This document is a summary report of a benchmark study on B2B customer experience. Some key findings include: - Only 12% of B2B marketers rate themselves as very effective at delivering consistent customer experiences, showing much room for improvement. - Consistency across content, teams, and channels is found to be the most important factor for an effective customer experience. - The top barriers to success are inefficient internal processes, lack of alignment on metrics, and lack of alignment across teams. - Top performing companies have documented customer experience strategies and shared content planning processes to better align strategies and simplify execution.

1. B2B
Customer
Experience
Benchmark
Report 2016
From Content to Revenue:
Original Research on the
Marketing-Driven Customer Experience

2. As marketers, we’re told over and over again
that the quality of the customer experience
will make or break our bottom line...

3. ”
“By 2016, 89% of companies
expect to compete mostly on
the basis of customer experience,
versus 36% four years ago.
Source: Gartner for Marketing Leaders Blog

4. ”
“Customers are 5.2X more likely
to purchase from companies with
a great customer experience.
Source: Customer Experience Matters 2015, Temkin Group

5. However, customer experience
is a lofty term, encompassing each customer
interaction with a brand across channels
and technologies.
With so many factors at play,
we needed to know:

6. What strategies and tactics actually drive
an effective B2B customer experience?
Are we as effective as we think we are?

7. As it turns out, not very effective—yet.
Only 12% of B2B marketers rate themselves as “very
effective” at delivering a consistent customer experience.
5%12% 55%
28%
How effective is your marketing organization at
delivering a consistent customer experience?
Very effective
Somewhat
effective
Not very
effective
Not at all
effective

8. The good news:
there’s a clear path to success.

9. Consistency is king.
85% of B2B marketers agree or strongly agree that
consistency drives customer experience.
Consistency across content, teams, and channels is
the backbone of an effective customer experience.
Strongly agree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly disagree

10. So, what’s holding us back?
Inefficient internal processes, tracking and reporting the
right metrics, and a lack of alignment across internal teams
are the top three barriers to success.
What are your greatest
barriers to success?
1. Inefficient internal processes
2. Tracking and reporting the
right metrics
3. Lack of alignment across
internal teams
Inefficient internal processes
42%
23%
49%
26%
34%
14%
33%
11%
Tracking & reporting the right metrics
Lack of alignment across internal teams
Sales/marketing alignment
Lack of consistency across channels
Perception of marketing within the organization
i.e. see marketing as cost center vs. revenue generator
Lack of visibility into marketing/business plans
Other

11. It’s time to get organized.

12. Marketing-Driven
Customer Experiences
Are More Effective

13. B2B marketers understand the impending significance of delivering
a consistent customer experience, and the majority of marketers are
rising to the occasion. 63% of top performers hold marketing responsible
for managing the overall customer experience.
Is your marketing organization
Responsible for managing the
customer experience?
No
Yes
63% of top performers are responsible
for managing customer experience
55%45%

14. Are you ready to take on the challenge?
Here’s what you need to know:

15. First, you must align your strategies.
83% of top performers have a documented
customer experience strategy in place.
We have a documented strategy in place for
delivering a consistent customer experience.
7%
43%
36%
14%
Disagree
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
disagree
Top performers
Not at all effective
83%
0%
Agree or strongly agree
Agree or strongly agree

16. 92% of respondents who ranked themselves as “very
effective” have a shared editorial calendar for planning
marketing initiatives—compared to 11% of respondents
who are “not at all effective.”
Do you have a shared editorial calendar
for planning marketing initiatives?
Very effective
YES
92%
YES
Not very effective
35%
YES
Not at all effective
11%
Somewhat
YES
63%
Top performers
Not at all
effective
Not very
effective
Somewhat
effective
Very
effective

17. Then simplify execution.
Top performers are nearly 2X less likely to feel reactive and
ad hoc about content creation—83% have a content hub
where all stakeholders can access the most relevant content.
We are often reactive to immediate needs, leading
to ad hoc content creation and duplicative efforts.
Disagree
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
disagree
25%
49%
10%
17%
Top performers
Not at all effective
Agree or strongly agree
Agree or strongly agree
33%
77%

18. Finally, lock down the right metrics.
B2B marketers have two main priorities:
lead generation and revenue/ROI.
What are your top three marketing priorities?
Revenue/ROI
Lead generation
Brand awareness
67% 47%48%

19. And measure success through
content performance.
Which metric is most important to you?
Content
Conversions
External
Reach
Metrics
Internal
Reach
Metrics
Production
and efficiency
insights
Other
“Revenue.”
“Pipeline
generated for
every dollar
invested.”
44%
35% 9%
6% 6%

20. Want to know more about the current
state of B2B customer experience?
Download the full
report here.