This document summarizes the key findings from DemandWave's sixth annual report on the state of B2B digital marketing. Some of the main highlights include: - Delivering quality leads has emerged as B2B marketers' top objective and challenge. - Organic search now drives revenue for 63% of B2B marketers, tying with email. - Nearly half of marketers plan to increase their digital marketing budgets in 2017. - However, marketers still struggle with measuring ROI and optimizing content and marketing technologies for quality leads.

1. THE 2017 STATE OF B2B
DIGITAL MARKETING
A LIVE PREVIEW OF OUR SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT
SABRINA GILMORE KOCHANSKI
Director, Business Development & Client Services
LAUREN BLECHER SCHERBA
Director, Marketing

2. WE OPTIMIZE
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DEMANDWAVE
IS THE PREMIER B2B DIGITAL
MARKETING AGENCY.
SEO
SEM
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DESIGN
ANALYTICS

3. Founded in 2004, we are digital veterans with a passion for demand generation.
We drive revenue growth for the best in B2B.
DemandWave is a trusted Google
Partner, a two-time winner of the Inc.
500|5000 list, and a two-time member
of the San Francisco BusinessTimes’
100 Fastest Growing Private
Companies.
We’ve earned our stripes.

4. Nearly 200 B2B marketing leaders weighed in on the top priorities and biggest challenges of 2017.
Who participated in this year’s survey?
Percent of survey respondents by job level. Percent of survey respondents by company size.
Director
39%
Manager
27%
VP
12%
C-Level
11%
Individual
Contributor
11%
11-50 employees
27%
51-200 employees
23%
201-500 employees
14%
1,001-5,000 employees
10%
10,001+ employees
10%
1-10 employees
8%
501-1,000 employees
5%
5,001-10,000 employees
3%

5. 2017
OUTLOOK
WE HAVE A FEW REASONS TO
CHEERS B2B THISYEAR.

6. What is the #1 objective of your digital marketing efforts?
B2B marketers are fully focused on lead quality.
Deliver quality
leads
47%
Drive more leads
23%
Increase marketing
ROI
12%
Improve brand
awareness
9%
Increase website
traffic
4%
Other
4%
Not sure
1%
26%YoY increase in
marketers choosing “deliver
quality leads” as their top
marketing goal for 2017.

7. Delivering quality
leads
32%
Measuring and
proving ROI
24%
Generating
enough leads
16%
Producing quality
content
14%
Securing staff and
budget
8%
Other
5%
Not sure
1%
B2B marketers are fully focused on lead quality.
“Delivering quality leads” emerges
as B2B marketers’ top challenge,
bumping “Measuring and proving
ROI” from its two-year streak at
the top.
What is your biggest digital marketing challenge?

8. B2B marketers are fully focused on lead quality.
16%
24%
29%
24%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
2014 2015 2016 2017
Percent of marketers that have chosen “measuring and proving ROI” as their top challenge over the years.

9. Conversion rate
(lead to customer)
31%
Lead volume
24%
ROI
22%
Website traffic
12%
Cost per lead
7%
Not sure
4%
B2B marketers are fully focused on lead quality.
“Conversion rate (from lead
to customer)” at 31% takes
the cake for the fourth year
running.
What is the #1 metric you use to measure digital performance?

10. Do you expect your digital marketing budget to increase, decrease, or stay the same in 2017?
B2B budgets are bigger.
Increase, 48%
Stay the same, 43%
Decrease, 6%
Not sure, 5%
Nearly half of marketers plan
to spend more this year. Less
than 6% are expecting a
decrease in budget.

11. What percent of your overall budget goes to online marketing (vs. offline)?
61-80%
25%
41-60%
17%
10-25%
14%
81-100%
13%
26-40%
12%
Less than 10%
11%
Not sure
8%
Confidence in digital is strong.
36% of marketers spend a
whopping 60% or more of
their marketing budget online.
B2B budgets are bigger.

