B2B marketing today produces more stuff, for more channels, for longer sales cycles on smaller budgets – and B2B customers want a unified CX or they say they will churn
B2B marketing is an incredibly difficult job. Consider the following statistics from just this year:
- B2B marketing budgets are “anemic” in 2024, sitting at 7.7% of revenue, well below the 10% industry benchmark;
- Peer-reviewed academic research shows B2B tech startups consistently underfund marketing;
- More marketing leaders would hire talent first, before any other spending, if given extra budget this year;
- Some (reasonable) estimates suggest only 5% of buyers are in market for your product at any given time;
- A survey of 3,500 B2B buyers found the sales cycle lasts an average 379 days;
- Another survey of 500 B2B buyers put the median sales cycle between 120-408 days depending on the size of the business doing the selling; and
- Customer buying teams now average 9 people and require 15 touches to close.
We can add one more to the list, thanks to the McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey, which polled some 4,000 respondents:
- B2B marketing manages an average of 10.2 channels in 2024 – that’s double what it managed eight years ago in 2016.
The expectations are higher too, according to McKinsey. They say customers expect those 10 channels to deliver a single and consistent customer experience (CX).
The consulting firm put it this way:
“B2B customers are more willing to switch suppliers. More than half of our survey respondents say they are likely to turn elsewhere if they don’t have a smooth experience across channels.”
That’s a hefty rate of churn – and churn rates are a huge problem in SaaS right now.
More specifically, the latest B2B pulse survey found:
- “54% of those likely to switch suppliers cite poor-quality digital customer experiences as a reason to go elsewhere;
- 51% say a lack of customer tracking across channels would be an impediment to doing business; and
- 51% would find an alternative if they were not connected to the right person for help.”
McKinsey sums it up this way:
“Customers don’t want a mere variety of multiple channels; they want a true omnichannel sales experience that feels smooth, curated, and orchestrated to meet their specific needs. And they’ve made it clear that they’ll bail if they don’t get what they want.”
So what?
If your company is experiencing high rates of customer churn – and nothing you’ve done in the product or customer success seems to remedy the problem – then this study suggests the CX marketing presents is the next logical place to look for answers.
That said, the data is pretty clear that B2B marketers are under-recognized miracle workers. Any way you look at it, B2B marketing today produces more stuff, for more channels, for longer sales cycles – with greater expectations on smaller budgets. Give them a little more to work with and you might just see your churn rate fall.
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Image credit: Unsplash and respective study
