

and talk to it in a relevant and meaningful fashion.

Targeting customers | 21

2.4 Q Which channels do you use to target various sizes of organisations?

The most widely used channels are as follows:

Whilst marketers are not tailoring their creative for the audience, at

least they are tailoring the means of communication, or the channel.

However, whilst the percentages vary, there are some strong and

common themes. Direct mail is still considered a powerful means

of reaching smaller and medium-sized companies, but not large

businesses. E-mail is consistently strong across the board. Face-

to-face marketing, through events or exhibitions, becomes stronger

and stronger the further you go up the organisational hierarchy, with

‘events and seminars’ cited as the most powerful medium for reaching

business decision makers in large organisations, but not even in the

top five for meeting micro-businesses. This suggests that marketers

believe if they can engage directly with these decision makers, this

will be crucial in generating a favourable response. In the same way,

PR is also considered increasingly important for medium and large

organisations. Perhaps the view is that education is the key barrier

to marketing success for executives at companies of this level, and

that the best means of education is via events or publications. As

an addendum, it is very interesting to note that printed brochures,

arguably the oldest marketing medium around, are still considered

effective when dealing with buyers at both ends of the spectrum.

MEDIuM BuSINESS (50-250 EMPLOYEES)

E-mail marketing 75%

Direct mail to potential customers 71%

Direct mail to existing customers 67%

Events/Seminars 60%

Exhibitions 60%

PR 60%

LARGE BuSINESS (250+ EMPLOYEES)

Events/Seminars 75%


PR 69%

Exhibitions 66%

Printed brochures 65%

MICRO BuSINESS (1-9 EMPLOYEES)




Search engine optimisation 60%


SMALL BuSINESS (10-50 EMPLOYEES)




Exhibitions 57%


22 | Targeting customers


PROfESSIONAL SERvICES


Events/Seminars 50%

PR 36%

IT


PR 56%

E-newsletters 52%


OThER B2B



Events/Seminars 58%

The most widely used channels are as follows:

fINANCIAL SERvICES


Events/Seminars 74%


CONSTRuCTION/MANufACTuRING/ENGINEERING

Events/Seminars 73%




Exhibitions 67%

BuSINESS SERvICES



PR 70%

2.5 Q Which channels do you use to target the various sectors?

It is unsurprising that decision makers from different industries will find

different channels more appealing. E-mail is always going to be more

relevant in IT because of the technology-orientation of this audience,

and this is reflected by the dominance of this channel in this market.

Meanwhile, the construction/manufacturing/engineering industries are

more likely to get out to exhibitions because of the tangible nature of

what they do. It is also interesting to note the continuing faith in PR as

an effective channel in most sectors, despite the relatively low level of

interest spend on display advertising.

Targeting customers | 2�

This could be seen as inconsistent. PR and advertising generate

exposure in the same channel, only one is paid for and one is not.

However, given that most trade publications are funded mostly or

partly by advertising, their refusal to support this media financially may

be its ultimate undoing, which will be to the detriment of all concerned.

Financial

ServicesIT

Construction/

manufacturing/

engineering

Prof.

Services

Business

ServicesOther B2B

Getting accurate

sample/database40% 30% 30% 50% 30% 14%

Getting accurate

information on the

make-up of this

audience

48% 33% 36% 79% 52% 19%

Difficulties contacting

people of the right level

of seniority

29% 4% 12% 36% 45% 8%

Difficulties creating

messages57% 44% 39% 71% 67% 25%

Understand customers

needs and preferences60% 44% 36% 64% 48% 22%

The impact of

gatekeepers40% 26% 30% 36% 52% 22%

2.6 Q What issues do you face when marketing to your target markets?

The most significant issue experienced across the board is difficulty in creating messages. This confirms

that creative thinking remains a key barrier in B2B marketing. Whether this is the fault of the agencies

used, or because marketers are unable or unwilling to invest sufficient budgets in it, is open to question.

Undoubtedly generating messages for complex products/services that create demand and stimulate

interest is challenging, but it is possible that growing fixation with ROI is distracting marketers from this

key objective. Getting accurate information on the audience make-up, and understanding customer

preferences are also problematic for most sectorised B2B marketing.

Data is the other perennial problem in B2B marketing, and brands are consistently failing to invest in

developing and maintaining accurate and meaningful customer databases. This is proving to be a major

handicap to effective marketing.

Perhaps surprisingly, the least problematic area across the board is believed to be contacting people of the

right seniority. This could be because data regarding such individuals can be purchased readily from a number

of suppliers. The extent to which the message actually influences them, however, remains open to question.

2� | Targeting customers


Section 3Marketing channels and techniquesAllocation of marketing spend to different campaign media represents one of the major concerns for B2B marketers. B2B Marketing Insight sought to identify how budgets were currently being allocated, and more importantly how effective the various channels were proving. The results in this section provide a rare opportunity to compare digital and traditional techniques.

Marketing channels and techniques | 2�

sponsored by

As the B2B Marketing Insight 2008 reflects, B2B communications is flourishing and emerging from

the B2C shadow. It is particularly interesting that one fifth of survey respondents are high level

Owners/MDs, so clearly B2B communications is an issue resonating at board level.

This survey highlights the increasing importance of brands for B2B companies with two-thirds

agreeing they are just as important in the B2B realm as B2C. The brand experience can be

improved through marketing communications such as customer magazines and direct mail, media

which have the added capability of engaging with different senses by adding smells or sound to

bring a product or service to life.

It is encouraging to see such a range of channels being employed to reach and connect with

target audiences. The industry as a whole has refined its approach and is now employing a mix of

traditional techniques such as mail alongside new media. At their most effective, these channels

are employed in an integrated fashion rather than in isolation, allowing companies to build a strong

connection with prospects. As previous research by B2B Marketing has shown, marketers’ see

mail and digital as complementary channels, not interchangeable.

