No doubt, at some point in the last five years, you will have listened to a podcast, seen a keynote session, or read a report on the topic of changing buyer behaviour. If you haven’t, the key takeaway goes something like this: today’s buyer doesn’t want to be sold to. They want to conduct their own research at their own pace. They want to do it silently online. They want peer recommendations. Then, when they’re ready – and only when they’re ready – do they want to buy.
And let’s be clear, this isn’t going to change any time soon. As demonstrated by a 2024 study by Uswitch, nearly a quarter of people between the ages of 18 and 34 never answer the phone. The same study goes on to say that nearly 70% of individuals in that age bracket prefer a text to a phone call. Obviously, not all B2B buyers fit into that age bracket, but these individuals will increasingly be the ones making decisions around B2B purchases.
Ultimately, this means that if we want to be successful in winning new business, we need to play in the areas that our buyers want to find us in. Then, when they do find us, we need to provide them with the right content or resources that solve their problem. Gone are the days where a cold call would suffice!
Fortunately, this is fantastic news for B2B marketers. We are the masters of the digital channels our buyers use to find solutions, meaning we are increasingly responsible for the commercial success of our businesses. However, there’s a problem – ironically, it’s a branding problem. Despite the fact we’re in pole position to act as the commercial hub of our businesses, all too often, marketing is seen as a department responsible purely for promotion. Sales are trusted at the top level, but marketers struggle to simplify the complexity of the value we bring, meaning we often find ourselves on the fringes of commercial conversations.
So, what do we do about it?
In order to establish how we can revolutionise these internal perceptions and become our businesses’ core growth-driver, we recently held a roundtable in collaboration with cloud data platform, Snowflake. This roundtable featured senior B2B marketing leaders from a range of backgrounds and industries.
“It was a privilege to join fellow B2B marketing leaders for a powerful roundtable discussion. At Snowflake, we’re seeing first hand how data-driven insights and tighter cross-functional alignment are elevating marketing into a true engine of growth – and it’s exciting to be a part of that shift.” Owen Hartnett, Senior Product Marketing Manager, EMEA, Snowflake
So, what did we learn?
Stop speaking marketing; start speaking business
If marketing has a branding problem, then we need to do what we do best: a rebrand. In practical terms, this means we need to educate our businesses about the value we can bring, and how we’ll do it.
The key to doing this successfully is not to use ‘marketing language’, like MQLs, likes or clickthrough rates, but to speak the language of the department in question. Speaking to sales? Talk about opportunity size, or volume of demos you’re generating. Speaking to finance? Talk about impact on churn. The specific metrics you use will, of course, depend on your organization’s objectives, business model and market, but the key to reframing how marketing is seen is to speak in a language that resonates with the person you’re speaking to.
As one participant claimed: “We need to remember we’re marketers. We need to treat our colleagues in other departments like they are their own separate audience.”
Short-term results buy long-term credibility
As marketers, we know that a strong brand builds long-term growth. After all, clinching a sale is going to be much easier if your prospect already knows about your product or service, and has a good perception of your business. However, we also know that the demand to hit short-term results often dominates conversations, and that making the case for investment in brand is notoriously difficult.
The solution? Build brand-building into your immediate marketing plan. Building a brand doesn’t always have to include a two-year plan, an event launch and a website re-design. There may be some steps you can take today to strengthen your brand, that don’t necessarily require a huge investment (i.e. ensuring you’ve got a clear value proposition, for instance).
Whilst you’re doing this, bring other teams and leaders into the conversation, and talk about the commercial impact this work is driving. When the time comes, making the case for a larger investment should be easier to make.
Use shared targets and metrics
All too often, the targets set by marketing, sales and other departments differ. Now, of course, the specific actions each department takes are going to be relevant to their specialism. God forbid a finance executive ever gets their hands on Canva.
However, aligning objectives towards shared objectives and targets is absolutely critical. This can’t always be an exact science. After all, generating X% of demos may have led to X% of sales in years gone by, but that formula may need to be adjusted. Regardless, the key is that you’re in constant communication with your sales colleagues around what is and isn’t working, and ensuring that the work you’re doing is helping to drive your business towards its overall commercial objectives.
If we can do this consistently, we’ll also be able to build our own credibility in the business. The result? When times get tough and sales dry-up, as they can do in any market, we’ll be better placed to make the case for continued trust in our voice, and investment in our budget.
Final thoughts
The truth is, all organizations have issues. One organization may suffer from a rigid org structure. Another may suffer from a dominant personality who has a set way of doing things. The list goes on.
Transforming marketing’s role in a given organization, therefore, is unlikely to happen overnight. Instead, the B2B marketers that win will be those who invest in a long-term strategy of re-educating other departments/boards of the growth they can drive, and speaking their language whilst doing so.
In order to help you on your own journey towards becoming a commercial marketer, we recommend you check out our ‘Strategy Pack’, designed to give you all the tools you need to become just that. With training courses, webinars and models, this is a comprehensive suite of resources to help you in your long-term journey towards re-inventing the position of the marketing team in your organization.
