Wave 5 of the B2B Barometer was launched in the summer of 2011 and responses collected over a 3-4 week period in July and August. 137 online interviews were conducted in total; 68 with client-side B2B marketing professionals controlling a total of £27m in B2B marketing budgets, and 69 B2B marketing agency professionals with total annual revenues of £540m. Findings include the movement and allocation of B2B budgets across channels, attitudes to sales and marketing alignment and forecasts of economic confidence. Read the full, free report at www.b2bbarometer.co.uk. About the B2B Barometer®: The B2B Barometer® has established itself as the definitive state of the nation study. The surveys are undertaken by B2B research specialists Circle Research and supported by ABBA, the IDM and members of the IDM B2B Council. The fifth report is now available, making interesting comparisons available between client's perceptions over time, as well as differences between client and agency views. Key areas covered: B2B agency performance; Online advertising budget share in next 12 months; Attitudes and behaviours to sales/marketing alignment; Budgets and economic confidence.

1. The B2B Barometer
Q3 2011

2. The B2B Barometer: Vital Statistics
• The B2B Barometer is the ‘state of the nation’ study for B2B marketers
• Now in its fifth wave, and backed by two years’ worth of historical data on B2B
marketing
• Findings based on 137 interviews with B2B marketing professionals conducted in July
and August 2011:
• 68 client-side marketing professionals collectively responsible for controlling budgets
amounting to £27.0 million a year
• 69 B2B marketing agency professionals with total annual revenues of £540m
• This report project is sponsored by Circle Research, the Institute of Direct and Digital
Marketing and the Association of B2B Agencies

3. How confident are you in the ability of the current government to
effectively manage the UK's economy?
8% 7% 7%
51% 49% 50%
Very confident
Quite confident
Not sure
Not very confident
25% 22% Not at all confident
26%
No opinion
14% 12%
9%
5% 8%
4%
Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 137 B2B marketers

4. How confident are you with your organisation's own outlook for the next
12 months?
80%
Net confidence = % confident - % not confident
64%
63%
61%
54%
40%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 137 B2B marketers

5. How confident are you with your organisation's own outlook for the next
12 months?
80%
Before 4th August
64% 63%
63%
61%
59%
54%
After 4th August
40%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 137 B2B marketers

6. To what extent has your organisation's revenue changed over the past
12 months?
11% 15%
23%
34%
23%
34%
Significantly up
34%
19%
26% Slightly up
Largely static
20%
18%
20% 19% Slightly declined
20% Significantly declined
16% 9%
27%
10% 7% 12%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 69 B2B marketing agency respondents

7. In the past six months, would you say the number of enquiries you
have received has...?
12% 17% 20%
25%
24%
Significantly increased
35%
47% Slightly increased
42%
25%
Stayed the same
17% Slightly decreased
20% 17%
17% Significantly
17% decreased
8%
15% 9%
10% 10%
4%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 69 B2B marketing agency respondents

8. And now thinking about the quality of these enquiries, would you say
they have...?
31% 34% 38%
51%
7%
37% Improved
Stayed the same
49%
Worsened
59% 39%
32%
10% 13%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 69 B2B marketing agency respondents

9. Agency revenues versus agency enquiries
100%
67%
64% 60%
Revenues up over
57% past 12 months
55%
36% 49%
Enquiries up over
34% past 6 months
0%
Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 69 B2B marketing agency respondents

10. Thinking about your organisation's budgets, in overall terms how, if at
all, would you say they have changed in the past 12 months?
Aug 11
18%
Jan 11
38%
22%
28%
Increased
Remained static
Decreased
48%
44%
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

11. Compared to the previous 12 months, does your organisation's B2B
marketing budget for the next 12 months represent an increase or a
decrease?
8%
16% 20%
34%
25%
38% Significant increase
Slight increase
No change
30% 35% Slight decrease
Significant decrease
33%
18% 15%
9% 5%
9% 5%
Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

12. Over the next 12 months, what proportion of this B2B marketing budget
do you expect to be allocated to these areas?
Trade shows
7%
Email
2% 4% 19% Website development
3%
Direct mail
4% Print
PR
4%
Online ads
13%
6% Marketing research
Marketing strategy
7% Social media
12% Brand identity
8% Telemarketing
9% Other
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

13. The rise in spend on digital marketing channels and fall in spend on
traditional marketing channels has tapered off over the past six months
75%
47%
45%
43% 43% 43%
Traditional channels*
41% 42% 41%
39%
34% Digital channels
23% Other
15% 16%
14% 14%
0%
Apr 09 Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Aug 11
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers
* excludes telemarketing

14. Direct mail’s share of B2B marketing budget has almost halved in two
years. The channels to gain from this shortfall have been social media
and trade shows.
20%
15%
14%
Email
13%
12%
11% 12%
Website
10% development
5% 6% Online ads
2% Social media
3%
0%
Apr 09 Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Jul 11
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

15. Direct mail’s share of B2B marketing budget has almost halved in two
years. The channels to gain from this shortfall have been social media
and trade shows.
20%
19%
17%
16%
Trade shows
14%
Direct mail
9%
10% 9% PR
7%
0%
Apr 09 Nov 09 Jun 10 Jan 11 Jul 11
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

16. Comparison of how B2B marketing budgets are allocated amongst
channels against how time assigned to B2B marketing is allocated
Trade shows 19%
16%
Email 13%
16%
Website development 12%
12%
Direct mail 9%
8%
Print 8%
6%
PR 7%
8%
Online 6% Budget
4%
4% Time
Strategy 7%
Marketing research 4%
5%
Social media 3%
6%
Brand identity 2%
2%
Telemarketing 4%
3%
Other 7%
6%
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

17. Do you think that your organisation's sales and marketing activities
should be better aligned?
18%
28%
Yes, significantly
Yes, to some degree
No, not really
No, not at all
51%
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

18. What would you say are the most significant consequences of mis-
alignment?
Leads not fully nurtured 60%
Wasted time 53%
Inefficient budget allocation 41%
Inconsistent brand message 31%
Internal tensions 29%
Effort duplication 28%
Customer dissastisfaction 21%
Other 9%
No major consequences 6%
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

19. To what extent is aligning sales and marketing an important objective
for your organisation?
7%
Very important
32% Quite important
Not very important
59% Not at all important
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

20. Do you think that that sales and marketing alignment can be
realistically achieved by your organisation?
4%
35%
Yes, perfectly realistic
Yes, largely realistic
No, not very realistic
Not at all realistic
60%
Base: 68 B2B client-side marketers

21. Find out more …
Access the full contents of Report 5 (and earlier
reports) FREE at www.b2bbarometer.co.uk
If you are a B2B marketer and wish to contribute to
future surveys, register now:
http://www.b2bbarometer.co.uk/register/
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