| | | The B2B Research Blog | |  Leads | 14 articles |
| Page 1 of 1 | Previous | Next | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG OCTOBER 24, 2011 Financial benchmarks for B2B marketing agencies Have the UK’s leading B2B marketing agencies – 43 of them with combined billings of around £150 million – anonymously share key performance data. Are you normal? . As a business I mean. . If you’re running a B2B marketing agency do you really know how your firm performs relative to competitors? It’s tough to answer this question with confidence. After all, your competitors only share the legal minimum of information about performance. Information which is also usually opaque and outdated. . Despair not though. MRM London (£10.5m). Reading Room (£10.4m). Gravity (£9.2m). | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG JUNE 12, 2012 It’s all about the lead Two fifths (41%) of B2B marketers report that their single highest marketing priority for 2012 is to generate more of the salesperson’s raw material – leads. With this in mind, B2B Marketing Magazine’s latest Benchmark report on lead generation couldn’t have come at a better time. It seems that lead generation is not cheap. Around one quarter (28%) of B2B marketers are able to put a figure on how much it costs them to acquire a sales ready lead. Only one third of these leads (33%) then convert to a sale. . So maybe it’s not all about the lead after all. | | | | | |
| THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG OCTOBER 12, 2012 How do we align sales and marketing? Most importantly, the bottom line suffers as leads aren’t fully nurtured (61%). Ever looked at our cousins in FMCG marketing with a little jealousy? Eyed their big budgets with envy? Coveted their influence in a world where marketing is central to organisational success? Maybe not, but you’ve probably glanced across your own office and felt similar feelings towards sales. At least you will have done if you’re anything like the 100 B2B marketing leaders Circle recently surveyed as part of the B2B Marketing Leaders Forum. Of all the findings revealed in the survey, that struck me most. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG SEPTEMBER 25, 2011 B2B marketing sector bounces back: 57% report rising budgets Failure to do so is wasting leads (60% report as consequence of mis-alignment), time (53%) and budgets (41%). To say it’s been an eventful few years economically is an understatement. First we had the credit crunch and a deep recession. Now deficit reduction measures are biting and bond markets shaking. These turbulent times make the latest instalment of the bi-annual B2B Barometer interesting reading. The full B2B Barometer report will be published in October 2011 (subscribe to our blog to receive a complimentary copy – simply click here ). In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG FEBRUARY 14, 2013 Three customer insights for your marketing plan Identifying segments on this basis leads to a much better ROI – marcomms resonate, propositions have greater appeal and new products see higher demand. Spring. As birds migrate north to secure nesting ground, gaggles of marketers flock to secure budget for their marketing plans. The most fruitful of these plans are built on customer insights. But insights into what exactly? Here are three things that would top my list. What really matters? We all know that successful marketing propositions perfectly align with customer needs and wants. But here assumption and guess-work abound. | THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG JANUARY 22, 2013 Eight ways B2B market research differs from B2C This just leads to superficial outcomes and potentially damages your brand in the process. Provided those that lead supplier decisions are represented, a relatively small number of interviews obtains a reliable view. Warning. Market research can be bad for your health. It can actively hurt business performance by drawing misleading conclusions. Conclusions which fail to consider the full picture, which focus on the obvious rather than delving deep or which are simply based on faulty information. The result is bad decisions. Now, don’t get me wrong. Kingmakers’ are critical. | | | | | | | |
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THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011 Three reasons B2B marketers should care about sustainability
In the latest in my series of interviews with today’s leading business thinkers I spoke with Thomas Jelley, Corporate Citizenship Manager at support services giant Sodexo. But why, you may wonder, is a B2B marketing research agency like Circle talking about sustainability. Isn’t that the preserve of a niche team within corporations and NGOs? . Well, no. Increasingly sustainability is becoming embedded throughout corporates and amongst individual departments – including marketing – for three very compelling reasons. If you’re not convinced so far, here’s the clincher: sales. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 There’s horse meat in my survey
In the case of faulty research it can lead to sub-optimal decisions and missed opportunities. Was everyone posed non- leading questions to determine their role and level of authority? What you see isn’t always what you get. Horse meat in our Findus Crispy Pancakes. Sub-prime mortgages hidden within bundles of triple-A rated loans. Dodgy surveys parading as fact. This deception – whether intentional or accidental – has far-reaching repercussions. And it’s an easy mistake to make. But challenge we should. Who was surveyed? . However, this is only true if two criteria are met. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012 Green shoots? Highlights from the B2B Barometer survey
Three of these concern demand generation – generating more leads (41% name as a priority), generating better quality leads (27%) and raising brand awareness (32%). . Double dip recession. Greek bond defaults. Spanish bailout. We’re clearly not quite out of the ‘Great Recession’ yet. But we B2B marketers have always been an optimistic bunch. . The latest B2B Barometer survey explored the opinions of 128 B2B marketing professionals collectively controlling budgets of £29.1 million. . Confidence is high. This confidence is reflected in marketing budgets. Direct mail (12%). MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012  From insight to action
So, how can we ensure that insight always leads to action? Sometimes the biggest challenge with customer insight is not doing the research, but doing something with it. You start with determination to put the customer at the centre of decisions. You carefully design a robust survey. You intelligently analyse the findings to get to the heart of the issue. Then…. Well, nothing. The research becomes an academic exercise rather than a catalyst spurring action. Here are five tips. Be inclusive. Importantly, by consulting them they’re more likely to put their weight behind the end result. MORE >> -
THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011  The Times They Are a-Changin’
No, not a diversification into tea and cakes, but a virtual hub where they’ve collected together the thoughts of leading B2B technology marketers. . Our friends at Marketing Options International (MOI) have just launched the Mind Share Café. Marketers from players like Dell, Microsoft and Cisco. Have a look – the Mind Share Café. You won’t find any pontificating. No self-serving agendas. Just technology marketeers in similar circumstances being open about the challenges they face and how they’re approaching them. . In doing so I was struck by one recurring theme: change. MORE >>
- An interview with Jaakko Alanko: MD, Alanko Consulting THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2011
- An interview with Stephen Cheliotis: CEO, Centre for Brand Analysis THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011
- Air Cargo News: Interview with Circle’s Andy Booth THE B2B RESEARCH BLOG | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011
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