The majority of B2B marketing teams do not have the skills they need to support the pace of change ahead of them, a report by B2B Marketing and Clarasys has revealed.
According to the industry survey, 70% of B2B marketers consider transformation a top priority, with the same amount increasing their investment in martech to support these developments.
However, the majority feel their team doesn’t have the skills needed to support this change. One in ten don’t even have the skills needed for today.
In the report, Adapt or Die? Leadership in the era of martech transformation, Joel Harrison Editor-in-chief and co-founder of B2B Marketing, argues that this skills gap is giving rise to a now crucial role – that of the Marketing Operations function.
“Some B2B organisations have progressively and proactively re-engineered their marketing functions, reskilling their marketers to enable transformation and facilitate effective use of martech. Yet most lag a long way behind. Many have not embarked on the transition, or even scoped it. Such companies are likely to be putting themselves at significant competitive disadvantage, which will become more acute as disruption in their markets increase,” he warns.
Marketing operations no longer optional
Those that haven’t matched skills to the technological transformation head will need to take a dynamic, flexible and above all pragmatic approach to resourcing. While 66% of existing marketing operations leaders come from a background in marketing, some may be found in sales, IT or external agencies.
Widely speaking, marketing leaders will need to focus on providing training, plus forging closer relationships between marketing and CIO and IT functions.
“Marketing operations isn’t optional any more. If you want to execute with an evolutionary approach to customer centricity and deliver on customer and business expectations, it’s a necessity,” says Matt Cheung, CEO and Co-Founder of Clarasys.
