The Modern GTM Leader Tackling Today’s Marketing Challenges
Seasoned GTM leaders share unfiltered insights and expertise on today’s key B2B marketing challenges, offering readers actionable strategies and real-world experience. Listen to the podcast version of this newsletter here!
Our Topic: Conquering Today’s Top B2B Marketing Challenges
Matt Payne (LeadSwell): Mastering Account-Based Marketing: Myths, Insights, and Success Strategies
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is no longer optional—it’s a must-have strategy for modern B2B marketing. But as Cognism aptly states in its article, “The top B2B marketing challenges for 2024”:
“ABM… can be a powerful strategy, but its execution requires precision and finesse.”
At LeadSwell, we couldn’t agree more. Strategy is only half the equation—execution is what makes ABM truly impactful. Here are some common myths and guiding principles that align with Cognism’s insights and drive ABM success:
- ABM is Only for Large Enterprises—Myth!
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- ABM isn’t reserved for corporate giants. For smaller teams, it’s a smart way to focus limited resources. By honing in on a few high-value accounts, smaller companies can build meaningful relationships that translate into big sales opportunities. It’s about prioritizing quality over quantity—crafting campaigns that truly matter to a select audience.
- ABM is Just a Buzzword—Wrong Again!
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- ABM is far more than a trendy acronym. It’s a personalized, relationship-driven approach that aligns with today’s complex B2B buying processes. With buying decisions often involving multiple stakeholders, ABM ensures tailored communications that resonate. Grounded in data and driven by insights, ABM delivers measurable outcomes—from awareness and engagement to impactful conversations.
- ABM is Only About Target Accounts—Think Broader!
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- ABM isn’t just about accounts; it’s about your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and everyone in the account’s buying group. Deep research into your ICP’s needs, pain points, and goals is essential. From there, personalized marketing content and strategies tailored to the buying group’s behaviors will elevate your ABM campaigns.
David Hecht (CloudAmp): Re-evaluate Marketing Attribution for a Changing B2B Marketing Environment
The challenge: Today’s B2B marketing environment is difficult on multiple fronts. Sales cycles have been lengthening due to the challenging economic environment. While the economy is generally strong, many companies are looking to cut costs or delay projects to improve profitability, especially in industries facing headwinds or more uncertainty than normal, such as Technology or Manufacturing.
At the same time, the traditional funnel is breaking down in many cases, as buyers expect more control over the process on their own terms, and an explosion of outbound AI is making it harder for marketers to break through the noise. Email is no longer a reliable way of moving buyers through the expected funnel.
The solution: In this environment, it is more important than ever to be able to attribute revenue to specific marketing activities – both early in the marketing funnel for demand generation, as well as the ongoing touchpoints and content that guide buyers through their journey to revenue.
Ensuring that your marketing attribution evolves, especially for offline revenue conversion in your CRM, is more essential than ever. And consider trying to measure some of the channels where your marketing is driving buyer engagement, that might not have the same level of attribution tech visibility that your Google Ads do – organic search engine and social engagement, podcasts, and events.
Kim Chrystie (formerly Dell, Just Media): B2B Marketing – It’s Harder Than It Looks!
Working with dozens of B2B clients over the last few years, I have seen many commonalities in the challenges that companies are facing:
Budgets and Resources: Everyone says they never have enough money or people to do the marketing they want to do. Over the last 5 years, I’ve seen the trend towards last minute budget distributions and only short-term commitments. This makes it difficult to negotiate media contracts, secure premium placements, and have consistency in the market. Many companies have also moved to an outsourced model, limiting institutional knowledge and expertise.
You can help mitigate these challenges by prioritizing initiatives and making data-driven decisions. Working with an agency can also help you scale your team while taking advantage of their buying power to negotiate rates.
Measuring ROI and Tracking Performance: The trackability of digital media is both a blessing and a curse. Being able to track so many different variables, marketers can sometimes analyze the wrong touch points and not look at the bigger picture.
Be sure to set up a measurement framework that aligns to your business goals and tracks success throughout the customer journey. Also, ensure you have allowed enough time for the marketing elements to do what they are set up to do.
AdTech, MarTech, all the Tech: Y’all… there are so many tools out there! I’ve heard consistently from clients that they have tools that they know they pay for but do not use. Or they have tools that don’t work together. Or they have tools that report conflicting information.
There are a lot of cool tools out there. But you don’t need them all. Start with your business goals including where you have gaps. Do an audit of your existing tools. And then make a clear plan and “brief” for what you need and how it will work with the rest of your environment.
Differentiation: Every few years there is a new wave of messaging in tech – and now we have AI. All of these waves of new technology mean almost all tech companies are talking about them. I bet if you went to any tech company’s home page right now, the messaging would be all about AI. It is very difficult to set yourself apart.
Some companies use customer stories, partnerships, or awards to set themselves apart. It’s good to see the proof in the pudding, but there is still work to do on actual messaging as AI evolves.
Chris Kilkes (Independent): B2B Buyers Want It Their Way – But Are They Truly Satisfied?
Gartner Research reveals a striking trend: 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying journey. They enjoy the autonomy of self-purchasing through online platforms—but here’s the kicker: many end up regretting their decisions. This paradox underscores a massive challenge for B2B sales teams—how can businesses empower buyers without leaving them feeling unsupported?
The secret lies in finding the perfect balance. It’s about offering an array of compelling, useful content—think engaging videos, dynamic site content, and sleek brochures—especially ungated resources for top-of-funnel explorers. But that’s just the start. The real game-changer is ensuring every touchpoint is seamlessly connected, enabling sales teams to respond instantly to intent signals like a lead form submission or a chatbot inquiry.
This isn’t just about slapping on tools and hoping for the best. It requires crafting a seamless go-to-market (GTM) strategy that unites sales, marketing, operations, analytics, and research into one cohesive, responsive machine. It’s a tall order, but when done right, the results speak for themselves: better engagement, smarter conversions, and happier buyers.
Turning this vision into reality isn’t easy—but it’s the difference between businesses that merely survive and those that thrive in the modern B2B landscape.