1 3 TH E D I T I O N

2020 B2B
MARKETING MIX REPORT

SAG E F R O G M A R K E T I N G G R O U P
T his is the thirteenth annual
B2B Marketing Mix Report
by Sagefrog Marketing Group.
Who We Surveyed

Beginning with a survey of B2B

Professional &
professionals in industries from Business Services 39%
technology and healthcare
to manufacturing and supply
Technology 31%
chain, this report forecasts the Advertising
marketing climate for the year & Marketing 28%
ahead. It contains data on the B2B Health & Manager

marketing strategies and tactics

Life Sciences 25% or Director:
52%
C-Level:
companies will use in 2020.
Manufacturing 22% 22%

The B2B Marketing Mix Report

Financial
is a useful source of information & Insurance 12%
on competitive trends and
emerging tactics that marketing
Other* 11% Coordinator or
Specialist: 12%
professionals should consider
*Respondents had the option Vice President: 11%
when planning their 2020 to choose multiple industries
as applicable to their field
Assistant: 3%
marketing budget and program.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 2

2020 vs. 2019: What’s the Same?
In comparing data from the 2019 report to Most Implemented Marketing Tactics
this year’s data, certain patterns emerged. The most implemented marketing tactics
are almost identical to last year.

36% Email Marketing: 84%

41% Do not
In-house
59% 64% have a Social Media and Social Media Advertising: 73%
Have plan
Outsourced a plan Blogging and Content Marketing: 63%
& Both
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): 61%

Tradeshows & Events: 50%

The majority of B2B Most B2B professionals
companies surveyed still answered “yes” Online Display & PPC: 48%

still use a balance of in- when asked if their PR & Editorial Pitching: 39%
house and outsourced company has a formal
marketing services. marketing plan. Video Marketing: 33%

Seminars & Webinars: 31%

“New marketing trends are constantly popping up. We watch
new tactics carefully to see which ones help us generate Telemarketing: 20%
leads and close deals. Those tactics make the transition from
passing fad to best practice.” Print Advertisements: 19%

— Mark Schmukler, Co-founder & CEO at Sagefrog Other: 8%

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 3

Marketing Investments:
Growth on Top of Growth and a Potential Plateau
Between 2017 and 2018, the number of companies investing 10% or more of their annual budget in
marketing grew about 5%. This growth meant that nearly 40% of B2B companies were investing at least
a tenth of their budget in marketing. Between then and now, that number has jumped to almost 50%.

Percentage of Budget Changes in Marketing

Allocated to Marketing Spend from 2019 to 2020
Unlike last year when most “Companies can be reticent
More than 15%: 8% B2B professionals reported about making new marketing
a plan to increase their investments because they’re not
marketing budget, this sure what the returns will be.
15%: 20% A good agency, however, uses
year, most foresee their
KPIs and technology to measure
budgets staying the same.
10%: 19% success in real time and optimize
upon what’s working while cutting
Decrease: 3%
down on what’s not. This is what
5%: 25% maximizes results and ROI.”

-Matt Engelson,
1%: 20%
Stay the Increase: Digital Marketing Manager
same: 41% at Sagefrog
56%
Less than 1%: 8%

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 4

Content Marketing is the Next Big Investment
We’ve seen how much Top Areas of Marketing Spend
companies have invested
in marketing, so now Digital Marketing: 56%
let’s look at where their Website Development: 52%
money is going.
Tradeshows and Events: 36%
The top three results are
Content Marketing: 27%
the same as last year
and come as no surprise: Email Marketing: 27%
these categories aren’t
Marketing Automation and CRM Software: 25%
just priorities to marketers,
they’re expensive. Social Media: 19%
Content Marketing Branding: 17%
appearing near the top
may seem surprising, Direct Marketing and Print Advertising: 11%
since it’s known as one of Marketing Planning and Strategy: 8%
the more cost-effective
Third Parties (e.g., Google): 8%
tactics, but the results on
time investment (on the Marketing & Sales Collateral: 6%
next page) clear this up.
Other: 6%

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 5

Time is (Not Always) Money
When we asked marketers to rank three categories
of marketing efforts (content and inbound marketing;
website and digital; and traditional sales and marketing)
based upon how much time their company dedicates
to each one, the margins were slim. Traditional sales
and marketing tied with web and digital for the most
time spent, leaving content marketing as the runner up.

Time is one of your company’s

most precious resources.

Quality content provides a strong return on investment

because it can be produced efficiently and—if properly
Content Website
optimized for search engines—will be found and shared & Inbound & Digital
Marketing
organically again and again. Quality content paired Marketing

with successful forms and landing pages are a great

Traditional
way to capture leads, too. The keyword here is “quality.” Marketing

Successful content is informative, relatable, searchable,

shareable, not overly promotional, and stands out from
the competition.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 6

Objectives: 2020 is All About Leads
The marketing goals and Top Marketing Objectives for 2020
objectives your company sets
now will determine the entire
course of your next year. 1st Converting Leads to Customers

Converting and increasing

sales leads remain at the
top of the list since last year, 2nd Increasing Sales Leads
indicating (for good and
obvious reason) that these
objectives won’t be sliding
down the ranks any time soon.
3rd Increasing Brand Awareness

What’s noteworthy is that

the top two objectives are
priorities that marketing teams
4th Producing Thought Leadership

share with sales teams. This

indicates continued harmony
and teamwork between 5th Increasing Website Traffic
marketing and sales.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 7

