48.2
33
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Lorem ipsum dolor
34.9
M
1
$
Over the past 12 months I was asked to deliver more with fewer resources
%
58.8
former CMO
RS Group
Jon White
We’ll do the same with less. More with less is a really dangerous place. When you’ve been around long enough, you know not to overspend in the good times and not cut too deep in the bad times.
Marketing director
Datel
Emma Pownall
There’s a lot piling on marketers and a big misunderstanding of what they are there to do and how they can affect the business.
Vice-president of international marketing, SugarCRM
Scott Addington
When businesses see they are struggling to maintain their profit levels, they look to cut costs and marketing is an easy target.
1. Embracing the new reality
With budgets down and headcounts being squeezed, over the past year most B2B marketers report being asked to deliver more with fewer resources.
The scale at which marketers are being required to achieve more with less is startling. Almost 60% report being asked to deliver more with fewer resources over the past 12 months alone. This figure rises to 64.5% of marketers within large organisations (250 people and over).
These challenges are being exacerbated by the demands to operate with dwindling budgets. Two-fifths (40.5%) of marketers in big businesses and 30.4% within SMEs have had their budget cut over the past year.
At the same time teams continue to experience the upheaval of restructures and job cuts. More than a third (36.3%) of those marketers working in large businesses have seen the headcount of their team decrease, as have 30.3% of their peers within SMEs.
Despite the cuts to budgets and resources, two-fifths of marketers have been set challenging new targets. This ladders up to almost half of respondents seeing their remit grow without an appropriate increase in remuneration.
• The data suggests the challenge for B2B marketers of delivering greater impact amid squeezed budgets and under-resourced teams isn’t going away. Nor is the pressure to hit challenging targets as remits grow but pay remains stagnant.
42.2
%
41.4
%
My team restructured over the past year
Lorem ipsum dolor
Over the past 12 months I was set challenging new targets
Lessons
%
My budget decreased over the past year
%
The headcount of my team decreased during the past 12 months
%
My remit has grown without an appropriate increase in remuneration
• The pressure to deliver short-term sales is exacerbating the problem, meaning marketers have to educate the wider business about the value of long-term thinking and why failing to properly resource the marketing team – with investment and expertise – is a zero-sum game.
• Given the challenges, marketers are advised to become more agile and nimble in the way they approach these conversations with the wider business. Marketers need to learn to manage upwards and sideways, and stand their ground protecting themselves – and their teams – from the threat of burnout.
Marketers on more with less