12. Which digital marketing channels are the most effective?
B2B marketers have made big strides in SEO.
63% 63%
44%
37%
27%
13%
73%
70%
54% 55%
37%
3%
93%
91%
71%
95%
55%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Email Organic search Paid search Social media Display Not Sure
Which of the following channels drive revenue for you? Which of the following channels drive leads for you? Which of the following channels are a part of your digital marketing mix?
Organic search drives
revenue for 63% of B2B
marketers, tying email at the
top spot for the first time.

13. 2017
OUTLOOK
BUT, B2B MARKETERS STILL
FACE THEIR FAIR SHARE OF
CHALLENGES.

14. Which content marketing tactics are the most effective?
40%
37%
34%
30% 28%
21%
17% 15%
13%
6%
53%
50%
44%
35%
39%
12%
31%
18%
6% 5%
73%
60%
68%
82% 82%
1%
68%
23%
2%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
White papers Webinars Case studies Videos Blogs Not sure Infographics Other None of the above Mobile apps
Which of the following content types drive revenue for you? Which of the following content types drive leads for you? Which of the following content types do you produce?
Even though 82% of B2B
marketers use content
marketing, only 40% or less
can attribute revenue for any
given content type.
Marketers struggle to optimize content for quality leads.

15. Have you ever tried, or are you currently
engaged in ABM?
ABM could use a little TLC.
Yes
42%
Not sure
40%
No
18%
Do you think your current ABM strategy is
effective?
No
50%
Yes
38%
Not sure
12%
Yes
46%
Not sure
36%
No
18%
Has your ABM strategy produced revenue?
Given account-based marketing’s new found popularity, B2B marketers most likely need time to test and build confidence.

16. Marketers are scrambling to keep up with marketing technology.
Yes
85%
No
14%
Not sure
1%
Do you have an email
nurture program?
Yes
50%
Not sure
30%
No
20%
Do you think your email
nurture program is effective?
Do you use predictive lead
scoring?
Do you think your use of
predictive lead scoring is
effective?
Do you use lead scoring? Do you think your lead
scoring is effective?
Do you use website
personalization?
Do you think your use of
website personalization is
effective?
Yes
72%
No
21%
Not sure
7%
Yes
47%
No
29%
Not sure
24%
No
67%
Yes
20%
Not sure
13%
Yes
54%
Not sure
25%
No
21%
No
67%
Yes
29%
Not sure
4%
Yes
49%
Not sure
40%
No
11%
Yikes! Confidence in marketing technology is lacking across the board.

17. HOW TO
DELIVER
QUALITY
LEADS
USE THREE STEPS TO TACKLE THE
#1 B2B PROBLEM.

18. 1. Make sure you can optimize content for qualified leads.
The challenge is not only data overload, but data segmentation.
Organic Search Marketing Automation Social Channels Digital Advertising
AdWords
LinkedIn Ads
Display
CRM
Again, while we’ve seen
improvement, 24% of
marketers still struggle to
measure ROI.

19. Implement multi-touch attribution reporting.
1. Make sure you can optimize content for qualified leads.
One client achieved a 199%
increase in pipeline
opportunities in just 5 months
after implementing attribution.

20. Create content people
actually like.
Source: Google/Millard Brown Digital, “B2B Path to Purchase Study.”
STEP 2
71% of buyers who see
personal value will purchase a
product.
68% of buyers who see
personal value will pay a
higher price for a service.
To put it simply, make content your potential
buyers actually like. And, with consistency.
Create content that attracts,
engages, and converts.