This reflects the view of consumers themselves. Recent research by Quadrangle has shown that

consumers see mail and e-mail as very different channels, each supporting the other, and working

best in partnership. Consumers with a preference for both mail and e-mail communication spend

on average £105 a month on goods and services after receiving a combination of the two. Clearly,

effective integration of physical and virtual channels can deliver tangible results for brands. It is for

these reasons that 83% of B2B marketers’ rate Direct Mail as important to their business.

When it comes to acquiring high-value customers, mail is rated as a more effective tool than

e-mail by survey respondents. This reflects the medium’s unique ability to build relationships, a

quality that comes to the fore when mailing campaigns are at their most targeted. The future of

the medium it seems will be a move towards ever tighter targeting, particularly as environment

concerns grow in importance, as evidenced by the findings in this report. Royal Mail is developing

a number of leading-edge solutions for green-conscious mailers – such as Carbon Neutral Mailing,

a joint scheme with the Woodland Trust – it has long been clear that the twin goals of improved

efficiency and reduced environmental impact are closely aligned.

Mike West Media Development Manager Royal Mail

Sponsor’s comment: Integration delivers tangible results.

2� | Marketing channels and techniques



For the purposes of analysis, we have divided the results for this

question into three areas of B2B communications – print, digital and

face-to-face, together with a catch-all category called “other”.

It is clear from the chart opposite that events is the most popular of

the three main types of communications used, with each media in this

group being used by an average of 58% of respondents. Close behind

is print media, with 54%.

What is most surprising, however, is the relatively low level of usage of

digital techniques – despite the hype to the contrary, this remains the

least used of all three groups.

Of course, this conclusion is a broad generalisation and arguably

obscures the true picture. E-mail, predictably, remains the most

popular individual route to market, whilst mobile remains little used

in B2B and podcasts remain a niche tool. Creating an average from

these three would therefore bring the overall score down.

What it does suggest, however, is that the much-vaunted migration

to digital is less advanced than many may claim and that all mediums

have their merits.

3.1 Q Which channels have you used for B2B marketing in the last 12 months?

73%Printed brochures

71%DM to existing customers

71%DM to potential customers

38%Printed newsletters

68%PR

8%Outdoor

print communications

52%E-brochures

76%E-mail marketing

Mobile marketing

53%E-newsletters

35%On-line button/banners ads

14%Podcasts

digital communications

16%Promotional DVD’s

13%Viral marketing

48%Corporate hospitality

64%Events/seminars

face-to-face communications

47%Press advertising

54%Average

18%Webinar

34%Average

62%Exhibitions

58%Average

11%Broadcast advertising

32%Sponsorship

other

46%Telemarketing

54%Search Engine Optimisation

9%Other

25%Average

5%

2� | Marketing channels and techniques

3.2 Q What percentage of your B2B marketing budget do you currently spend on the following?

It is interesting to note that telemarketing received the largest single

share of budget on average for respondents. The ability to directly

measure and track telemarketing investment is likely to be a key

factor in its popularity. It was also interesting to note the strong level

of interest in exhibitions and events, which came second and third in

terms of budget allocation. Like telemarketing, face-to-face marketing

also delivers high levels of trackability and therefore ROI, but unlike

telemarketing they can also require high set up costs, for example, in

designing exhibition stands or booking venues for bespoke events.

Across the board, the majority of respondents in each category

allocate between 1-10% of their budgets to their chosen channel(s).

The graph opposite shows the percentage of respondents that spend

between 1-10% of their B2B marketing budget within each channel.

Therefore the high levels of budget allocation may not correspond

directly with effectiveness. It should also be noted that because

e-mail is divided into three separate categories (e-mail, e-newsletters

and viral marketing) this obscures the true popularity of this medium.

If the figures were combined it would certainly be a close rival to

telemarketing. Perhaps the most significant thing demonstrated by

this chart is the sheer range of activities which attract a significant

proportion of marketers’ budgets – even podcasts can claim an

average of 2% of overall budgets.


9.6%DM to existing customers

10.3%DM to potential customers

5.6%Printed newsletters

11.1%PR

3.1%Outdoor


5.9%E-brochures

9.7%E-mail marketing

6.1%Mobile marketing

3.4%E-newsletters

6.1%On-line button/banners ads

2%Podcasts


5.2%Promotional DVD’s

3.9%Viral marketing

12.3%Corporate hospitality

13.5%Events/seminars


11%Press advertising

9%Average

5%Webinar

5.6%Average

15.1%Exhibitions

13.6%Average

5.5%Broadcast advertising

6.9%Sponsorship

other

16.5%Telemarketing

9.2%Search Engine Optimisation

15.1%Other

11%Average



Least Effective Most Effective

3.3 Q Which channels have you found to be the most and least effective?

7%Printed brochures



Printed newsletters

11%PR

Outdoor


3%E-brochures

17%E-mail marketing

Mobile marketing

E-newsletters

On-line button/banners ads

Podcasts


10%Promotional DVD’s

Viral marketing


13%Events/seminars


Press advertising

Webinar

7%Exhibitions

Broadcast advertising

Sponsorship

other

10%Telemarketing


Other

This chart offers a marked contrast to the previous ones,

demonstrating that in terms of effectiveness, e-mail is ahead of other

media. In fact, only events/seminars come close.

Telemarketing and PR both fair well, but all forms of print media

perform badly. The reason for this is certainly that respondents were

illustrating which media they could prove was most effective through

measurement techniques and technologies, rather than which was

most effective per se. This is an important distinction to make.

9%

3%

15%

4%

16%

12%

4%

4%

3%

9%

3%

4%

9%

1%

1%

0%

1%

1%

0%

1%

1%

0%

1%

1%

1%

0%

1%

6%

1%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%0%

3.4 Q What channel have you allocated the largest amount of marketing budget to?

Exhibitions and printed brochures were most commonly nominated

at attracting the largest share of budget. This is probably more

reflective of the high set-up costs for these channels than marketeers’

preference for them.




