It is surprising how many marketers are either blissfully unaware or choose to ignore how their performance can affect their organisation's revenue, profits and margins. Decisions are often made based on instincts and hunches and this greatly irritates the sales teams who in turn struggle to meet monthly targets. CEOs and CFOs allocate the marketing budget as a cost centre and roll their eyes at the idea of a marketer taking a seat at the boardroom table. But, all this is about to change.
Smart B2B marketers, equipped with the right data and analytical tools, now have the ability to demonstrate their value through the calculation of marketing ROI.
What do all smart marketers have in common? They know their marketing maths!
Smart marketers understand the dynamics of the funnel. They understand their full go-to-market funnel (marketing as a well as sales), the multiple stages in the buyer's journey and different types of buyers in complex B2B sales. They also know that everyone moves through the funnel at a different pace and that many people don't make it to the next stage.
Smart marketers are also aware that the funnel is prone to leakage. They know the conversion rate of each stage in their funnel and they know the lag time from first engagement with their prospect to the time they become a loyal customer. With this valuable information on hand, along with knowledge of the business' revenue goals and an average selling price, they can model their funnel accordingly. Smart marketers know how many visitors and contacts they need at the top of the funnel in order to drive revenue at the bottom. Armed with this information, marketing and sales can apply the right marketing effort, in the right quantity and at the right time to deliver against their organisation's revenue goals.
Marketers who refuse to understand their maths, are simply performing "random acts of marketing" in the hope that something will stick.
In the world of B2B, decision cycles are often measured in months, with the average cycle said to be around nine months, starting with the first point of contact, resulting in a sale. Funnily enough, many marketers run their campaigns quarterly. Now, this doesn't make much sense. Why on earth would you run a marketing campaign that is shorter than the typical buying cycle?
A shorter campaign cycle means, you are marketing only to a certain stage of the funnel. This is what leads marketers to run price driven tactics such as end of quarter promotions and discounts.
Successful B2B marketing is about creating a lead engine that contributes to the momentum of the business. Without knowing your marketing maths you have no sense of the volume of marketing that is required to generate leads to feed the sales team.
So, if you want to be a successful B2B marketer take time to get to know your marketing maths.
And if you want to find out more about how to transform your existing marketing and how to make the most of you analytics, download our ebook below.
