• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 30, 2024

B2B marketers are in an expensive mood as they allocate resources for acquisition marketing, judging by The State of B2B Customer Acquisition, a study from Stirista, conducted by Ascend2.  

Of those polled, 89% are positive about meeting their marketing goals this year. That may reflect spending — 72% expect an increase in acquisition initiatives over the next two years.  

Specifically, 31% anticipate significant hikes in budgeting for partner programs:  Mobile (in-app) will see a 30% increase, and video 29%. That said. 65% say they will be adjusting their budgeting in the coming two years.  

Email does not seem to be one of the bigger channels: 18% are devoting 25% of their budgets to email, versus 47% who are doing so for live events and 40% for mobile (in-app). Yet email ranks third as a successful channel, cited by 13%, compared to social media (22%) and digital advertising 16%). 

By sector, marketers are focusing on these channels:

• Financial Services — Social media, Email, Digital Advertising, Live events, Mobile (in-app)
• Information Technology — Social media, Digital Advertising, Partner Programs, Email, Mobile (in-app) 
• Business Services — Digital Advertising, Email, Live events, Social media, Virtual events
• Agency — Social media, Digital Advertising, Traditional (postal, billboard, call center) Live events, Mobile 

The respondents seem sure of themselves — 49% say they have at least moderately mature acquisition programs. Of those with highly mature strategies, 36% saw a significant increase in revenue versus 17% of those with moderate or low maturity. 

However, 47% of B2B marketers say data quality and availability are the biggest challenges in reaching and engaging with customers.  

“As in-person meetings and other previous tried-and-true personal sales and marketing tactics fell away due to the pandemic, B2B marketers had to quickly pivot to digital channels,” says Mike Hilts, senior vice president of product at Stirista.  

Hilts adds, “While digital channels have been embraced, savvy marketers are taking a hybrid approach in digital personalization and in-person connections through live events and partner programs that leverage the best of both worlds of new data and technology.” 

Ascend2 surveyed 202 B2B marketing leaders.