Printed newsletters

7%PR


3%E-brochures

6%E-mail marketing

Mobile marketing

E-newsletters


Podcasts


Viral marketing


10%Events/seminars


5%Press advertising

Webinar

15%Exhibitions

2%Broadcast advertising

2%Sponsorship

other

7%Telemarketing


Promotional DVD’s

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

0%

�0 | Marketing channels and techniques


Marketing channels and techniques | �1

According to this graph, the shift in emphasis towards e-mail is

actually accelerating, with 60% of respondents expecting to allocate

more budget to this channel in the coming years, compared to 49%

in 2007. However, this budget is not necessarily migrating directly

from traditional media – the future for DM looks bright, with 33% of

companies expecting to increase spend on it, the same figure as last

year, placing it second in the table as last year also. Press advertising

also remained relatively static year-on-year, as did PR and search

marketing, despite its rapid evolution and increasing recognition of its


33%DM

10%Printed newsletters

23%PR

Outdoor


49%E-mail marketing/e-newsletters

Mobile marketing


n/aPodcasts


8%Viral marketing


30%Events/seminars


9%Press advertising

n/aWebinar

17%Exhibitions

Broadcast advertising

Sponsorship

other

23%Telemarketing


7%

33%

23%

8%

60%

13%

10%

13%

29%

11%

24%

14%

7%

17%

2% 5%

1% 1%

3%

5%

5%

1% 1%

Insight 2008

Insight 2007

3.5 Q Which channels do you expect to allocate a greater proportion of your budget to over the next 1-2 years?

fundamental role in B2B communications strategies. However, interest

in printed brochures dropped significantly, which is hardly surprising.

Meanwhile, both events/seminars and telemarketing actually lost

ground on the previous year with fewer B2B marketers expecting to

increase their investment in it, although it is clear that both continue to

be widely used. More curiously, interest in online advertising appeared

to be trailing off, with respondents expecting to invest more budget in

it in the next 1-2 years dropping by a third. Perhaps this form of digital

marketing is simply not targeted enough to appeal to B2B marketers.

�2 | Marketing channels and techniques


Section 4Digital marketingDigital media is becoming an increasingly important part of the B2B marketing mix, with websites, e-mail and search marketing etc. increasingly threatening to take over from traditional techniques as the primary route to market. A key objective of this report was to track the gradual migration towards digital techniques, and marketers’ understanding of how best to utilise them. The findings demonstrate that the hype about digital techniques is not necessarily reflected by reality.

Digital marketing | ��

4.1 Q How informed are you on the latest advances in digital marketing techniques?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




4.2 Q To what extent are you using digital marketing channels in B2B communications?

2007

2008

21% 31% 18%

24% 13% 31%

To some extent Not a great dealA fair amountTo a great extent

25%

22%

Not at all

5%

8%

Over 35% of respondents describe themselves as not very well

informed or ‘not at all well informed’ regarding digital marketing

issues, according to the research. There is clearly still an information

gap within B2B marketing, and practitioners must take advantage of

the various information providers to leverage the information required.

Similarly, the application of digital techniques appears to have

declined since 2007, with now 40% of respondents using them either

‘not at all’ or ‘not a great deal’. This is likely to refl ect the change in

participant group, with more smaller organisations completing the

survey, who have less marketing expertise. But it may also refl ect

the increasing pace of change and innovation in terms of digital

techniques, which puts greater and greater pressure on practitioners

to keep up-to-speed with developments.

�� | Digital marketing



4.3 Q What are the main objectives for your digital marketing?

64%69%Awareness raising

Customer relationship management

25%33%Customer retention

Sales

Driving traffic to website

Channel relationships

51%54%

19%19%Information gathering

Lead generation

40%41%Product/service promotion

56%54%

37%34%

In keeping with the 2007 results, the main objectives of digital

marketing continue to be awareness raising, lead generation and

driving traffic to the company website. The use of digital channels

to drive direct sales was not tracked by last year’s survey, but this

year’s results demonstrate that it is a very popular technique for this

objective, used by almost 50% of respondents.

The biggest growth in terms of objectives for digital marketing is

customer retention, which is likely to be a reflection of growing

understanding of the power of e-mail marketing as a relationship

device, whilst at the same time its effectiveness for building new

customers is being detrimentally affected by inbox overload. Further

to this, it is arguably surprising that ‘awareness raising’ through

digital techniques grew in this period – it would seem that the lure of

cheap and quick communications remains more of a draw than any

concerns over commoditisation of this channel.

2007

2008

45%

14%

0%

0%

4.4 Q What are the unique challenges in making effective use of digital marketing techniques?

19%65%

Understanding of digital media

Integrating with offl ine

31%33%

25%35%

Access to e-mail data

Firewalls/Internet Security

Cutting through inbox clutter

1%11%Browser compatibility

60%37%

Concern over the growing faith in e-mail is refl ected in this statistic,

with ‘cutting through inbox clutter’ rising from a modest 37% to a

signifi cant 60%. General concerns regarding understanding of digital

media have trebled to almost two thirds of responses, whilst the

current buzzword of online-offl ine integration was not touched on last

year, but was revealed to be an issue by almost half of respondents.

4.5 Q Which department has responsibility for your website?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




The overwhelming majority of B2B fi rms task marketing with the

responsibility for managing their websites, according to the research,

demonstrating that the web is recognised as the marketing front end

for the business.


47%0%

2007

2008



4.6 Q What techniques do you use to drive traffic to your website?

33%35%

Banner advertising

E-shots/e-newsletter

57%40%

54% 44%

Links through on-line directories

Off-line advertising

Paid searches

69%66%

Search engine optimisation

34%28%

59%61%

Website address included on all communications

3%6%

None

78%87%

Curiously, most companies are reducing the number of techniques

that they use to drive traffic to their sites, with only paid searches

and banner advertising actually increasing in the last 12 months,

according to the research. Admittedly, apart from ‘offline advertising’

none has declined significantly, but it is a perplexing statistic none

the less. This may be because companies are choosing to channel

more of their investment in to one or two channels, and achieve better

results through them, than to adopt the scatter-gun approach of doing

everything badly.

