It has been a busy year at Ascend2 as we worked with our partners to publish more than 700 research charts, analyzed 3,000+ data sets, and had 14,000+ individuals participate in our research studies.
This article looks at some of the findings from our marketing studies, but we covered many other topics and industries (food processing, HR, investing, logistics, sports, etc.). Ascend2 uses a proprietary research methodology to target specific audiences and convert findings into actionable steps for readers.
Here are 10 findings that will impact your 2023 plans and budgets:
Excellent customer experiences start with aligned teams.
Source: SharpSpring, The State of Marketing & Sales Alignment. Only 12% of professionals surveyed report that their marketing and sales tools and systems are integrated, but our research indicates that the sophistication of the integration between marketing and sales tools directly impacts the customer experience. The more integrated, the better the experience.
Video is the most impactful content format throughout the entire journey.
Source: Brightcove, The Power of Video in the B2B Buyer’s Journey. When stacked up against other content formats like blog posts and white papers, B2B buyers say video is the most impactful content format for creating awareness of business-related problems as well as researching and comparing solutions to these problems.
A customer data platform (CDP), a relative newcomer to the marketing technology scene, is one of the top three solutions marketers say they cannot live without.
Source: Oracle, Marketing Trends 2022. As the marketing technology landscape continues to expand, some relative newcomers now stand alongside time-tested heavyweights as necessities. A CDP is a good example. Email marketing platforms and content management systems are essential to modern martech and are among the top three most heavily relied-on solutions for 36% and 32% of marketers, respectively. These content creation, publishing, and distribution giants are mainstays for marketers.
Mover marketing makes an impact.
Source: V12, The 2022 Marketer’s Perspective on Mover Marketing. Nearly half of mover marketing users say that mover marketing has a significant impact on overall marketing performance, rating it an eight or higher on a scale of one to ten. Interestingly, the top three areas of focus for improvement in the coming year are the same areas in which mover marketing makes the most impact: customer acquisition, customer retention, and customer experience.
Is your marketing technology stack “more complex than a black hole”?
Source: Anteriad, The 2022 Outlook on Data and Technology: A Year of Herding Cats and Black Holes. When asked about the current state of their technology, one in five marketers say their current martech stack is more complex than a black hole. Interestingly, marketers in the United Kingdom were twice as likely to have that opinion than those in the United States (30% vs. 14%). Nearly 85% of those surveyed expect an increased investment in technology that supports marketing and sales in the coming year. The problems the marketing team seeks to address with new technology investments include:
The top challenges to providing an exceptional customer experience.
Source: Pedowitz Group, The RevOps Difference. Overall, the top challenges to providing an exceptional customer experience include a lack of communication between teams, misaligned efforts and goals between teams, and a lack of a unified view of the customer. Marketing teams are significantly more challenged by inadequate or inaccurate data compared to sales and customer success teams, while customer success teams are more likely to list ineffective leadership as a top challenge. Sales teams place a heavier weight on a lack of a unified view of the customer when it comes to the greatest barriers to success.
What are the B2B digital marketing strategy trends for the coming year?
Source: Wpromote, 2022 State of B2B Digital Marketing. What has changed in the past year? Technology is on the rise: automation and data science are now the #3 trend marketers are focused on (36% in 2022 vs. 23% last year), while AI and chatbots have jumped from just 13% to 21%.
The benefits of an effective CRM.
Source: Insightly, Choosing the Right CRM to Align Teams. The top benefits of effectively utilizing a CRM according to those who are extremely satisfied with their solution, include better customer data (including quality and completeness), more organized and streamlined processes, improved customer experience, and higher sales.
Content marketing – ROI is improved when workflows are efficient.
Source: Canto, The State of Digital Content. Content and creative professionals who describe their workflows as “very efficient” are 5x more likely to report a significant increase in content ROI than those with less efficient workflows. Our research indicates that streamlining workflows is critical to success. In fact, survey respondents who describe their content and creative workflows as “very efficient” are 5x more likely to report a significant increase in content ROI than those with less efficient workflows! 45% of those with very efficient workflows report a significant increase in ROI in their content and creative production last year compared to just 9% of those with less efficient workflows.
Where to focus to improve marketing attribution.
Source: emfluence, Improving Marketing Attribution. Marketers in this study recognize the ongoing nature of attribution work by acknowledging what they need to work on. Once again, strategy takes the top spot. But we would challenge the 62% who say this is where they need to focus. This implies that they don’t really know what their strategy is or how well it’s working, and they’re stuck in that initial phase.
As you prepare your budgets and plans for the new year, review the Ascend2 Research Library for data on marketing technology, content marketing, email marketing, data-driven marketing, attribution, customer experience, digital advertising, SEO, automation, ABM, multi-channel marketing, intent data, and more.
Do you have a research study that you want to do in the coming year? Ascend2 specializes in helping organizations develop actionable research to maximize ROI. Whatever your research goals, we have you covered. We offer a wide variety of research services for projects of all sizes, scopes, and budgets. From large-scale custom programs to fast and efficient branded research ready in as little as two weeks, and everything in between. Click here to learn more, we’d love to hear from you!
Cheers to a successful year ahead!