CEO of Momentum ITSMA, helping firms develop, embed and enable Account-Based Marketing strategies, and author of The ABM Effect.
With heightened pressure on short-term performance, B2B marketing is at a crossroads. I’m seeing the role of marketing splitting into various departments, and with so much across the buying cycle moving out of the marketing department, we run the risk of rapidly being left with the corporate comms and brand.
Justifying the CMO role means being the only credible voice of the client — understanding everything about your clients. You need to know why they’re buying, why they aren’t, what they’re prepared to pay for it and how they feel before, during and after their purchase. Today, more than ever, marketing leaders must rise to this challenge and spearhead the transformation of go-to-market teams into customer-centric growth drivers.
Why Marketing Leaders Should Care
The role of marketing remains widely misunderstood, leaving many B2B marketing leaders hired to address a limited scope of digital, social, and lead-generation activities. Within the C-suite, there exists a knowledge gap regarding the true extent of marketing’s impact. Just as there are two types of CFOs, one strategic and the other focused on financial governance, two archetypes of CMOs emerge—one that embodies a strategic business partner to the CEO and another that is proficient in ensuring governance through marketing operations.
Compounding this misunderstanding is the fact that the current macro environment pushes executives to demand short-term performance fixes from marketing, overshadowing the long-term value-building potential. Consequently, marketing leaders must seize the opportunity to become the voice of the customer, unraveling their needs, motivations and pain points at every stage of the buying cycle.
How ABM Has Accelerated This Revolution
Account-based marketing (ABM) has emerged as a catalyst for marketing strategy transformation in enterprises. By granting marketing a seat at the table, ABM can provide valuable insights into client behavior and foster genuine proximity to customers. However, many companies have the tendency to rename ABM to align it more closely with sales or business objectives.
The Momentum ITSMA ABM Benchmarking Study reveals firms leveraging ABM achieve an average growth of 55% in annual account revenues, a 71% expansion of account relationships and a 34% improvement in reputation within accounts. So, this tells us that we should harness ABM to elevate marketing’s role in client engagement and growth.
Where You Go Next
According to a McKinsey survey, a significant 83% of global CEOs believe marketing can be a major growth driver. However, fulfilling this expectation requires a fundamental shift in how marketing functions operate.
To navigate the evolving landscape successfully, marketing leaders should equip themselves with the knowledge and tools required for effective sales and marketing integration. By utilizing client insights, marketing can gain access to a wealth of information that can shape strategic decision-making. And designing the marketing organization around clients’ buying behaviors can help mitigate channel conflict and streamline the customer experience. Ultimately, marketing leaders should become agents of change by fostering integrated client experiences that remove friction from the buying cycle.
Navigating The Buying Cycle
To excel in today’s complex buying environment, marketing leaders must champion a customer-centric approach. By following these practical tips, marketing teams can position themselves as valuable allies throughout the five stages of the buying cycle:
Stage 1: Epiphany: Recognizing The Need To Change The Status Quo
Understand the client’s business deeply, inspiring them with the value of change and communicating positive outcomes.
Stage 2. Awareness: Clarifying Issues And Identifying Alternatives
Articulate solutions from the client’s perspective, providing use cases and proof points that address genuine challenges.
Stage 3. Interest: Evaluating Possible Solutions
Offer timely information and insights that support the development of a compelling business case, addressing doubts and indecisiveness with relevant data.
Stage 4. Confidence: Selecting A Way Forward
Ensure clear and consistent messaging to the entire buying team, providing a visible path beyond the purchase and collaborating to support successful execution.
Stage 5. Reality: Post-Purchase Evaluation
Deliver an exceptional post-purchase experience to minimize buyer’s remorse, offering internal communications, training and support to reinforce the decision’s value.
Sales And Marketing: The Dynamic Duo
The synergistic collaboration between sales and marketing is essential to success in today’s competitive landscape. Both teams must recognize their primary mission: to serve clients by making the buying process easy and seamless. To achieve this, marketing teams must transcend their process-centric structure and align with the customers’ buying journey. In high-value B2B firms, sales and marketing can restructure themselves around the jobs to be done in the buying cycle, enabling greater impact at each stage.
This approach can position organizations well, as a staggering 64% of customers surveyed by Accenture say they wish companies would respond faster with new offerings to meet their changing needs.
Three Steps For Effective Collaboration Across The Buying Cycle
1. Establish a dedicated team focused on strategic accounts and high-value deals, investing significant sales and marketing resources in these key areas. Embrace standardized tools and processes to enhance integration and performance.
2. Prioritize skill-building and training to equip teams with advanced capabilities across various functions. Stronger skill sets enable teams to navigate the buying cycle more effectively and deliver enhanced value to clients.
3. Develop an integrated go-to-market strategy for strategic clients, treating it as a corporate growth initiative rather than a siloed sales or marketing program. Embrace a comprehensive approach that minimizes friction, improves the buying process and nurtures long-term customer relationships.
Embracing The Customer-Centric Imperative
The time has come for marketing leaders to step up to the pivotal role they have to play as the voice of their clients. By championing customer-centricity, marketing can surpass traditional boundaries, reshape the buying cycle and drive significant growth. Armed with the ability to unravel client needs and motivations, marketing leaders hold the keys to success. By embracing this imperative, marketing leaders can reshape their organizations, foster collaboration and create meaningful connections that inspire loyalty and drive revenue.
In our world of constant change, marketing leaders must seize the opportunity to be the compass guiding their organizations toward success, advocating for clients, and helping them navigate the complex terrain of the buying cycle.
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