2007

2008

4.7 Q Do you see a use for the following techniques in your B2B marketing in the next 2 to 3 years?

Probably Definitely notProbably notDefinitely Don’t know

36% 21% 10%

17% 39% 25%

24%

8%

9%

11%

Webinars

Web TV

29% 29% 14%

27% 32% 15%

20%

20%

8%

6%

Blogging

Podcasts

Attitudes towards digital techniques remain very mixed in the

B2B sector, with only webinars attracting a majority of positive

respondents. 62% of respondents suggested they would ‘definitely’

or ‘probably’ see a use for webinars over the next 2-3 years, whilst

only 31% responded negatively. Blogging was next most popular, with

49% responding positively to it as a future channel, against 43% who

were negative about it. The fate of podcasts hangs in the balance,

with an equal number positive and negative; whilst attitudes towards

web TV were more negative, although this is almost certainly reflective

of the more niche nature of this medium, which is less suited towards

smaller brands with smaller budgets.

Overall, this question highlighted the general lack of faith in all the

digital channels covered, which is likely to be a result of low levels

of understanding of how they should be used and the intricacies of

putting them into practice.



Section 5Marketing effectivenessMarketers in all sectors are under growing pressure to prove the effectiveness of their activity, to demonstrate ROI on marketing activity and ultimately prove their worth to the organisation. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the authors were anxious to understand the extent to which B2B marketers felt they were able to achieve this objective effectively. Once again, the report shows that current measurement techniques leave much to be desired.

Marketing effectiveness | ��

5.1 Q Are you able to track and analyse your direct marketing campaigns to measure their effectiveness?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




Results for this question varied little year-on-year, and demonstrated

that there remains a residual component of direct marketing activity

which is not measurable. Whether marketers should seek to make

all direct marketing 100% measurable at the expense of all other

factors is a moot point, and arguably measurability should not always

compromise messaging.

�0 | Marketing effectiveness


It remains the view of B2B marketers that success within the

marketing function is assessed on return on investment. Despite

this, only half of respondents (49%) feel that they are able to evaluate

the success of campaigns and initiatives. This refl ects the ongoing

5.2 Q Do you agree or disagree with the following statements related to your marketing function?

The marketing function’s performance is ultimately assessed on its return on investment.

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




Marketing effectiveness | �1

pressure on marketers to deliver ROI. It is undoubtedly a cause

of frustration to marketers and other senior executives that more

marketing investment cannot be tracked better and ROI calculated.

The extent to which this will ever be possible let alone practical is

debatable, as is the mounting obsession with measurement.

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




We have systems in place to review the success of any campaigns or initiatives on a real time, continuous basis

5.3 Q Typically what response rates do you receive to direct response marketing campaigns?

Response rates to e-mail and DM follow a very similar pattern,

according to this survey, with the largest peak of respondents in the

1-5% bracket. ‘Average’ responses are generally higher through

e-mail, although ‘best’ responses are broadly comparable across

both mediums, with just under 50% expecting a 6% response rate or

greater. This reflects the power of a high value mailer to cut through,

whilst low-value ‘commoditised’ DM generates less impact. However,

the figures do not reflect the power of integrated communications,

where increasingly DM and e-mail are used together, and where the

response is likely to be via the most convenient mechanism rather

than the one that necessarily created the most impact.

�2 | Marketing effectiveness

0%

e-mail marketing

25%

Best

Average

Worst

1-5%27%

46%55%

6-10%20%

19%9%

11-15%

16-20%13%

8%

9%12%

21-30%

31-40%13%

7%

41-50%

More than 50%

direct mail marketing

7%39%

47%65%

53%

22%19%

7%

8%

1%1%

0%1%0%

0%1%

3%

4%0%1%

4%

0%1%

5%

3%1%

4%1%1%

2%6%

2%

2%

4%

5%2%

0%4%

6%1%0%


5.4 Q For each of the following statements, please choose whether you think it applies mainly to mail or e-mail

E-mail Marketing NeitherEqually to bothMail Marketing Don’t Know

Good for relationship building

30% 39% 10%11% 11%

Good for awareness

27% 49% 4%9% 11%

Through a series of statements, respondents were asked to decide

whether they applied mostly to e-mail or postal marketing. Overall,

e-mail marketing proved to be the favourite choice for obtaining

good response rates, and for good short term and long term return

on investment. A resounding 73% considered e-mail marketing to

be best for the environment. When it came to relationship building,

awareness raising and acquiring high value customers, the majority of

respondents were inclined to view postal and e-mail equally.

Good for the environment

73% 8% 7%2% 9%

Good for acquiring high value customers

15% 28% 17%22% 18%

Good response rates

36% 29% 14%9% 11%

Good short term ROI

45% 24% 12%4% 15%

Good long term ROI

45% 24% 12% 15%4%

These results suggest that DM has something of an image problem

in B2B, scoring worse than e-mail on all but one criteria. The extent

to which these views are coloured by the cost and convenience of

e-mail as a channel cannot be quantified by this survey. Responses

to the final three questions, where ‘equally to both’ was the most

popular answer, suggest that integration remains key, and that

marketers cannot afford to ignore either channel. If they are purely

interested in measurement, the trackability of e-mail means that it

wins hands down.

Marketing effectiveness | ��

�� | Marketing effectiveness


Section 6Environmental issues & corporate social responsibilityMarketers are at the forefront of the environmental and social revolution in business, not only in terms of the messages they send, but how they send them. This study aimed to gauge the impact of these twin concerns on marketers at a practical level, and understand the extent to which it was changing how they performed their role.

