Chris Walker on Reinventing B2B Marketing for 2024
B2B marketing is undergoing a seismic shift.
As content becomes cheap and unoriginal and ads lose their effectiveness, B2B companies are forced to adjust their strategies or get left behind. Gone are the days of “growth-at-all-costs” and spray and pray campaigns. Today, the focus is on precision, efficiency, and direct impact on the bottom line.
In this environment, insights from industry leaders like Chris Walker, renowned for his deep understanding and oracle-like predictions of B2B marketing dynamics, are more valuable than ever.
Dreamdata’s CMO, Steffen Hedebrandt, recently sat down with Chris to discuss where we should devote our attentions as a B2B marketers in 2024.
In the conversation, Chris sheds light on the necessity of adopting new approaches such as signal-based marketing, sophisticated AI integration, and a refined metric framework to navigate these turbulent times.
Chris explains, "I've seen over the past 12 years how B2B companies are so slow and oblivious in some ways to how buyers have been changing."
In this post we're digging into the absolute best takeaways from the conversation. So let’s dive in and uncover:
What is driving change in B2B marketing in 2024
How to future-proof your B2B marketing strategy with tactics that work
Predicted trends for the future of B2B
Check out the entire conversation here →
What is driving change in 2024 B2B marketing?
Since 2022, B2B companies once achieving 20 to 100x revenue valuation have now slowed to 4 to 6x. This significant transformation in recent years forces teams to adjust and keep up.
Chris points to the two global events that have had the greatest impact on B2B go-to-market:
COVID-19 induced adjustments to how B2Bs research, discover, and purchase
With the widespread adoption of remote work, digital engagement is no longer just an option. It’s now a necessity.
Chris highlights the impact this had on traditional business interactions:
"A lot of executives, especially ones that are sort of older or later in their career, didn't use LinkedIn every day, weren't part of a Slack community, didn't come to a live event like this one. And then through the period of COVID and work from home and those types of things, all those people started to be trained about how to go and find their peers online."
B2B buyers have become more accustomed to and reliant on digital channels for research, networking, and purchasing decisions. Meaning the volume of digital interactions has increased aided by AI (more on this below), and as a result, is pushing B2B marketers to reevaluate their go-to-market strategies.
Economic slowdown putting pressure on the ROI of sales and marketing
Economic fluctuations have also played a critical role in shaping the new market.
Companies are moving away from broad, unfocused strategies that may have worked in a pre-pandemic, economically buoyant environment. Now, the focus is on targeted, efficient, and measurable strategies that directly contribute to the bottom line.
Shifting focus to metrics like CAC and ROI, as companies need to prove the value of each dollar spent more than before.
How to future-proof your B2B marketing strategy with tactics that work
Now that we know why the market is evolving, here’s how to deal with it:
Signal-based marketing to zero in on your in-market-buyers
Signal-based marketing has emerged as a crucial strategy for efficient customer acquisition. This approach focuses on detecting and responding to buyer behaviors and signals, which are indicators of potential interest in your product or service.
This isn’t just marketing; it's mind-reading.
Chris advocates for a shift in focus from traditional marketing methods to strategies that prioritize understanding and leveraging these signals.
By implementing signal-based marketing, companies can achieve more targeted and effective engagements, enhancing both conversion rates and acquisition costs.
Optimizing Your ABM Strategy with Signals
Incorporating signal-based marketing into your ABM strategy can significantly enhance its effectiveness.
“Account-based marketing over the past five years has had very large growth… the next wave of go-to-market is going to be focused on what signals do those good fit accounts send us”
By combining signals with your ABM strategy you can ensure that marketing and sales efforts are concentrated on accounts that are not only desirable but also currently active and potentially ready to make purchasing decisions.
This allows your company to:
Prioritize their resources more effectively, ensuring that marketing and sales efforts are directed toward target accounts showing the highest engagement and readiness to buy.
Tailor messaging and content more precisely according to the specific interests and behaviors exhibited by the targets within those key accounts.
Increase conversion rates as a result of these timely and relevant interactions.
Signal to Win
To understand the effectiveness of your signal-based marketing efforts, Chris also suggests the metric “Signal to Win”. This concept highlights the relationship between specific buyer signals and the likelihood of converting those signals into actual leads.
