Yet, while 90% of survey respondents indicate optimism for 2023, only 10% of marketers have the resources they need to be successful next year

Account-based marketing platform RollWorks, a division of NextRoll, today announced new research that reveals what’s driving optimism for B2B marketers heading into 2023 and the customer acquisition strategies they’re doubling down on to be successful.

In the survey of more than 1,000 B2B marketers, respondents validate that they continue to face limited resources, including smaller marketing teams and lean operating budgets. Over half (52%) of respondents say budgets for 2023 are less than $9 million, with 36% of those saying less than $1 million. Marketers also say that having more budget (39%) is higher on their wish list for 2023, versus having more people (29%). Only 10% of marketers say they already have the resources they need to be successful next year.

Despite budgetary restrictions, marketers remain positive about the coming year, with 90% indicating they’re anywhere from moderately to extremely optimistic. One reason to be excited: customer retention. 52% of respondents say they’re retaining more customers than last year, while another 38% are retaining the same amount of customers.

“These new findings certainly indicate hope and buoyancy in the year ahead, even in the midst of a contracting economy with restricted resources,” said Jodi Cerretani, VP of Revenue Marketing at RollWorks. “Organizations are increasingly prioritizing customer acquisition over growing their pipeline, and they’re turning to marketing to generate these strategies to impact revenue. High-value channels like content, partner, and email marketing are proving to be effective drivers of ROI for successful marketing programs.”

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ROI: The Role of Brand Awareness and Tie to Marketing Initiative Success

When asked to rank their top 3 measures of success for proving marketing effectiveness, 63% of respondents indicate stronger brand awareness, versus only 8% who say lowering customer churn is. Respondents are also 150% more likely to prioritize increasing customer acquisition over growing pipeline as an important measure of success.

RollWorks’ survey uncovered a direct correlation between ROI and overall program success. 42% of marketers said their 2022 marketing initiatives and programs were very successful, and 55% said theirs were moderately successful. Also, 45% of respondents said they were very often able to articulate the ROI of their marketing strategies to revenue this year. 28% said they sometimes could and 19% said they always could. Additionally, an impressive 74% say their marketing approach has become more targeted and personalized in the last year.

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Cerretani continued, “Distilling these findings, we love seeing how marketers articulate the ROI of their programs, and RollWorks is also seeing an increase in personalized and targeted marketing as well. It pays to be personal.”

Looking ahead, marketers also believe that content (16%) email (14%), and partner (13%) marketing are among those activities with the most potential gains in 2023 (with content syndication, webinars and virtual events, and event marketing ranking lowest). Paid social, although ranking lower in driving ROI, is the highest investment opportunity for marketers in 2023 (23%).