Most B2B manufacturers are struggling to build the digital marketing
strategies and purchase guidance needed to help buyers make the most
informed decisions, according to Gartner, Inc. In a ranking of digital
performance among B2B manufacturing brands, 62 percent of these brands
fell below average.
The Gartner
L2 Digital IQ Index: B2B Manufacturing U.S. 2019 quantifies the
digital competence of 87 B2B manufacturing brands headquartered in the
U.S. across four key sectors, including energy, healthcare, industrials
and materials. Of the 87 companies analyzed, only two brands reached
“Genius” status, while the majority fell into the “Challenged” and
“Feeble” categories.
“Marketing leaders at B2B manufacturing companies must make a commitment
to building effective digital marketing strategies. As more of their
buyers allocate an increasingly large portion of their time learning how
to buy online, brands must follow the money and follow suit,” said Kyle
Rees, director at Gartner. “If B2B marketers can’t get digital marketing
right, they could seriously jeopardize the success of their company’s
future digital business strategies, or worse, fail to protect themselves
against looming competitive threats.”
B2B manufacturing brands were measured across hundreds of data points
against four critical dimensions of B2B digital marketing, including
search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), site
functionality, guided selling and content marketing, and social media.
From this analysis, four key findings emerged that B2B manufacturing
brands must keep in mind moving forward:
Seismic Shifts Underfoot
Shifting customer buying behavior and looming threats to existing
distribution and business models point to digital’s increasingly central
role in B2B marketing operations. Unfortunately, more than half of B2B
marketers (51 percent) rank their current digital experience as average
at best.
Customer, Not Company, Focused
Forty-one percent of B2B buyers describe an effective buying experience
as one that progresses quickly to completion, but B2B brands struggle to
meet this expectation. In fact, more than one third of the B2B
manufacturing brands feature no guided selling tools or content on their
brand site. On the other hand, the best B2B brands deploy digital
marketing strategies based on a deep understanding of their customers’
digital journey to drive engagement and conversion.
Going Beyond the Minimum
There is a wide gap between brand sites with tools that work as intended
and those with tools that fall short of expectations. For example, only
34 percent of B2B manufacturing brands with site search tools allow site
users to filter site search queries. Only 26 percent of site search
tools leverage auto-fill technology, while even less (24 percent)
provide corrections to search queries. Leading B2B brands ace the basics
and leverage best-in-class functionality to create a differentiated
experience for B2B buyers.
A Symphony, Not a Solo
Best-in-class B2B brands develop synergies by embracing the unique value
proposition offered by different marketing platforms. Leader brands
reject homogeneity across their marketing strategy to create a nuanced
and well-rounded brand experience.
“Instead of just using digital marketing as a means to create demand and
fill the top of the funnel, B2B manufacturers should leverage digital to
advance and support new and existing business opportunities — an
undertaking that has thus far proven difficult,” added Mr. Rees.
A full list of the ranking is available to Gartner for Marketers clients
in the report Gartner
L2 Digital IQ Index: B2B Manufacturing U.S. 2019.
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