A new research report from data-driven SaaS marketing solutions firm Stirista reveals the emergence of Connected TV (CTV) as a part of the overall media mix, the criticality of comprehensive data-driven insights to improve B2B targeting and measurement and concerns about impending third-party cookie regulations as emerging B2B marketing trends. The firm’s new Access B2B Marketing and Media Survey, was conducted by digital marketing research firm Thrive Analytics.
“The goal of this survey was to identify the main priorities of B2B marketers in light of the ongoing developments in the space. We discovered a growing interest in channels such as CTV as well as the underlined importance of competitive, comprehensive data-driven insights to fuel targeting and campaign response metrics,” said Will Kunkel, Stirista VP of marketing, in a news release. “As we look ahead to a cookie-less future, the availability of cookie-free solutions for data onboarding and digital audience targeting is an area of significant concern as well as opportunity.”
Businesses want to embrace CTV, but cite challenges
Survey findings revealed that the majority of B2B marketers are investing in TV advertising (55 percent), with another 20 percent expected to add it to their marketing mix in the next 6 months. While most B2B organizations currently are using a mix of linear and CTV ads, there is a growing interest in CTV as half of the B2B marketers surveyed said it was “highly likely” they would add it to their marketing mix in the next 12-24 months (52 percent). Nearly one out of two B2B leaders cited a lack of knowledge when it comes to CTV (46 percent). The cost of developing content (75 percent) and media placements (63 percent) are the biggest barriers businesses face in incorporating CTV into their overall marketing mix.
B2B marketers concerned about a cookie-less future
An overwhelming majority of B2B marketing leaders agreed that a cookie-less solution was a critical decision-making factor when determining investment in a marketing solution or tool (71 percent). Nearly half of firms surveyed are very or extremely worried about how a cookie-less future will affect their data onboarding needs and overall digital audience targeting (42 percent). One out of two B2B marketers believe that deprecating third-party cookies will have a negative effect on data matching (48 percent), while slightly under 40 percent believe it would have a negative impact on third-party data consumption. Respondents believe website analytics (87 percent), targeted advertising (76 percent) and data integrations (67 percent) will be most impacted by the cookie-less future.
Comprehensive campaign data-driven insights critical
Surprisingly, less than a third of respondents (30 percent) indicated they currently use a digital data onboarding provider to improve first-party data matching and targeting, with CTV being a primary channel (53 percent). Nearly half of businesses surveyed (54 percent) said they would utilize CTV/OTT if they had the data and analytics necessary to establish their target audience and monitor campaign performance. When it comes to analytics, the most important metrics were campaign response (92 percent), followed by conversion metrics (86 percent) and site visits (86 percent).
Download the full report here.
Findings from the Stirista Access B2B Survey were derived from an online panel conducted by Thrive Analytics. Data was gathered between February 17 – March 4, 2022, from leaders in key positions at B2B organizations in the US across a variety of verticals with annual revenues greater than $100 million.