Marketing is only perceived as a strategic function in just over a third of B2B companies, according to research.
The study of 201 B2B marketers, published by Octopus Group, found just 38% thought the function was considered to be of strategic importance. Some 26% said it was thought of as something needed to remain in the game, and a further quarter said it was thought to be of fairly low importance.
Angela Richmond, MD at Octopus’ research division Loudhouse Research, said: “We were pretty surprised to discover marketing is quite undervalued in B2B organisations. It’s really considered to be a tactical activity in many of these businesses.”
This lack of strategic profile within businesses was in part attributed to the fact marketers do not have the time for thinking about planning and strategy. Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents said they don’t spend enough time thinking about the future, and 57% complained that every time they caught up, a new challenge appeared to be tackled.
A consequence of this is 65% of B2B marketers feel more stressed than a year ago, with their number one concern that there is too much to do in too little time. In addition, a third of marketers reported they feel stressed most of the time.
One of the causes of the pressure on marketers is the need to keep up with the latest technology as part of the need to drive innovation.
A year ago, marketing leaders were evenly split between creative and technological as to which of these was their strongest area of knowledge. While the proportion citing creative remained unchanged, those who said it was technology rose from 37% to 46%.
“Marketing as a discipline seems to have reached a tipping point,” said Richmond. “That’s quite a big change. Marketers have to understand as much around algorithms as they do around art.”