Environmental issues & corporate social responsibility | ��

6.2 Q Do you actively communicate your environmental credentials to B2B customers?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




6.3 Q Which of the following do you use to do this?

Using standard logos

Messages within copy

42%

78%

13%

2%

Other

Don’t know

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




6.1 Q Which communication channel do you feel has the biggest carbon footprint?

A minority respondents (9%) have already measured the extent to

which their customers are concerned with green issues; and a high

63% do not believe there is enough information available for marketers

on the environmental impact of their actions.

�� | Environmental issues & corporate social responsibility

Only one third of respondent companies actively communicate their

environmental credentials to their B2B customers, mainly achieved

through messages within copy (78%) and using standard logos (42%).

This suggests there are few recognised standard environmental

credentials which endorse an organisation’s marketing sustainability.

Almost two thirds of respondents consider direct marketing to have

the biggest carbon footprint, over newspaper production (25%) and

the internet (4%).


Environmental issues & corporate social responsibility | ��

6.5 Q Are environmental actions included in your CSR programme?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




6.4 Q Does your company have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




It is surprising and perhaps worrying that only a third of B2B

companies have a CSR programme, despite growing interest around

this issue in the wider corporate world. This would suggest that

perhaps B2C organisations – with their higher visibility – are leading

the way in this area, and B2B brands have yet to either recognise the

importance of this issue or turn recognition into action.

It is important to note that CSR does not purely and simply relate

to environmental issues – it relates to society in the wider sense.

The response to this question suggests that there may still be some

confusion regarding this qualifi cation amongst B2B companies.

6.6 Q Which environmental actions are included in your CSR programme?

B2B organisations are acknowledging the role that marketing has to

play in visible environmental best practice, but quite rightly it is not the

top priority for most organisations.

Arguably more targeted marketing will involve a reduction in the use of

resources, and therefore improve the carbon footprint of marketing, as

well as cutting costs and increasing effectiveness.

Facilities management – e.g. making sure the company is

efficiently heated

Use of resources – limiting printing, turning lights off etc

67%

91%

69%

53%

Reducing use of mail/postal marketing

Limiting collateral production

�� | Environmental issues & corporate social responsibility


Section 7Marketing dataMarketing data is the lifeblood of any B2B marketing function, but all too often it is treated as a tactical rather than strategic resource, or ignored altogether. B2B Marketing Insight sought to chart the evolution in marketers’ management and use of data, and understand how it could best be enhanced.

Marketing data | ��

sponsored by

�0 | Marketing data

Reviewing the fi ndings of this latest B2B Insight Survey generated some mixed feelings. Looking at

the good news fi rst, it’s clear that B2B marketing as a discipline is being increasingly recognised

and its value appreciated. That much is obvious from the increase in B2B marketing spend

over the last couple of years, which the survey highlights and the anticipation by two-thirds of

respondents of further increases in budget going forward. What’s more, the confi dence expressed

in what the future holds, despite an uncertain economic climate, points to a discipline that has

belief in its ability to deliver return on investment and really impact on an organisation’s bottom line.

Also very encouraging is the approach to segmentation and targeting highlighted in the research

fi ndings. B2B marketers, like their B2C counterparts, appreciate that different channels and

creatives are necessary to target organisations that are of different sizes and operate in very

different market sectors. In the wider industry, adopting this approach has created some fantastic

B2B brands. Strong, clearly defi ned brands are not only found in the consumer space and this is

again refl ected in the fact that B2B marketers consider brands to be as important in their arena as

in B2C marketing.

So where’s the problem? Well, not surprisingly, perhaps, it’s to do with data. A key concern

has to be the fact that an increasing number of marketers do not have direct access to their

customer data and the perception that the data they hold is decreasing in quality and depth.

From the outside, it’s diffi cult to know why marketers are not getting access to the data they rely

on for marketing, but the outcome is clear: a real lack of insight and intelligence when developing

marketing campaigns that must surely affect their impact. As far as data quality is concerned,

perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by the negative trend, since the majority of organisations

appear to rely on their sales teams to update data. The foundation for any successful direct mail

or e-mail marketing campaign has to be good quality data. Without this what are the chances of

effectively targeting the right people, with the right message in the fi rst place? This is surely one

area where B2B marketing lags behind consumer marketing and one that needs urgent attention.

Nick frazerHead of B2B Marketing Experian Business Information

Sponsor’s comment: Poor access to data is hampering growth.


A relatively high percentage of respondents (78%) claimed that their

customer data is collated and managed centrally within the business;

however, only 38% of these have direct access to this data to develop

insights and evaluate performance.

7.1 Q Does your marketing function have access to customer data to develop insights and evaluate performance?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




7.2 Q How would you rate the quality of data you hold on your customers in terms of the following:

Accuracy of information held

Good PoorAverageExcellent Very poor

36% 21% 10%

17% 39% 25%

6%

9%

9%

11%

Depth of information held

36% 39% 10%

51% 28% 9%

9%

12%

6%

1%

2008

2008

2007

2007

Marketing data | �1

Just under half of respondents feel that the quality of their customer

data in terms of accuracy is either good or excellent. This has declined

almost 20% since 2007, as has the number of respondents who are

happy with the depth of customer information held.

More than a quarter of respondents cleanse their customer data on an

ongoing basis through regular customer contact (presumably via the

sales team) and a further 21% update theirs at least every six months.

A potential concern is that almost one third describe their approach to

data cleansing and refreshment as ‘ad hoc’ meaning that they have no

strategy for this and it is done at random intervals, presumably when

the need becomes critical. Worse, almost one in ten have ‘never’

cleansed or refreshed their database. Only a quarter of respondents

clean and refresh at least every six months, which should be

described as the minimum standard for effective data management,

to enable effective B2B marketing.

7.3 Q As a business, how often do you look to refresh and clean your customer data?

Ongoing, through regular customer contact

Quarterly

12%12%Every six months

Annually

Ad hoc

Never

30%45%

11%25%

11%12%

8%6%

�2 | Marketing data

28%0%

2007

2008


Marketing data | ��

7.4 Q How do you cleanse your data?

The most popular method for data cleansing is via the sales team,

which is widely accepted as not the most objective means of

maintaining the optimum client database. Sales executives by their

very nature are focused on meeting their own sales targets rather than

maintaining a database which rivals could potentially exploit, therefore

the information provided by them is often patchy at best.

