‘Priority one, two and three’: B2B marketers on the rise of lead gen
As lengthy sales cycles become more complex and the pressure to deliver hots up, exclusive data reveals lead generation is growing in importance for B2B brands.
For many B2B businesses, generating leads is fundamental to the role of marketing. However, the challenging economic environment means interest in lead gen is ramping up, as brands fight for growth and pressure is exerted on marketers to come up with the goods.
Indeed, generating leads is a bigger focus than it was three years ago, according to 69.3% of the 600 respondents to Marketing Week’s State of B2B Marketing survey. This number rises to 70.5% of marketers working within SMEs (250 employees or less) and 68.1% in large businesses.
Over half (59.8%) of the total sample also report their approach to lead generation is changing.
Seven-time CMO Paige O’Neill, now marketing boss at global sales enablement platform Seismic, is not surprised lead gen is rising in importance. In fact, she describes lead generation in B2B as “priority one, two and three”, citing several recent factors fuelling this interest.
