B2B marketers feel the heat as the economic climate in Europe remains uncertain. With budgets under significant pressure, companies demand more efficiency from their marketing campaigns. The rise in inflation has also made it difficult for marketers to make decisions due to the higher costs from suppliers and vendors.
Moreover, the continuously changing buyer behavior and martech landscape add to the challenges that B2B marketers face. Companies that lag in their digital maturity struggle even more to cope with these issues.
When it comes to industry studies on digital maturity and B2B marketing, there is a lack of data specific to the European market. A survey conducted by ON24, however, sheds much-needed light on the digital maturity of B2B marketing in Europe, filling the data gap that has historically existed in this market. With many vendors hailing from the U.S., surveys often overlook European marketers and fail to cover key regions.
The survey reveals that digital maturity levels vary across Europe, highlighting the need for tailored strategies to be adopted by companies in different countries. Unsurprisingly, business performance is found to be closely linked to digital maturity in B2B marketing.
Among the top-performers in the survey, goal setting is a shared best practice, with the majority aligning their programs to pipeline goals and viewing success in terms of revenue growth.
“Having a clear plan and path to maturing your digital strategy is critical when striving to drive revenue growth, innovation and differentiation,” said Callan Young, Chief Marketing Officer, ON24.
In fact, 87% align their digital strategy to sales and marketing goals, and almost just as many use funnel conversion rates and pipeline as key performance indicators, according to the survey. And the most mature marketers aim to be data-driven, with 81% of those surveyed leveraging digital channels to capture first-party data.
Interestingly, the research also showed that while many markets in Europe were confident in their performance, their self-assurance may be misplaced. B2B marketers in Europe excel in strategy and data usage, but few are translating this into tangible actions and experiences for their buyers.
For example, 75% of respondents claim to be satisfied with the experiences their companies offered, the majority failed to personalize any marketing channels, including email. Additionally, less than half utilize touchpoints such as video, live chat and content recommendations.
Most marketers are already collecting the necessary data, so this is a significantly missed opportunity to leverage the data to drive increased digital engagement.
“This report showcases that, while European B2B marketers are on the right track, there is a critical gap when it comes to using the existing resources, like data and analytics, to inform engagement strategy,” said Cheri Hulse, Vice President of Strategy and Research at ON24.
For B2B marketers in Europe to make a lasting impact on their bottom line, they must not only improve their digital maturity, but also be honest about the experiences they are providing for their buyers.
Edited by
Alex Passett