The second most popular means of validating data is through

telemarketing, followed by feedback from research. Only a relative

minority match their data against that owned by third parties, or utilise

an online solution to cleanse/verify their data. These can be more

simplistic and cost effective means of ensuring a good supply of

marketing data than relying on telemarketing, and failure to use them

suggests marketers may be missing a trick. Many respondents use

more than one method to cleanse their customer data.

Feedback from research

Sales team

Telemarketing to verify/validate

Update against data from third party supplier

Via automated online solution

Other

We don’t

Don’t know

2007

2008

53%45%

57%9%

18%22%

15%10%

7%11%

19%32%

11%

9%

0%

0%

The most commonly used methods for gathering prospect data are

through the websites, events and purchased lists. E-mail newsletters

and direct mail are the most popular methods used to maintain

7.5 Q Which of these methods do you use to maintain contact with prospects? And which is most effective in converting to sale?

Customer magazines

E-mail newsletters

56%25%

Direct mail

Corporate hospitality

Other bespoke events

Other

33%42%

21%65%

36%36%

50%19%

Maintain Contact

Convert to Sale

11%19%

7.6 Q How do you typically segment and target your customers?

By

acco

unt

man

ager

By

cust

omer

sta

tus

By

func

tion

(e.g

. op

erat

ion,

p

urch

asin

g, t

echn

ical

, etc

By

futu

re v

alue

By

ind

ustr

y se

ctor

/sub

sec

tor

By

need

s

By

per

ceiv

ed

stra

tegi

c im

por

tanc

e

By

pro

duc

t/se

rvic

e

By

pur

chas

ing

beh

avio

ur

By

regi

on/c

ount

ry

By

reve

nue/

sale

s

By

pro

fitab

ility

By

size

Oth

er

Non

e/W

e d

on’t

Don

’t k

now

28% 31

%

40%

13%

64%

24%

14%

36%

6%13%

20%

32%

43%

13%

3% 6%

In support of earlier findings,

64% of respondents confirm

they typically segment and target

customers by industry sector;

with 43% by region and 40%

by job function. These results

remain fairly consistent with the

conclusions of B2B Marketing

Insight 2007.

It is alarming to note that only

13% of respondents segment

against either ‘future value’ or

‘profitability’, which are arguably

the two key segmentation criteria.

contact with prospects; it is therefore not surprising that 46% of

respondents find these methods most effective for converting to

a sale.

�� | Marketing data


Section 8BrandingBranding is a perennial issue in B2B marketing, with many marketers failing to develop, let alone maintain, effective brand communication strategies. The authors were anxious to demonstrate the understanding of branding across the B2B marketing sector, as well as the extent to which companies and practitioners actually seek to put the theory into practice through development and maintenance of the strategic brand infrastructure.

Branding | ��

Two thirds of respondents demonstrated a healthy respect for brand

and branding, with two thirds suggesting brand is as important in

B2B as it is B2C, countering the widely held view that brand is not

appreciated by B2B organisations.

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




8.1 Q How important do you think that brands are generally in B2B marketing?

�� | Branding

8.2 Q How important are brands within your organisation?

1%2% 5% 6% 18% 13% 14% 23% 5% 13%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 = not at all important and 10 = very important

Brand was also recognised as important within B2B marketing

organisations, with 41% of respondents rating brand importance

within their own organisation as at least 8 out of 10.


Branding | ��

8.3 Q Which of the following apply to your organisation’s B2B marketing?

32%

52%

30%

You have a defi ned brand values system

45%

46%

9%

7%

34%

You have a clearly defi ned vision/mission statement

You have a corporate brand architecture

You have a defi ned brand ethos for all brands within the organisation

You promote corporate brands

You promote product/service brands

You value brands on the balance sheet

You measure the value of your brand equality

9%

6%

None

Don’t know

A surprisingly low percentage (9%) value their brand on the company

balance sheet, whilst only 7% measure the value of brand equity.

Brand infrastructure across the board tends to be relatively poorly

developed, with less than a third having defi ned a brand values system

or defi ning an ethos for brands and only slightly more claiming to have

a brand architecture. Whilst the importance of brands are understood,

there appears to be a reluctance to translate this into action.

�� | Branding


Section 9Keeping up-to-dateMarketing is a rapidly evolving profession, and it is essential for practitioners to stay informed about the latest developments and innovations in order to ensure they are being as effective as possible in meeting their organisation’s objectives. The survey therefore sought to gauge the extent to which marketers used the different information sources, and in particular aligned themselves with trade bodies or institutes for continuous professional development.

Keeping up-to-date | ��

This validates earlier results relating to marketers’ spend on events

– not only are events and face-to-face marketing proving more popular

amongst marketers from a communications perspective, they are

also increasingly using them to further their own knowledge. In recent

years, practitioners have become increasingly reluctant to take time

out of the office to attend marketing events and exhibitions. These

results suggest that this tide may have turned, and that once again

marketers are seeking to ‘hear it from the horse’s mouth’.

9.1 Q How do you keep up-to-date with trends and new developments in B2B marketing?

55%67%

38%46%

Conferences/Events

Membership bodies

96%85%

77%80%

Publications

Websites

4%11%

Other

The apparent growth in membership of trade bodies is most likely to

be a reflection of the differing characteristics of this year’s response

base, rather than a dramatic shift in attitude to trade bodies – their

membership figures will reflect this. However, the growth in importance

of the Internet as an education/knowledge channel is likely to be

reflective of a gradual migration towards online information resources.

�0 | Keeping up-to-date

2007

2008


Respondents were asked to indicate whether they are a member of

any industry bodies. Surprisingly, less than a third stated that they are

CIM members, and just less than half (46%) stated that they are not

a member of any industry body suggesting that currently none of the

trade bodies in existence meet their needs or requirements.

