A Buyer-Centric Mandate and the Accelerated Shift To Digital Is Giving Rise to the "Frontline Marketer"
One of my favorite business books is "Getting it Right the First Time - How Innovative Companies Anticipate Demand" by John Katsaros and Peter Christy. While John and Peter wrote the book over two decades ago, the premise is powerfully timeless and straightforward: Strategic planning and sound decision-making -- especially for early-stage companies -- are essential for business success.
The book cites some great learnings from fast-growing start ups. For example, with a limited budget and resources, you can't hire sales reps too early and burn through your cash. At the same time, your first MVP offering must be rock solid -- you can't waste precious resources chasing bug fixes instead of innovating and keeping your early customers happy. If you make the right strategic decisions and focus your GTM strategy and resources on "getting it right the first time," you will build a solid foundation for growth, innovation, and customer success.
In the wake of COVID-19, I've noticed many parallels with the book and the transformation currently underway in B2B marketing. Overnight, digital-selling has become the default GTM motion across every B2B company. Folloze recently partnered with The Demand Gen Report to better understand the impact of B2B buyer behavior in a digital-first world and if marketers were up for the challenge. In the study announced this week, we highlighted three core themes:
- Buyer-centricity and experience are core to growth. With an eye to replicating the success of their B2C marketing counterparts, 99% percent of respondents unanimously cited the importance of personalized content, messaging, and journeys to engage today's digital-first buyers.
- In our digital-first world, marketing is the only organization that should lead the shift to digital selling within our respective companies. The survey found that 50 percent of marketers believe that a digital-first marketplace will create hybrid GTM models that elevate the marketing function. In this model, marketing will lead and become the architects of digital experiences across the entire buyer journey with support from the direct sales team.
- While marketers cited strengths in ABM and demand gen, most are not prepared to assume an elevated role as the digital architects across the entire buyer journey. The research found that only 25 percent of respondents felt they could successfully drive growth -- and at scale -- across every phase of the buyer journey.
In a digital-first model, B2B marketers have very little time and margin for error. As marketers assume their newly elevated role, how can they "get it right the first time?"
What's clear from the research is that marketing teams can't succeed using the same tools, analog funnels, and old-school practices of the past. At the same time, customer-facing teams in the field -- with a direct line of sight into what their prospects and costumes want -- will now play a critical role in driving revenue across every stage of the buyer journey. These "Frontline Marketers" will be the new revenue heroes for our companies as we rapidly shift to the next era of B2B buying and selling.
Who are these frontline marketers? With access to real-time insights in the field, Frontline Marketers are digitally-empowered and autonomous to make fast decisions. At the same time, Frontline Marketers have the tools and resources to execute programs with agility, speed, and precision. I recently had the opportunity to meet with Liz Kokoska, VP of Demand Generation at Okta, and Andrew Gaffney, Editorial director from the Demand Gen Report, to discuss the report's findings and how Okta is realigning and empowering their Frontline Marketing teams.
B2B marketers have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead. Taking to heart the lessons from the book, B2B marketers have little margin for error and must plan strategically and move fast to build the next-generation revenue engines for their respective companies.
Most importantly, B2B marketers must "get it right the first time."
I invite you to download and review the research findings and recommendations. What do you think lies ahead for B2B marketing teams in a post-pandemic and digital-first marketplace?