Funnels are losing their power: these are the consequences for B2B marketers
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In recent years, B2B marketers have had a lot of success with funnel marketing. Think of models like the See-Think-Do-Care model, ToFu, MoFu, BoFu, AIDA, you name it. And we were able to do this very well, because we could measure exactly how much euro we put in at the top and how much euro came out afterwards. That era is over and that leads to some nasty consequences for B2B marketers. Before I go into that, it is good to present some important benchmark data about B2B marketing in 2024.
This is the second article in a series on B2B marketing in 2024. Read the first article to learn about the challenges involved.
Benchmark data
The length of the buyer journey : the moment from need to purchase. This takes an average of 192 days. From first touch to purchase, an average of 32 contact moments are needed (source: Dreamdata).
The average number of people involved in a B2B purchase is 10. And that is immediately an important argument against MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), which focus on collecting contact details of individuals (source: Gartner).
The purchasing process starts with drawing up a shortlist . 80% of companies start with this. They look in their own network to find out who they know to come up with a solution. The chance that you score the deal if you are at the top of the shortlist is also 80%. You only get there if you are top-of-mind (source: Bain & CO).
The ratio of MQL to won deals is on average 0.5%. That’s crazy. So you need 200 MQLs to realize one deal. Sales keeps saying that MQLs are substandard, while they are busy with the follow-up. Crazy, right? Not efficient at all (source: Refine Labs The Vault).
Consequence 1: The pointless hunt for MQLs
I mentioned it above: the senseless hunt for MQLs. In the average buying committee, there are multiple individuals involved. When you work with performance marketing, you are hunting for leads that you want to qualify to an MQL. But we also see that you need about 200 MQLs to reach a deal. So you need more than 200 leads.
The problem is that as a B2B marketer you focus on an individual, while the solution you offer has an impact on many more people than the one person you are targeting. We present one story to everyone and we make it work as efficiently as possible. But I don’t have to explain to you that a business owner has completely different interests than a product owner , CMO or CFO. So how can you tell one story? It doesn’t work.
The trick is to work effectively, instead of efficiently. poland email list 2.3 million contact leads That requires a change in mindset from you as a marketer. A B2B marketer needs to stop hunting MQLs, but make sure they are hunted by the ideal customer. A significant difference, but one that you will really enjoy.
Consequence 2: the three percent rule
In recent years, we have achieved incredible successes with performance marketing. Think of effective SEO strategies , brutal SEA campaigns and funnel campaigns on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. As get woke, don’t go broke: don’t hesitate about your rainbow marketing soon as a lead was generated, we followed it up with an impressive series of emails to prepare leads for sales.
Any company with any marketing power starts here. ao lists People are searching on Google, so they’re high-intent . Or if they’ve watched a video of ours, they’re probably ready to download our whitepaper . And if they’ve downloaded that whitepaper, they’re probably going to want our follow-up emails in one, three, seven, and fourteen days where we’re going to tell them more about how great we are. Right?
Forget it. People are really very capable of determining for themselves how they want to make a purchase. They don’t need your funnel for that. What they do need is valuable information. That valuable information that you hide in your whitepaper, for example. Or in your emails.
There is an important rule in B2B marketing and that is the three percent rule. It is very simple:
3% of your market is actively buying. 97% is not. 80% of companies are starting to shortlist.
The mission of the B2B marketer is crystal clear: make sure you are top-of-mind with your ideal customer. Do you continue to cling to performance marketing? Then you will continue to get