Members

30%Chartered Institute of Marketing

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

2%

8%Direct Marketing Association

Institute of Direct Marketing

10%

8%Institute of Directors

Institute of Sales Promotions

Marketing Research Society

Marketing Society

Other

None

13%

46%

1%

4%

2%

9.2 Q Which industry membership body are you a member of?

Keeping up-to-date | �1

45%13%

Chartered Institute of Marketing

Chartered Institute of Public Relations

1%1%

Direct Marketing Association

12%5%

Institute of Direct Marketing

14%5%

Institute of Directors

Institute of Sales Promotions

7%4%

Marketing Research Society

Marketing Society

1%

Other

None

17%5%

5%

1%1%

65%

Best Value for MoneyBest Meets Needs

9.3 Q Which industry membership body best meets your needs/best represents value for money?

�2 | Keeping up-to-date

Almost two thirds of respondents felt that no memberships

represented value for money, however this is likely to reflect the

high number who are not a member of any body. The CIM was by

far the most likely to meet the needs of respondents, and was also

considered the best value for money.

1%1%

1%


Appendices:

1. Detailed profile of respondents

2. Author biographies

Appendices | ��

Respondent profile

A1 Q In terms of your marketing role, is it

64%66%

25%19%

11%16%

All B2B

Mainly B2B

Equal Split between B2B and B2C

The results from this question confirm, once again, that B2B is not a

completely ring-fenced and a sharply defined section of the marketing

community. Far from it in fact, when for more than 15% their activity is

evenly split between B2B and B2C. This question demonstrates that a

large number of brands conduct both B2B and B2C activity. The most

obvious example of this is marketing to channel partners (resellers or

distributors etc.) who then ultimately market products to consumers.

This is particularly the case in an industry like financial services, where

many brands have no direct interaction with the ultimate consumer.

However, we do not suggest that this is a representative reflection

of the whole marketing sector, as only those organisation with a

significant B2B operation were asked to participate.

�� | Appendices

2007

2008


A2 Q What level of marketing budget are you responsible for?

Up to £100k

£100k-£199k

£200-£499k

£500k-£749k

£750k-£1m

>£1m

23%46%

16%17%

14%15%

No budget set

10%6%

6%

11%7%

20%7%

2%

The spread of marketing budgets reflects the broad range of B2B

companies operating within the UK. A very small number at the top

boast £1 million plus budgets, whilst just less than 50% have under

£100,000 annual marketing spend at their disposal. It also reflects

the fact that there are far more small companies in the economy than

there are big ones – the total number of businesses registered in

the UK is between 2.5 and 4 million, depending on which source of

information you use.

This reinforces the view that the majority of B2B marketers have to

make best use of quite limited resources, and that ROI and the ability

to measure the effectiveness of that spend is critical.

Appendices | ��

2007

2008

Respondents covered a range of age groups, with the majority (73%)

falling into the 25-44 category.

A4 Q Are you...?

64%66%

25%19%

Female

Male

The B2B marketing community is relatively evenly split between the

sexes, with men only holding a narrow majority over women and

the gap being ever so slightly reduced since 2007 results. This may

compare favourably with other management functions, such as

finance or technology, which are traditionally more male-dominated.

A3 Q Which age band do you fall into?

8%7%

42%37%

Under 25

25-34

37%36%

9%13%

35-44

45-54

4%7%

55+

�� | Appendices

2007

2008

2007

2008


More than one third of respondents had a job title solely related

to Marketing (Marketing Director, Marketing Manager, Head of

Marketing). The number of Marketing Managers taking part in this

research has reduced by half, from 50% in 2007 to 26% in 2008,

whilst the number of owners/MDs participating has increased

significantly, the majority of whom are from smaller companies. This

is certainly a reflection of a broader and slightly different participant

A5 Q What is your job title?

Owner/MD

Sales & Marketing Director

Marketing Director

Other Director

Head of Marketing

Marketing Manager

6%7%

10%6%

Product/Brand Manager

50%26%

20%3%

6%

4%

Marketing/Sales Executive 6%13%

Other4%

11%

A6 Q Number of Employees & Job Title

Owner/MD

Sales & Marketing Director

Marketing Director

Other Director

Head of Marketing

13%

2%

2%

1%

6% 1%

2% 2% 1%

2% 2%

1%1%1%

1% 3% 2% 5%

1% 6% 8% 11%

2%1% 1%

1% 2% 7% 4%

2% 3% 4%3%

Product/Brand Manager

Marketing/Sales Executive

Other

Marketing Manager

Appendices | ��

group for the 2008 survey. However, it does also reflect the fact that

in many micro-businesses (under 10 employees) there is no formal

marketing function and responsibility for this area is picked up by the

owner or MD, who often have limited expertise. Their willingness to

bring in specialist marketing expertise is likely to be a key factor in

their ongoing growth rate.

12%10%

2007

2008

50 to 249

250+

1 to 9

10 to 49

3%

3%

A7 Q Which of the following salary bands do you fall into?

Up to £20k

£21k-£30k

£31k-£40k

£41k-£50k

£51k-£60k

£61k-£80k

8%5%

21%19%

25%18%

£81k-£100k

14%14%

6%5%

12%10%

6%7%

More than £100k1%

7%

Prefer not to say 8%14%

A8 Q What level of decision making responsibility do you have?

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




Respondents to this survey represented a broad range of salary

bands, with almost a quarter earning over £60k. Curiously, the

number of respondents who were unwilling to reveal their salary grew

signifi cantly. It is possible that there is a strong correlation between this

group and the increased number of MDs participating in this survey.

�� | Appendices

2007

2008


For the majority of the sample, the scope of their business is at least

national, with 52% indicating that their market extends overseas.

