What Do We Know about B2B CMOs and Buyers in 2016?
Buying cycles in B2B can complex. Sophisticated technologies need to be explained, multiple stakeholders need to be won over and differentiation from your competitors needs to be achieved. So getting the inside track on what your buyers want and how they behave is gold in B2B.
Tech Heads is our annual study of buyers and senior marketers. The 2016 report, entitled ‘The Sleepless CMO’, saw us survey 100 B2B marketing directors and CMOs and 400 B2B buyers – here’s a summary of this year’s key data.
Competitors are costing CMOs sleep
Increasingly competitive and converged markets are putting pressure on CMOs. They’re being pushed to meet marketing challenges with innovation and creativity.
92% of CMOs say competition in their market has increased the pressure for their company to achieve its commercial objectives.
90% say they’re having to become more creative and innovative to compete with other suppliers in the market.
Complexity keeping them up
CMOs are also worrying about how to engage buyers who are struggling to find clear and compelling information about potential suppliers.
81% of buyers believe that the scoping phase of supplier selection is delayed due to the changes in the vendor landscape, which is getting busier every year.
78% believe that a competitive supplier market creates increased confusion and complexity when purchasing.
70% are more likely to select a supplier with clear differentiators.
Delayed decisions = Disturbed dreams
Because of busy, complex and confused markets, buyers are taking much longer to make the decisions that CMO success depends on.
54% of B2B buyers state that they take longer to make decisions about buying products and services than they did 12 months ago. 25% feel they take less time, with 21% stating no change.
The top three factors delaying buying decisions are: Greater choice of services/ products offered by suppliers 45% More sources of content to research/digest/consider 43% Greater choice of suppliers in the market 41%
For more insight on data trends for buyers and CMOs in B2B, download Tech Heads – The Sleepless CMO report