The B2B Barometer
Q1 2011
The B2B Barometer: Vital Statistics
•
The B2B Barometer is the ‘state of the nation’ study for B2B marketers
•
Now in its fourth wave, and backed by two years’ worth of historical data on B2B
marketing
•
Findings based on 200 interviews with B2B marketing professionals conducted in
January 2011:
•
•
108 client-side marketing professionals collectively responsible for controlling budgets
amounting to £47.8 million a year
•
92 B2B marketing agency professionals with total annual revenues of £540m
This report project is sponsored by Circle Research, the Institute of Direct Marketing
and the Association of B2B Agencies
How confident are you in the ability of the current government to
effectively manage the UK's economy?
How confident are you with your organisation's own outlook for the next
12 months?
19%
15%
19%
Very confident
52%
54%
Quite confident
54%
Neutral
Not very confident
Not at all confident
16%
8%
November 2009
19%
19%
8%
6%
June 2010
January 2011
Both client and agency opinion. Base: 200.
To what extent has your organisation's revenue changed over the past
12 months?
11%
15%
23%
23%
Significantly increased
34%
34%
19%
18%
Stayed the same
Slightly decreased
20%
20%
20%
27%
November 2009
Slightly increased
16%
10%
7%
June 2010
January 2011
Base: 92 B2B marketing agency respondents
Significantly decreased
Confidence versus performance amongst agencies
79%
73%
71%
57%
49%
% of agency respondents
confident in outlook for
next 12 months
34%
% of agency respondents
whose revenue
increased in last 12
months
November 2009
June 2010
Base: 92 B2B marketing agency respondents
January 2011
Quantity versus quality of enquiries
100%
Less quality,
more quantity
More quality,
more quantity
Jan 2011
Net change in quantity
June 2010
Nov 2009
-100%
Less quality,
less quantity
0%
-100%
Net change in quality
Base: 92 B2B marketing agency respondents
100%
More quality,
less quantity
In the past six months, would you say the number of enquiries you
have received has...?
12%
17%
25%
24%
47%
42%
25%
20%
17%
8%
15%
November 2009
10%
June 2010
Base: 92 B2B marketing agency respondents
17%
9%
4%
January 2011
Significantly increased
Slightly increased
Stayed the same
Slightly decreased
Significantly decreased
And now thinking about the quality of these enquiries, would you say
they have...?
31%
34%
51%
7%
Improved
Stayed the same
37%
Worsened
59%
39%
32%
10%
November 2009
June 2010
Base: 92 B2B marketing agency respondents
January 2011
Thinking about your organisation's budgets, in overall terms how, if at
all, would you say they have changed in the past 12 months?
22%
28%
Increased
Remained static
Decreased
48%
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
Compared to the previous 12 months, does your organisation's B2B
marketing budget for the next 12 months represent an increase or a
decrease?
16%
25%
8%
34%
Significant increase
Slight increase
30%
35%
No change
Slight decrease
Significant decrease
18%
15%
9%
9%
June 2010
January 2011
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
Over the next 12 months, what proportion of this B2B marketing budget
do you expect to be allocated to these areas?
3%
3%
4%
5%
17%
5%
8%
14%
9%
11%
9%
11%
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
Trade shows
Email
Website development
Online ads
Direct mail
PR
Print
Social media
Marketing research
Marketing strategy
Brand identity
Other
The rise in spend on digital marketing channels and fall in spend on
traditional marketing channels has tapered off over the past six months
75%
47%
39%
45%
43%
41%
42%
Nov 2009
June 2010
43% Traditional channels
41% Digital channels
0%
April 2009
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
Jan 2011
Direct mail’s share of B2B marketing budget has almost halved in two
years. The channels to gain from this shortfall have been social media
and trade shows.
20%
16%
17%
Trade shows
9%
Direct mail
5%
Social media
14%
2%
0%
April 2009
Nov 2009
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
June 2010
Jan 2011
Would you describe each of the following as a high, medium or low
priority for your organisation at present?
29%
50%
49%
43%
40%
38%
High priority
Medium priority
36%
34%
44%
Low priority
52%
33%
14%
17%
Use of
Aligning sales
marketing and marketing
technologies
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
14%
Measuring
ROMI
8%
Insight-led
decisions
Social media
strategy
Which, if any, of the following marketing technologies do you currently
use?
76%
CRM
60%
Content management syst.
44%
Database software
Lead management syst.
38%
Advanced email syst.
38%
Marketing performance syst.
37%
27%
Marketing automation
18%
Budgeting software
10%
ROMI models
Other
None of the above
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
3%
8%
Does your organisation currently measure ROMI?
49%
65%
57%
62%
Yes
No
51%
35%
April 2009
November
2009
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
43%
38%
June 2010
January 2011
Does your organisation have a social media strategy?
75%
70%
64%
63%
36%
32%
28%
0%
November 2009
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
June 2010
January 2011
Yes
No
Would you agree or disagree the social media has little relevance to
B2B organisations?
9%
13%
Agree
Disagree
Don't know
79%
Base: 200. Both agency and client opinion
Would you agree or disagree that social media is of little relevance to
your organisation?
8%
20%
Agree
Disagree
Don't know
73%
Base: 200. Both agency and client opinion
Which of the following social media channels does your organisation
use to help clients engage with their target market/s?
Linked.in
Blogs
Twitter
Facebook
Video marketing
Flickr, YouTube
Discussion forums
Online communities
Social bookmarking
Podcasts
Viral marketing
Wiki
Other
None/ not relevant
Base: 200. Both agency and client opinion
74%
59%
54%
45%
43%
37%
36%
36%
24%
23%
21%
10%
5%
14%
And which one social media channel do you think has the most
powerful impact in a B2B setting?
Linked.in
Blogs
Online communities
Video marketing
Twitter
Discussion forums
Facebook
Viral marketing
Podcasts
Flickr, YouTube
Social bookmarking
Wiki
Other
None/ not relevant
32%
20%
10%
9%
4%
4%
3%
3%
1%
1%
0%
0%
3%
Base: 200. Both agency and client opinion
10%
How much is your organisation likely to spend on B2B marketing
activities over the next 12 months?
Less than £25k
£25k - £49,999
12%
5%
£50k - £99,999
8%
£100k - £199,999
12%
£200k - £499,999
15%
£500k - £749,999
11%
£750k - £1m
8%
More than £1m
Don't know/ not set
Base: 108 B2B client-side respondents
22%
6%
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