Rising Above The Fray

Only the most forward-thinking companies will be able to navigate a new and chaotic customer journey, where digital channels drive most of the revenue, where data and analytics shed light on shifting customer behaviors, and where marketers play a starring role. Yet too many companies are stuck in a linear way of thinking, still believing they own the conversation with the customer.

Can today’s marketer make sense of the digital disarray, rise above the fray, engage the customer, and drive revenue? The CMO Council, in partnership with Televerde, undertakes a cornerstone study to understand how marketers are helping their companies survive and thrive in a new digital reality spurred by the pandemic and forever changed buying behaviors.

For B2B businesses, statistics tell a heart-pounding story of disruption. More than 90% of the buyer’s journey is now fulfilled in digital channels. B2B e-commerce will reach $1.8 trillion in the United States in the next couple of years. In the buying process, 93% of business buyers are beginning with online research and eliminating 52% of vendors. Some 62% of B2B buyers can finalize selection criteria or vendor list solely on digital content. Much of the sales action is happening at the front of the funnel where marketers have the most impact.

This is the reason why, in a CMO Council global marketer survey, marketers ranked themselves as the ones primarily responsible for driving growth strategies and revenue generation, even above the CEO. Nine out of 10 marketers said senior management and board members expect marketers to drive measurable growth. The value of marketing has never been greater, nor has the pressure.

Now marketers have to deliver on this value. Amid a noisy digital world, marketers need new demand-creation strategies, data-literacy skills, audience and market insights, and emerging technologies to win the business of the self-reliant buyer.