Welcome back to Demand Gen Report‘s blog series: Buzzworthy B2B. We’ve spent the past month watching the latest news and hottest trends in the industry and curated the top research statistics, financial news, personnel changes and more to keep you in the loop! Check out all the latest happenings in the B2B space throughout March 2021 below!
Movers & Shakers
True to form, March came in like a lion with council creations, promotions, M&A activity and new hires.
PFL Promotes Nick Runyon To President
Nick Runyon, who joined tactile marketing automation solution PFL in 2019 as CMO, was promoted to the company’s President.
Clearbit Welcomes CEO
Clearbit, a provider of market intelligence software, appointed Ross Moser as its CEO. Previously, Moser spent 10 years at SurveyMonkey in various leadership roles and, prior to that, led Google’s Product & Operational Team.
DemandGen International Merges With BDO USA
DemandGen International, provider of digital marketing strategy and technology services, merged with BDO Digital, a subsidiary of BDO USA, to strengthen and expand the range of services and solutions available in BDO Digital. All current staff are expected to stay on.
Seismic Appoints VP OfInclusion
Sales and marketing enablement software provider Seismic hired Donna DeBerry as its VP of Inclusion. In her role, DeBerry will build a diverse and inclusive workforce and company culture.
MRP Hires CEO
MRP Prelytix, a predictive ABM platform, welcomed Scott Matthews as its new CEO. Previously, Matthews founded and oversaw the acquisition of Webcollage and most recently served as CEO of CrowdTwist, a Saas platform.
Clari Creates Revenue Operations Council
Clari, a revenue operations (RevOps) platform, formed the Revenue Operations Council. The Council’s purpose is to provide market education on strategy, best practices and professional development to the worldwide RevOps community.
Money Makers
Hey, must be the money!… because the following companies raised millions in seed and venture debt funding and total yearly revenue.
6Sense Generates $125M In Series D Funding
6sense, an account engagement platform, raised $125 million in Series D funding, bringing its valuation to $2.1 billion. The new capital will be used to catalyze growth initiatives and further accelerate its product roadmap.
ON24 Announces Full Year & Q4 Results
Digital experience provider ON24 achieved a total revenue of $53.3 million in Q4 of 2020, bringing the company’s full year revenue to $156.9 million.The total revenue represents a 76% increase year-over-year.
Banzai Raises $15M In Venture Debt Funding
Banzai, an event platform, closed a round of venture debt funding that generated $15 million. The company will use the capital to enhance its platform.
Demoflow Secures $4M In Total Seed Funding
Demoflow, a startup platform that promotes sales team collaboration, raised $2.4 million in its second seed funding round, bringing its total seed funding to $4 million. The new funding follows an initial $1.6millionin seed funding in November 2020.
Head’s Up
Sure, people were promoted and money was made, butlet’s dive into the nitty-gritty of new marketing strategies and discuss where B2B leaders see them going.
There’s no shortage of trends in demand generation, but the recent adaptation to digital strategies has bled over into 2021 and will shape demand gen strategies for years to come. This includes innovating ways of connecting with prospects through a reliance on data and intent signals.
Organizations are increasing their reliance on AI to help score leads through first- and third-party intent data. Through AI-powered lead scoring, leads are ranked by their likelihood to convert through the analysis of on-site actions and keeping a log of visitors.
Prospects don’t want just another marketing pitch — they want first-hand accounts that outline a solution’s quality and the success they’ll see. Through consistent brand messaging, aligned internal communication and a customer-centric approach, B2B organizations are turning buyers from satisfied customers into brand advocates.
Stand-Out Stats
We know, we know: At first glance, some ofthese statistics look a little bit troubling. It’s nothing to worry about, though — wherever there’s a problem, we know a guidethat can help.
- 50% of B2B sales professionals saw workload increases during pandemic, and 80% of marketing leadersreported their work volume increased over the last year, with the average leader losing a day and a half of work every week on manual, operational tasks.This highlights the need for marketers to relyon marketing automation platforms.
- 93% of C-level execs believe sales enablement is a strategic business priority, which is critical to promoting and increasing customer satisfaction.
- 61% of marketing leaders indicated that account-based marketing strategies will see increased budget prioritization throughout 2021.
- 87% of businesses experience challenges with their current digital experience management and delivery strategies, which generates a renowned focus on demand generation strategies.
- 88% of marketing, sales and CX leaders have adopted a human-to-human approach in their engagement strategies, increasing customer response rates, retention and customer satisfaction through physical and virtual gifting.
