B2B marketers are still struggling to get targeted prospects to engage, according to Chief Marketers’ 2019 B2B Marketing Outlook. Almost 6 in 10 respondents said this is a challenge for them in generating new leads, on par with last year’s results, when it was also their top lead generation challenge.
Engaging prospects is proving to be a bigger challenge than actually finding qualified names, which was cited as a challenge by 4 in 10 respondents. Fewer than one-quarter (23%) said that a finite number of qualified prospects is a problem, suggesting that it’s not the pool of potential prospects that’s the problem, but a competitive environment that makes engagement difficult.
Certain channels seem to be more successful than others, per the report. Closely grouped at the top as the largest sources of leads are email, search, and live events, according to the survey’s respondents. Not only do these channels produce the largest volume of leads, but also the leads with the highest ROI.
Email was also the top source of leads in last year’s report, while a more recent study from Demand Gen Report likewise found email and search to be the top channels for driving early-stage engagement. As for events, research indicates that B2B marketers use them primarily to drive sales, educate prospects, and gather leads, confirming their importance as a lead gen channel. Read the rest at Marketing Charts.
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