Marketing Leadership Forum: 21 “Aha!” moments from B2B marketers

On May 24 and 25, 2022 I journeyed more than 5,000 miles to attend my first Momentum ITSMA Marketing Leadership Forum in Napa, California, US. It was worth the jet lag! In just two short days, we heard from nearly 20 speakers who gave their takes on the hottest topics in growth strategies today.

Not only was it my first time in wine country (recommend), but it was also my first time at an event like this. I hesitate to call it a conference, because even though we had speakers, a screen, and a stage, the sessions were far more like conversations than they were presentations. The audience participation and real-time brainstorming truly brought the topics to life.

I cannot believe I am the only one who felt that they got more than they gave at MLF – here are some of the personal “Aha!” moments from our audience members, broadly categorized:

ABM Trends

• There is not one way or a perfect way to do ABM
• We need to continue ABM further into the buying cycle and post-sales for upsell and cross-sell opportunities
• ABM is agile, whereas product marketing is much more process-driven
• It’s time to think more about 1:few industry marketing
• This is the age of the account-based organization, not just marketing
• Martech is evolving into integrated, go-to-market platforms, which will define how to interact with customers across the organization – beyond sales and marketing

Skills and Mindset

• Marketing enablement is an area with a significant gap (many in attendance shared this “Aha!” moment)
• We need to formalize strategies to design and deliver marketing transformation
• Embrace change or you will not be here tomorrow
• Don’t worry if a ball drops; priorities rise to the top and sort themselves out
• To work with sales, marketing should stand strong and confident in their expertise

New Data Insights

• Research from the forthcoming Momentum ITSMA Customer Buying Index (CBX) shows that up to 40% of buyers are considering changing their providers
• Customers are more open-minded than two years ago because they want to move faster or are trying to simplify, which has different implications for the incumbent and new providers
• B2B buying committees are getting smaller, which means marketers need to go deeper rather than broader when engaging with customers and prospects
• We need to think more about how to build customer trust given that decision makers report having just a small number of trusted advisors
• 10% of what you present is retained, so you need to focus on effective, compelling content that connects

The Community

• This conference helped validate we are on the right path
• We’re not alone – we’re all going through the same challenges
• I now have a network I can rely on
• There is a great community of marketers who are willing to connect and share, so make the most of it
• This is networking with “real people” that are willing to share their experiences in GTM motion, ABM, and research results to make action

My sincerest thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. We will be posting additional insights from Marketing Leadership Forum on the forthcoming Growth Hub (members only), but if you have questions on the content or the CBX research, please contact us.

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