Chris emphasizes the importance of focusing on high-quality, high-intent signals that are more likely to convert. This will optimize your resource allocation and enhance your ROI.
Refining Go-to-Market Metrics with data-driven precision
Apart from adopting a signal-based marketing approach, Chris emphasizes the need for reevaluating our go-to-market metric framework. With a focus on CAC payback periods, sales velocity, and the real ROI of marketing efforts.
"The biggest opportunity to optimize your go-to-market is to look at where is most of the money spent and then optimize that process".
This involves not only measuring the direct ROI but also understanding how different strategies contribute to sustained business growth.
Adopting the Right Metric Framework for Your B2B Company
Chris suggests focusing on a set of core metrics that provide a clear picture of marketing and sales performance and their impact on the company's bottom line.
He explains, “I like breaking it down into sales velocity and its four components: ACV, win rate, sales cycle and pipeline generated. So you have like some good details there that align sales and marketing together across those four metrics”
Predicted Trends for B2B Marketing in 2024
Looking ahead to 2024, Chris predicts several trends that will define the B2B marketing transformation.
Here are the most important ones:
Greater Integration of AI Across Marketing Practices
Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize the way B2B companies approach marketing, from automating routine tasks to generating insights that inform strategic decisions.
To stay ahead of this transformation, Chris pushes companies to invest in AI technologies that can analyze large datasets to predict buying behaviors and tailor marketing messages accordingly.
As a result, Chris foresees that AI will have a significant impact on the role of SDRs explaining: “instead of having ten 100K salary SDRs doing it, what if we have two 100K salary SDRs do it augmenting other eight people by AI instead”
Increased Emphasis on Peer Insights and Community Feedback
"What's happening now with AI is that basically anyone can create open content, and as a consumer of information the only thing that matters for you is what are the right sources of information "
Chris predicts the growing importance of community and peer insights in shaping B2B purchasing decisions. As traditional marketing channels become overcrowded and less trustworthy due to the rise of AI, buyers are increasingly turning to their peers for recommendations and validation.
"B2B buyers trust their peers more than any other sources... and that will continue to grow in importance over time”
This trend points towards a growing reliance on community-driven marketing over traditional channels. Meaning it is crucial to shift towards marketing strategies that not only engage but also empower communities to speak on behalf of brands.
Greater Adoption of Revenue Focused Metric Frameworks
Chris predicts a pivotal shift away from what he defines as low ROI activities.
He reveals conventional channels like Google ads and LinkedIn lead generation forms to be underperformers, that often result in disproportionate costs without corresponding returns.
He also denounces hefty investments in conference booths, which seldom translate to direct revenue gains, suggesting these are often justified under the guise of brand awareness or future customer expansions.
Check out how we do field marketing without booths here.
Instead, the focus is moving towards high ROI activities such as webinars and organic content creation, which not only cost less but also offer greater scalability and measurable success.
This paradigm shift underscores the necessity for B2B companies to reassess their marketing metrics and investment strategies, prioritizing effectiveness and direct impact over traditional yet inefficient methods.
Conclusion
As we look toward 2024, it's clear that B2B marketing isn't just changing; it's transforming.
Chris teaches us: don’t just keep up with the times; define them.
Chris underscores the pivot from traditional methods to more innovative, revenue focused approaches that leverage technology and peer insights to foster deeper connections with buyers.
For B2B marketers, the path forward involves embracing new realities—integrating AI to personalize at scale, utilizing signal-based marketing to enhance precision, and adopting robust metric frameworks to measure what truly matters.
The journey ahead is challenging, yet full of opportunities to rethink, re-engage, and revitalize your go-to-market strategy.
In Chris’s words, this is not just about adapting to change but leading it, ensuring that every marketing dollar spent is an investment in sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
About the Speaker:
Chris Walker is no stranger to success as the CEO of Passetto, a consultancy that revolutionizes B2B go-to-market strategies through a unique data integration approach. Furthermore, he founded Refine Labs, growing it from a startup in his living room to an 8-figure business, and now serves as its Executive Chairman. Known for his forward-thinking strategies, Chris challenges traditional B2B marketing norms. As a leader in digital marketing innovation, Chris actively seeks partnerships, speaking engagements, and investment opportunities.