A9 Q Number of employees

59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




59% Decision Maker

21% Authoriser

20% Influencer

44% Decision Maker

19% Authoriser

38% Influencer

32% 250+

34% 50 to 249

31% 10 to 49

2% 1 to 9

30% 250+

26% 50 to 249

24% 10 to 49

20% 1 to 9

2007 2008

2007 2008











2007 2008

26% £11-£40 million

15% £6-£10 million

11% £6-£10 million

22% £2-£5 million

26% £1 million

47% Yes

53% No

58% Yes

37% No

35% Yes

65% No





13% No



15% No



7% Other

19% IT

71% Marketing

2007 2008

27% Disagree

73% Agree


74% Agree

2007 2008

48% Disagree

52% Agree

51% Disagree

49% Agree

2007 2008

12% Don't know

54% No

34% Yes

5% Don't know

6% No

89% Yes

8% Don't know

49% No

33% Yes




26% £41+ Million

15% £11-£40 Million

11% £6-£10 Million

22% £2-£5 Million

26% £1 Million

11% Don't know

4% Internet

25% Newspaper

60% Direct Mail




A11 Q Turnover of business

Appendices | ��

A10 Q Scope of business

About the respondent organisations

The B2B marketers surveyed covered a broad range of industry

sectors, with strong representation from businesses in the ICT sector.

It will come as little surprise that IT/telecoms represented the

biggest group in the sample, as this is commonly recognised as the

largest section of the B2B community, with the greatest number

of companies chasing the broadest range of business customers.

However, the strong response from industrial/manufacturing

companies is surprising, given the widely discussed decline of

this sector in recent decades. Conventional wisdom is that these

organisations have not been quick to embrace marketing, and

are generally slow to adopt new methods of generating business.

However, the level of response to this survey from this group serves to

undermine this preconception.

A12 Q Which of the following best categorises the nature of your business?

Agriculture/Forestry

Automotive

Banking/Financial Services/Insurance

Building/ Construction/Property

Business Services/Recruitment/Distribution/Logistics/Utilities/Airlines

Charity/Voluntary/ Social Enterprise

Education/Training

Engineering/Industrial/Manufacturing

Entertainment/Leisure

Restaurant/ Catering/Hotel

IT/Computing/Telecommunications/Security Technology

Marketing services/New Media

Professional services/Research and consulting/Professional services within the Building and Construction industry

Public sector/Government

Publishing/Media/Broadcast Services/Media

and technology provider

Retail/Wholesale/ Franchisor

Other

�0 | Appendices

6%9%

9%7%

6%7%

10%14%

29%22%

8%

7%6%

16%12%

12%8%

2007

2008

1%1%

1%0%

4%3%

2%1%

3%4%

1%0%

4%

2%1%

2%1%


Joel Harrison is Founding Editor of B2B Marketing magazine, and Director of its publishing

company Silver Bullet Publishing. Joel began his career in professional publishing at Incisive

Research, now part of publishing giant Incisive Media, managing its portfolio of newsletter titles

targeting the financial services sector – including Financial IT and Financial Marketing. He moved

to Trades Exhibitions in 1999 to edit Incentive Today, and during his four year tenure focused it

towards the emerging field of motivation, launching The Motivation Awards in 2002.

B2B Marketing was launched in June 2004, serving a long-ignored niche in the marketing

sector, under Joel’s editorial stewardship. The magazine has been enthusiastically welcomed

by advertisers and subscribers alike, and the B2B Marketing brand has since been expanded to

encompass a range of associated and complementary products, including the B2B

Marketing Awards.

Kathryn Courtenay-Evans became Managing Director of Maven Research in 2006, following

11 successful years with the company. In 2007 Maven became part of the Munro Global group

of companies, a recognised centre of excellence in the provision of research-focused marketing

services solutions.

Kathryn has extensive experience in running and managing projects containing both qualitative

and quantitative research elements. These include customer satisfaction studies; employee

engagement and loyalty research; product and service benchmarking; and working with clients

to create action plans and set targets based on research findings. Maven specialises in finance,

automotive, utilities and B2B research sectors; current clients include British Gas, Lloyds TSB,

Mercedes Benz, G4S and Balfour Beatty Capital.

In addition to directing a number of key accounts, Kathryn manages the company strategy and

direction with the support of the senior team. Kathryn has a BA (Hons) degree in Geography

from the University of London. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and an

associate member of the Market Research Society.

Danny Turnbull is General Manager at Gyro International in Manchester but still maintains an

active involvement with all the agency’s major clients. He has extensive experience working on a

wide variety of blue chip brands including Granada, Littlewoods, DAF, BUPA, Thomson, GE TLS,

Business Express, British Gas, Alliance and Leicester, NFU and RBS.

His experience encompasses a broad cross section of marketing communications disciplines

across a spectrum of sectors and industries. With a BSc in Management and Economics, along

with an MBA, he has spent 15 years working in marketing communications. Before working at

Gyro he worked at award winning consumer agency BJL in Manchester and in pharmaceutical

marketing specialists GCC where he was responsible for assisting SmithKline Beecham in their

worldwide product launch strategies for hypertension products. He began his career working

‘client side’ in marketing communications within the electronic engineering and environmental

monitoring sector.

Joel harrison Editor B2B Marketing

Kathryn Courtenay-Evans Managing Director Maven Research

Danny Turnbull General Manager Gyro

Appendices | �1

Author biographies

B2B Marketing Colonial Buildings 59/61 Hatton Garden London EC1N 8LS

tel: +44(0)20 3077 0068 | www.b2bm.biz

Gyro International Ltd 8 Exchange Quay Manchester M5 3EQ

tel: +44(0)161 876 5522 | www.gyrointernational.com

Maven Research Old Bank House 39 High Street High Wycombe Bucks HP11 2AG

tel: +44(0)1494 688400 | www.maven.co.uk

Marketing Industry NetworkMercat Building4th Floor26 GallowgateGlasgow G1 5AB

T: 0141 552 5858 F: 0141 559 6050E: [email protected]

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