Referrals and Event
Marketing Remain Top Sources of Sales and Marketing Leads

Top Sources of Leads Referrals: 63%

Tradeshows & Events: 44%

Year after year, referrals emerge as the
Email Marketing: 39%
top source of qualified marketing and
sales leads in B2B. It’s not surprising. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): 36%

Inbound Marketing: 33%

B2B is fueled by networking
Social Media: 28%
and interpersonal connection.
Online Display & PPC: 25%

Professionals are more likely to invest Telemarketing: 16%

their time and money working with a
company if there’s a personal connection. Public Relations: 9%
B2B purchases are big investments that Print Advertising: 3%
require department- or company-wide
approval, so it makes sense that personal Direct Mail: 3%
touches are influential in gaining the
Other: 2%
green-light to move forward.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 8

LinkedIn is the Most Used (and Trusted) Social Medium
LinkedIn is the standout social medium in B2B. Most Used Social Media Channels
LinkedIn has over 530 million users.1 That number
alone makes LinkedIn unmatched for B2B networking. LinkedIn: 86%
Additionally, there are 9 billion content impressions
on LinkedIn’s feed every week, with 3 million users Facebook: 73%
sharing content during that time.2 Our data shows
that B2B professionals trust LinkedIn far more than Twitter: 63%
any other social media channel.3
YouTube: 36%

Instagram: 31%
“We’ve Added and
Seen Results from Vimeo: 5%
Don't Use Paid Social Media.”
Paid Social: True: Pinterest: 3%
36% 48% Most respondents
reported using paid SlideShare: 3%
False: social media and
16% seeing a return on their Do not use social media: 2%
investment from it.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 9

Instagram is Where
Engagement Happens
Social Media
Channels Ranked
While only 31% of survey participants
by Engagement
reported that their company uses
Instagram, those who use it ranked
it highest for engagement on
social media when pitted against
1st
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Instagram’s high engagement

ranking indicates that this popular 2nd
B2C platform is becoming a useful
tool for B2B marketing as well. 3rd
Because it’s image-centric, people
use Instagram to explore their
interests, including their professional
ones. Design, architecture, and
engineering companies, for example, 4th
can use Instagram to showcase their
visual work and make professional
B2B connections.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 10

Marketers Will Explore
Personalization Strategies in 2020
The strategies and objectives New Marketing and Sales Strategies for 2020
marketers set guide the tactics
they’ll use. Referrals are still Personalization: 47%
the top source of B2B leads,
which naturally places user- Account Based Marketing: 42%
centric strategies at the top of
Video Marketing: 41%
the marketing strategies list
for 2020. Additionally, AI and Inbound Marketing: 39%
Automation has climbed 6%
AI and Automation: 36%
since last year. As technology
becomes more widespread and Conversational Marketing (Chat Bots): 33%
advanced, marketers begin to
take an interest in using it for Influencer Marketing: 27%
their own companies.
Podcast and Livestreaming: 22%

Programmatic Advertising: 19%

Mobile-First Strategy: 17%

Other: 6%

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 11

Marketing Automation is In, and HubSpot is King
Two-thirds of B2B companies use Most Popular Marketing Automation Platforms
one or more marketing automation
platforms, including HubSpot, Pardot
(by Salesforce), Marketo, or Infusionsoft.
HubSpot: 41%

By far, the most popular

marketing automation Other:* 20%
software is HubSpot.

HubSpot isn’t just a marketing automation

tool: it combines CRM capabilities with Pardot by Salesforce: 10%
email marketing, content management,
sales, and service to give companies
a unified dashboard for all their
business needs. Additionally, HubSpot’s Marketo: 7%
partnerships with marketing agencies
mean it’s often seamlessly integrated into
*Oracle Sales Cloud, Infusion Soft, and Act On.
the marketing plans of B2B companies
that outsource their marketing.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 12

How to Use this Report
2020 is all about closing the deal: increasing and converting leads is the objective and
personalization is the tactic. As you make your plans to achieve your goals, think about
the resources you have at your disposal and use this report to determine how to deploy
them. With this data, you’ll have guidance as you:

Plan your 2020 Create content Itemize your Implement Hire an

marketing program resources marketing budget new tech tools agency

This report is a forecast, but a sunny forecast doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pack an
umbrella. Keep an eye out for industry trends and reflect on where your company
needs to go in the next year. Budget, time constraints, and industry regulations can
make certain tactics ideal and others untenable, so make sure you’re using the data
we’ve shared in a way that works for you.

© 2020 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC. Slide 13

About Sagefrog Marketing Group
Sagefrog is a top ranked B2B marketing agency with specialties in healthcare, technology,
industrial and business services. We have offices in Doylestown, Princeton, Philadelphia
and Lehigh Valley, and we’re dedicated to accelerating our clients’ success through brand
building and integrated marketing. Our services include branding, websites and digital,
content marketing, public relations, social media and traditional tactics, which
are strategically integrated and optimized through our proven process, JumpStart™.
Contact us to put the insights from this report into action for your company.
Are you ready to leap ahead?

sagefrog.com • (215) 230-9024 • [email protected]

Sources
1. LinkedIn for Leads, Sagefrog
2. Market to Who Matters with the LinkedIn Marketing
Solutions Platform Overview, Keith Richey
All Rights Reserved © 2019 Sagefrog Marketing Group, LLC 3. The 2019 B2B Trusted Brands Report, Sagefrog