The gap between traditional B2B marketing organizations and modern Revenue Marketing organizations continues to widen. This year marks the turning point, where traditional marketing organizations will have a hard time catching up with Revenue Marketing Practices.

What do we know?

According to Forrester Research, 75% of B2B buyers prefer to educate themselves on options rather than being bombarded with information. Additionally, 57% of the B2B buying process is completed before the customer actually gets in contact with a supplier or vendor. So, where does that leave you and your B2B marketing efforts?

Over the past decade, the role of marketing teams within B2B organizations has gone through an immense and, quite frankly, necessary evolution. What started out as an ‘at your beck and call” sales support role is now an independent role with measurable, impactful contributions to the organizations’ bottom line.

Many marketing organizations have made this transition and are now contributing more than 50% to company pipeline and revenue. Both young and mature marketing organizations have successfully made this transition by being pragmatic and investing heavily in technology and talent.

However, the majority of organizations that are still trying to make this transition are failing because they see this shift as a massive transformation, with no real beginning and no measurable milestones. Oftentimes, organizations struggling with this change are:

• trying to change too much all at once, rather than taking a more agile approach by breaking down the needed change into smaller, more frequent and measurable changes.
• failing to make the necessary investments in technology to give them a solid foundation, and instead are trying to plug gaps with the technology they already have.

This year could well be the tipping point for traditional teams who will find it hard, if not impossible, to catch up with modern Revenue Marketing organizations.

Is there hope? Is there something that organizations can do now to make the necessary transition? The most effective solution is to break down the changes. There are five key processes to help your organization optimize and deliver scalable, repeatable revenue – something we call the Revenue Marketing System:

1. Understand – deeply understand and operationalize the customer lifecycle and buyer personas.
2. Align – optimize the alignment of strategy and execution, strategy and metrics, C-Suite alignment, marketing and sales, and lead to revenue processes.
3. Develop – invest in talent through hiring, coaching, auditing skills, and creating talent optimization plans.
4. Engage – design engagement plans, digital strategies, and content themes that drive education, inspiration, AND conversion.
5. Automate & Analyze – implement MarTech platforms and proven practices that enable automation, engagement, data governance, and scale.

Rinse and repeat!

So yes, there is hope! Marketing organizations need to remember to take things one step at a time in order to keep from becoming overwhelmed. Revenue Marketing organizations that embrace new technologies will continue to make small agile changes and attract top talent which will continue to propel them forward.