We saw a big shift this past year in how B2B marketers are measured. In our third annual Revenue Marketing B2B Benchmark Report, we have confirmed that marketing is making a more direct, measurable contribution to the top-line of their organization than ever before.
Using the data we have compiled in this report, we have some thoughts as to how the future of revenue marketing will look. This especially affects age-old battles such as the alignment of sales and marketing. Thirty-eight percent of the revenue marketers we surveyed said their alignment of sales and marketing is their main barrier to driving pipeline and revenue.
We predict that will soon be a thing of the past.
Here’s why silos are facing their ultimate demise:
- Listening is becoming a coveted skill. Look at the New York Times top 10 business books for 2019. Number 9 explicitly is about listening. We would argue the others are about “softer” skills that involve components of listening.
- The newest members of our workforce (aka our hired, earn-their-paycheck colleagues) do not have the same tolerance for order, structure, and boundaries as their predecessors. They ask bold questions–faster. They expect more. They are not afraid to move on. They want experience — and therefore failure. Boundaries do not apply to this group.
- What once were structured roles are now being blurred by the access to data, new technology, and curiosity. The responsibilities of a marketing team cannot belong solely to marketing anymore. This is also exacerbated by questions around where the customer experience, data science, professional development, and business analytics fall within an organization.
- Marketing doesn’t own the whole story any more. Coveted advertising can still have Mad Men appeal, but it has to account for values, social responsibility, and ethics. If you’re not promoting a semblance of these components, you can market until the cows come home. Just hope the cows bring their wallets because no one else will be buying.
Bring on the beautiful chaos that comes with blurred lines. May the most collaborative survive.
To learn more about our 2020 Revenue Marketing Benchmark Report, click here, and to learn more about our predictions for revenue marketing in 2020 and beyond, click here.
