CMOs in B2B are under increasing pressure to hit targets and be more creative, according to research from Octopus Group.
The tech content marketing agency’s annual report, Tech Heads, revealed 90 per cent of CMOs say they are having to be more creative to compete, while many feel they don’t have the right skills for success.
A staggering 92 per cent feel pressure to hit targets has increased, with 30 per cent admitting this has been a ‘significant’ rise.
The research, based on responses from 100 marketing directors and 400 senior business buyers, set out to explore how businesses are buying, and how effectively they are being marketed to.
Other major CMO concerns include confusion caused by the competitive supplier market and the vendor landscape becoming busier every year.
These concerns are compounded – and possibly even caused – by the fact 54 per cent of B2B buyers admit they take longer to make a decision about buying than they did 12 months ago.
Billy Hamilton Stent, client strategy director at Octopus Group, commented: “Our research shows that the heart of the problem is that everyone is saying the same thing, in the same way, with the result that prospects are struggling to identify messages that really connect, and CMOs are losing sleep trying to figure out what to do next.
“A key objective for CMOs has to be better brand differentiation to really capture prospects’ attention.”