B2B marketers buck economic trend

Edited by the Marketingservicestalk editorial team Jul 15, 2008

Despite the general economic malaise, 91 per cent of B2B senior marketers are confident about the future for their organisation, according to a report from Gyro and B2B Marketing Magazine.

The report surveyed almost 200 marketing professionals across a range of sectors from banking and finance to engineering and IT, on attitudes and strategies in B2B marketing.

The study found that 64 per cent of B2B marketers expect marketing budgets to increase over the next one to two years, even taking into account the predicted period of economic instability.

When asked why they believed budgets would grow, common responses included; an aggressive growth strategy; the need to spend more to attract customers in a hard market and raising the profile of products and services abroad.

Commenting on the results, General Manager at Gyro International, Danny Turnbull, said: "The general consensus is that marketing is one of the first things businesses cut back on when times are tough.

"There is undoubtedly more focus on marketing budgets, and a switch to spending on more measurable channels with a transparent return on investment, predominantly integrated campaigns with a strong direct digital and e-marketing element.

"But the majority of our respondents see a challenging economy as an opportunity to put some distance between them and their competitors".

According to Turnbull, though economic pressures are impacting on many industries, the B2B market is more robust than its business-to-consumer (B2C) counterpart.

He continued: "The B2C industries will typically bear the brunt of a downturn more quickly than the B2B sectors because they are in the frontline when consumer spending drops.

"Given the daily doom and gloom talk about the economy, any confident sentiment can seem naive, but certainly our own experience supports the results of the report; we are still busy pitching and bringing in new business and our clients continue to invest in integrated, accountable campaigns".

The B2B Marketing Insight 2008 study surveyed businesses with a turnover ranging from GBP1m to GBP41+m and was carried out by Mavern Research, on behalf of Gyro International and B2B Marketing magazine.