21. With Buzzsumo, you can measure trending topics by keywords or phrases across all social networks.
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

22. Evaluate the funnel from an organic search perspective. Do you have enough content to cover the buyer’s journey?
Buyer Stage
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Content Type & Title KeywordTheme
Educate prospects on the
value of your product &
foster thought leadership.
Build the business case for
why the prospect needs to
invest in your product or
service.
Give the prospect a reason
to choose you over your
competitors.
Product Page:
Premium Ad Inventory “buy premium ad
inventory”
Glossary/FAQ:
TubeMogul Ad Glossary
“What is display
advertising?”
Webinar:
Display 2.0: Reinventing Display
Advertising.
“Display advertising
best practices
2016”
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

23. Analyze search volume. Focus on long-tail, high-converting keyword themes first and work up to competitive, high-volume terms.
SearchVolume
Keyword Length
High competition;
informational searches
Low competition;
transactional searches
Low
High
Short Long-tail
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

24. Be proactive with competitor data. Identify what’s working and what’s not working.
Source: BrightEdge Competitor Analysis
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

25. It’s also essential to align search intent with your content topics.
Informational Transactional
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

26. Are these informational or transactional keyword themes?
Buyer Stage
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Content Type & Title KeywordTheme
Educate prospects on the
value of your product &
foster thought leadership.
Build the business case for
why the prospect needs to
invest in your product or
service.
Give the prospect a reason
to choose you over your
competitors.
CTA
Download “5
Things to Know
About Display.”
Subscribe to
more insights by
email.
Request a Demo /
Get InTouch
Glossary/FAQ:
TubeMogul Ad Glossary
“What is display
advertising?”
Product Page:
Premium Ad Inventory
“buy premium ad
inventory”
Webinar:
Display 2.0: Reinventing Display
Advertising.
“Display advertising
best practices
2016”
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

27. Here’s where content mapping for ABM comes into play.
Buyer Stage
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase
Content Type & Title KeywordTheme
Educate prospects on the
value of your product &
foster thought leadership.
Build the business case for
why the prospect needs to
invest in your product or
service.
Give the prospect a reason
to choose you over your
competitors.
CTA Industry Specific
“Why Display
Advertising is Key for
Software Brand
Awareness”
Add software
industry case
study examples
to landing page.
Sprinkle in
software industry
examples when
presenting.
Download “5
Things to Know
About Display.”
Subscribe to
more insights by
email.
Request a Demo/
Get InTouch
Glossary/FAQ:
TubeMogul Ad Glossary
“What is display
advertising?”
Product Page:
Premium Ad Inventory
“buy premium ad
inventory”
Webinar:
Display 2.0: Reinventing Display
Advertising.
“Display advertising
best practices
2016”
Use search and social data to inform content creation.

28. Deliver your message to the right leads at the
right time.
Build a cross-channel
nurture program.
STEP 3
79% of marketers say their
email open rates don’t exceed
20%.
Source: Hubspot SlideShare, “Multi Channel Lead Nurturing.”

29. Create a remarketing funnel to nurture leads at each stage.
What behavior types should trigger each content offer?
Awareness
Consideration
Comparison
Conversion
Retention/Upsell
BEHAVIOR AD OFFER
Visit to a service page. “Request a Demo” ad.
Downloaded “buyer’s
guide” eBook.
Limited-time, free trial offer.
Completed first purchase. Geo-retarget to advertise user events.
Offer webinar training sessions.
License is about to expire. Limited-time offer for discounted
renewal or service upgrades.
Remarketing with Google
Analytics opens the door to
infinite audience capabilities.

30. We can segment by behavior and remarket via the Google Display Network.
Test different remarketing methods.
We can serve text, image, and
video display ads to those that
visited the demo page but did
NOT complete the form as they
surf the web.

31. We can also remarket to demo page visitors when they search for relevant terms on Google via RLSA (Remarketing Lists for
Search Ads.
A search like this might
normally be too broad
for a standard search
campaign, but a viable
keyword for RLSA.
Test different remarketing methods.

32. Or, we can take an account-based approach via Google Customer Match.
Now we can
specifically target
Marketing
Directors in the
software
industry that
visited, but didn’t
convert.
*Requires 1,000 matched emails.
Test different remarketing methods.

33. While not a remarketing play, this tactic can complement email nurture tracks and serve ads by company, as well.
Bonus: Test LinkedIn ads for additional ABM coverage.
B2B Marketing Audience B2B Software Marketing Audience
We customized the report
by industry to serve
specifically to our list of
ABM accounts.

34. 800.619.1570 results@demandwave.com
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