Different stages in a B2B marketing campaign require marketing managers to adopt different roles. We asked over 140 B2B managers different questions to understand what it is that really drives them to create and execute innovative and successful campaigns.
B2B marketing is constantly evolving and so are the managers behind the campaigns. There are so many factors that go into the creation and execution of a successful marketing campaign. From the creative brainstorming stage to the execution and reporting stages, B2B marketing managers are required to put on different hats and play various roles during the lifecycle of a marketing campaign. But what really drives today’s B2B marketing managers to innovate and create effective campaigns? Marketing Essentials Lab asked over 140 B2B marketing managers to find out the answer to that question and here is what we found:
Creativity
Based on the responses we received, we found that creativity was the number one driving factor for B2B marketing managers. About 52.8% of our respondents were creatively driven and enjoyed that aspect of marketing the most. Some 20.4% said they loved pitching the right creative direction for a campaign and 47.2% said that their favourite part of a campaign was creating the campaign properties. Asked where their best ideas came from, 47.9% said brainstorming and discussion whereas 31.7% said that they found inspiration from daily life. When asked to describe themselves best at work, 43.7% said that they were the one who visualises and thinks of different ways of doing things.
Organisation and Coordination
Another essential factor that makes or breaks a marketing campaign is the way it is organised and executed. Our study revealed that 28.2% of the respondents were driven by the organisational side of marketing campaigns. Of our respondents, 44.4% said that their clients came to them for their ability to organise and straighten things out. Another 29.6% said that their superpower was organising and delegating tasks to different teams in the creation and execution of the marketing campaign. At least 36.6% said that they best understood all the processes that go behind pulling off a successful marketing campaign, while 18.3% of the respondents said that they were the one always scheduling and planning everything down to the last second.
Other Driving Factors
The study also revealed that learning and agility were some of the other driving factors for B2B marketing managers. Constantly learning and studying trends in the industry is what inspired these managers on a daily basis, whereas others were driven by the risk management and problem-solving aspects of being a B2B marketing manager. Some 11.3% said that clients came to them for managing an emergency whereas 7.7% said that people approached them for their knowledge of the latest trends in the industry. When asked about their superpower, 22.5% said it was risk-management and their ability to work under pressure, while 27.5% said it was their ability to learn and experiment with the latest marketing trends in the industry. A further 14.1% said that their best ideas came from studying and surveying data from previous campaigns and using the data to create better campaigns in the future.
