2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report Executive Summary42.3%75.0%62.5% 75.6%42.3% of marketers say that their top marketing priority this year is to convert leads to customers. 35.4% say that their top priority is generating more leads.43.2% of marketers believe their organizations are eective at measuring marketing performance. That number jumps to 75.0% for organizations that have high quality CRM and marketing automation data.53.6% of marketers are condent in their teams plan to hit their revenue goal. On the other hand, 62.5% of marketers who use revenue as their primary metric for planning and measurement are condent in their plans to hit their revenue goals.59.1% of marketers who use leads to plan their marketing expect bigger budgets next year. In contrast, 75.6% of marketers who use revenue to plan their marketing expect budget increases.2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 2Pipeline marketing, the methodology that focuses on impacting the entire funnel rather than just the top, is being embraced by more B2B marketers and B2C marketers with sales teams than ever.Metrics that capture more of the funnelsales opportunities, pipeline, and revenueare increasingly the primary marketing metrics for planning, optimizing execution, and measurement.Using these down-funnel metrics is paying o, too. Pipeline marketers are more likely to hit their revenue goals, report alignment with broader business objectives, and be aligned with their sales counterparts.The 2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report, the third annual, includes tons of new and unique data about how marketers approach driving growth for their organizations. What are their priorities? How do they create plans and execute on them? How are they measuring, optimizing, and determining success?2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 3Table of ContentsRespondent Demographics & FirmographicsRespondent TechnographicsMarketing Budgets & PlanningMarketing MeasurementMarketing ChannelsAccount-Based MarketingDeep DiveHow To Get A Bigger BudgetYear-Over-Year Trends478111518202428Marketing / AdvertisingBusiness Services / Support / LogisticsRespondent Demographics&FirmographicsB2B B2C Non-ProtHow would you best classify your organization?Internet / Software / TechManufacturingFinancial ServicesWhich of the following best describes the main industry of your organization?HealthcareEducationNon-ProtWe surveyed about 350 marketers in July 2017 from a variety of industries and company sizes. Heres a little bit about them.92.0%5.2%2.8%21.5%11.4%8.2%3.8%3.2%1.9%48.4%1.6%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 41 - 24 25 - 249 250 - 999How many full time employees currently work for your organization?1,000 - 9,99910,000+ Less than $1MM$1MM - $9.9MM$10MM - $99MMWhat best describes your companys annual revenue?$100MM - $999MM1B +Respondent Demographics & Firmographics13.4%16.2%39.8%26.1%4.7%14.7%30.2%28.4%19.3%7.8%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 5Intern / Entry Level / ManagerIntermediate / Senior ManagerDirector / Senior DirectorWhich of the following best describes your current job level?Executive / VP / C-Level / OwnerWhat is your familiarity with pipeline marketing?1Not familiar at all2 3 4 5Extremely familiarRespondent Demographics & Firmographics26.9%27.9%13.0%32.2%36.7%19.3%13.5%7.3%23.3%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 6Respondent TechnographicsOtherHubspot Marketo EloquaWhat CRM software does your company use?Pardot Act-On None / UnsureOtherSalesforce Dynamics Hubspot None / UnsureWhat marketing automation software does your company use?10.0%6.2%8.1%15.9%59.8%2.2%12.0%21.0% 21.3%14.8%22.8%5.9%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 7Marketing Budgets&PlanningLess than $500,000$500K - $4.9MM$50MM - $99MMWhat is the approximate range of your 2017 marketing budget?$5MM - $49MM$100MM or moreIncrease Decrease UnsureStay the sameIn the next year, do you expect your companys marketing budget to increase, decrease, or stay the same?0.8%6.4%31.8%61.0%0.0%7.8%30.0%3.6%58.6%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 8The data here gives marketers a reason to be optimistic. Nearly 60% of respondents expect their budgets to increase and only 3.6% expect a cut to their budget.The more marketers can demonstrate the value of their eorts in the language of the CEO and CFO (read: revenue), the easier it is for them to ask for and receive budget increases.1Not condent at all2 4Rate your condence in your teams plan to hit your marketing revenue goals3 5Extremely condentWhen you plan your marketing, what metric do you use?Marketing Budgets & PlanningRevenueLeadsOpportunities / PipelineMQLsCustomers / DealsUnsure45.1%34.6%7.2%4.6%8.5%22.5%14.7%13.7%10.5%3.2%35.4%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 19Marketers are mildly condent in their plans to hit their marketing revenue goals. A whopping 79.7% of marketers responded with a 3 or 4 out of 5 on the condence scale.While thats good to see, few are willing to stick their neck out and say that they are extremely condent in their plans.When it comes to what metric marketers are using to plan, its great to see that they are using lower-funnel metrics like opportunities, pipeline, and revenue.Nearly 70% of marketers are using opportunities, pipeline, revenue, or customers to plan.1Misaligned2 4How aligned are your marketing goals to broader business objectives?3 5Extremely alignedWhat is your top marketing priority this year?Marketing Budgets & PlanningGenerating more leads / demandSales and marketing alignmentConverting leads to customersImproving performance measurementReducing the cost of customer acquisitionUnsure37.4%29.2%5.9%1.6%25.9%35.4%10.3%8.9%2.1%0.3%42.3%2017 State of Pipeline Marketing Report 10The amount of marketers who are using down-funnel metrics to plan their marketing (previous page) seems to be translating to aligning marketing goals with business objectives. Nearly two-thirds of marketers raited their alignment with broader business objectives a 4 or 5 out of 5.A signicant amount of marketers are also prioritizing full-funnel objectives (42.3%), rather than just the traditional top-of-the-funnel objectives (35.4%).