Unifying the marketing function: How an effective B2B marketing strategy can prove business value
Organisations need to invest in getting connected to meet the challenge of changing customer and business expectations.
The past two years have been a time of change and evolution for the marketing industry. Continuing digital transformation has evolved avenues for generating business pipeline – allowing us to measure content and messaging performance at more stages of the customer journey.
Many organisations realise that one of the keys to competitiveness going forward lies in the unification of marketing functions and connected customer experiences. But while many recognise the importance of a cohesive Sales and Marketing unit, some struggle to establish the link between marketing activity and revenue growth.
Modern B2B marketing is built on the premise of understanding the customer’s end-to-end journey. Five years ago, most businesses didn’t have the technology infrastructure to monitor the component parts of that customer experience. Now, more and more do – and it’s a case of applying that technology correctly across the right parts of the organisation to drive an understanding of Marketing’s business value.
Digital revolution, not evolution
For many businesses, the ‘traditional’ structure of a marketing department has created siloed teams – especially in larger organisations. Often, this results in a department-wide inability to connect the impact of their work to their company’s bottom line, calling its business value into question.
Rapid digitisation of everything has enabled greater connectivity between marketing teams. And delivering true Sales and Marketing alignment within the organisation is now more possible than ever. However, there is still a vast gap between the speed at which businesses have adopted digital technologies and their correct integration into departmental structures and workflows that allow the sharing of the right kind of customer/prospect journey data.
Unified organisations deliver more connected customer experiences, this we already know. But more importantly – within the context of business value – they provide a more holistic view of how those experiences flow through to the bottom line.
Owning the revenue growth path
Data sources now available to us make it easier to understand which prospects to target, their intent, how to best communicate with them, and also the tracking of their journey end to end. We have more insights at our fingertips than ever before. But the opportunity gap still needs to be addressed.
Forrester research indicates that 78% of executive buyers claim salespeople do not have relevant materials tailored to the individual circumstances of their buyers. CMOs must establish that smarter sales enablement means so much more than having your Sales and Marketing teams work together.
Fundamentally realigning how your sales and marketing function shares data internally to enable a more relevant and personalised buyer experience is key. Once you foster internal connectivity and apply more insight across teams, it becomes a simpler task to own the entire revenue growth path.
Connecting B2B marketing to business value
A study by Hubspot found that organisations whose Sales and Marketing teams are closely aligned close 38% more deals.
Reframing misalignment as an issue that affects both departments allows for collective solutions. On a micro-level, your marketing team will benefit from approaching the right audience, at the right time, with the right content. And your sales teams can use all this new useful data to stop fishing in oceans and start targeting a smaller pond of interested individuals with really useful tailored context.
Key takeaways
- To own the revenue growth path, you need to align your marketing functions more internally and share more data between functions.
- Smart sales enablement requires Sales and Marketing to work closely together to make the most out of the available data, allowing them to tailor more relevant next steps.
- More connected marketing departments and customer experiences come as a result of more connected sales and marketing teams – allowing for visibility into how marketing activity brings business value.
Learn more about how Transmission can support your B2B marketing strategy here.