CMOs in FluxHow Leading B-to-B Marketers Are Coping with Turbulent Economic Conditions and What Changes They Expect to Make in 2010.

Marketers surveyed

39marketing leaders

36 firms

17industries

Marketers—doing more with less

2009 budgets are way down

But 2010 budgets are looking better

Cuts have forced program changes

Changes have included…“Cutting trade show expenses.”

“Reduce live events.”

“More digital, electronic marketing.”

“Cutting print ads to fund social media, content creation.”

“More webinars, more streaming video.”

“Account-based marketing, with rifle shot tactics.”

“Eliminated many events due to low attendance.”

“Formed a global marketing team, centralized functions.”

“More client-directed and targeted communications.”

“Drastically improved sales support.”

“More clarity on calls to action and measurable ROI.”

Types of cutbacks made

What tactic was the hardest to cut?

“Advertising,” (6)

“Advertising (and, as a result, we’ve lost momentum).”

“Print advertising and large-scale events that had been parts of our marketing program for many years, but drove no tangible business.”

“Many examples, but the most difficult was completely cutting a touch point in a campaign.”

“New market development that would have supported future increased revenue.”

Any cuts that didn’t cost gains?

Such as…

“Trade shows.” (4)

“Several shows were cut and we did not see the pain we thought we might.”

“Expensive events that we were obliged to attend in the past but hard to measure ROI on.”

“Traditional advertising.” (3)

“Some of our general awareness advertising campaigns.”

“Traditional advertising. As it turns out, it doesn’t seem to be a real problem. So far I have received NO complaints from product managers or regional sales. Their satisfaction is due to the increased leads coming from social media.”

Single highest-ROI tactic right now?

“Paid search.” (5)

“PR.” (5)

“Direct mail and/or email.” (4)

“Social media.” (3)

“Events and trade shows…both physical and virtual.”

“Sales force training and enablement.”

“Webinars coupled with eBooks.”

“Maintaining pricing discipline.”

“Thought leadership outreach—particularly with client involvement in videocasts, seminars, etc.”

“Customer loyalty campaigns.”

“Company web site.”

Less or more important in 2010?

76% 75% 74% 73%66% 64% 64%

-6% -6%0%

-18%

-3%-6% -6%

Less or more important in 2010?

63%58% 58% 58% 57%

54%49%

0%-3%

-13%

-6%-14% -11% -11%

Less or more important in 2010?

49% 46% 46% 43%

29%21%

16%

-19%

-12%

-11%

-3%

-34%-27%

-45%

13%

-55%

Is your marketing mix more digital?

Expected digital share of 2010 budget

3%

8%

13%11%

26%

32%

8%

Response to changed buyer behavior?

“We have unbundled services.”

“We are being more aggressive with our solutions that save money.”

“We have responded with our own stimulus packages.”

“Continuing to educate and engage…to be there when funds free up.”

“We’re revisiting and reassessing tactics for their effectiveness.”

“We have responded with more consistent outreach efforts to keep the issues, and our solution, in front of customers more regularly.”

“It’s causing us to react on the fly with more marketing to ensure the buyer converts.”

“We have focused on thought leadership.”

Confident you have optimal mix?

What gives you such confidence?“Bonafide sales leads generated.”

“We have implemented a 360-degree measurement system so we can measure the revenue we influence.”

“Our customers will let us know as their engagement with digital marketing tools increases and their response to traditional marketing tools decrease.”

“Measurement of different participation and ROI when we run the same program using different media.”

“There is no right mix—it constantly changes and evolves, and we continually tweak our media portfolio using quantitative and qualitative measurements.”

“Using multiple streams and watching conversions to see how much we can shift in one direction. But, let’s face it, some of this is just instinct.”

Greater demand for measurement?

44%

5%

28%

23%

Budget for marketing R&D?

New platforms/ideas being tested?

“Online training.”

“More online advertising on new sites.”

“Finding audiences within existing verticals/markets.”

“Video, social media and [lead]-nurturing programs.”

“Adoption of technology throughout the marketing function.”

“Social media tracking and web conversion tools.”

“Top secret!”

Thank you!