New Data: Generating Quality Leads is a Top B2B Marketing Challenge

You would think by looking at this new MarketingSherpa chart that B2B marketers are more worried about generating quality leads than creating new demand for their products and services.  Of course, 13% more of those surveyed ranked this challenge as tops compared to last year.  But, every marketer - B2B, B2C or anything inbetween - should always be conscious of the quality aspect of lead flow to their sales team.  Perhaps marketers in 2010 are just more cognizant of the demand gen issue within their organizations and understand that without quality leads, sales cannot be successful.

What is not so readily apparent is the almost 26% increase in the challenge (2010 to 2009) of getting MORE leads into the pipeline.   That's where this data is critically important.  And, adding to that large year-over-year increase is a 33% upward tick for the "competing in lead generation across multiple media" selection.

More - and Better Quality - Leads, Please.  

During the MarketingSherpa B2B Summit 2010 this week, speakers talked about how B2B companies were hard hit by the recession, and marketing departments took the brunt of it. Not only were their marketing budgets and staff cut, but the pressure to continue to feed the lead funnel was just as intense as it was before the recession hit.

So what did they do?  They turned from outbound to inbound marketing .  The trend shows that the majority of B2B organizations are increasing their marketing budgets for inbound marketing tactics in order to generate more - and better quality - leads for their sales teams.

What is your organization doing to generate more leads?