It’s obvious, really – a sales outfit is measured by the sales it generates, because its activities can be directly linked to those sales. And this in turn means that targets can be set in order to encourage continuous improvement and keep the business growing.
Marketing, on the other hand, especially in the B2B world, remained for the longest time a little more vague with regard to measurement. Budgets were allocated according to overall company performance. When things were good, the budget grew; when money was tight, marketing often took the hit. Marketers were held responsible although their contribution was difficult to quantify.
I think we can all agree that this is no longer the case. With the advent of reliable measurement solutions, and the appearance of new digital channels, marketing’s role in the sales process can be tracked from first touch through to a successful handover to sales, with different KPIs being assigned to different stages of the funnel. And this evolution in turn means that B2B marketers can now be assigned targets of their own, targets that can be linked directly to sales.
But the question is: are targets now being assigned to all marketing departments, and with what level of detail? That’s what B2B Marketing Agency MarketOne wants to find out with their “What’s Your Number?” demand generation survey. The survey, launched at the Funnel event on 13th November and now on MarketOne’s web site, looks not only at the obvious question, ‘do you have a target for your pipeline?’, but also addresses the different stages of the funnel, whether and how they are measured.
Initial results from Funnel attendees have already been revealing: 68% of those surveyed have a pipeline number, but only 28% can measure every stage of the funnel, but the goal is to broaden the sample by making it available online and on a global basis, before drawing any firm conclusions.
To take the survey, click here – you will receive a copy of the results for your pains!!