The Pipeline Is Less Than Half Empty

Technology sales and product groups routinely besiege tech marketing professionals to justify budgets, programs, and T-shirt designs. Tech marketers typically respond with a slew of marketing activity metrics, each purporting to demonstrate marketing's contribution to the business. However, on the basis of one straightforward marketing metric — marketing-sourced pipeline — the simple truth is that tech marketing's contribution is underwhelming. Data from Forrester's Q1 2011 North American B2B Technology Marketing Tactics And Benchmarks Online Survey, compiled from interviews with nearly 140 senior tech marketers at global technology companies, tells the story: Tech marketers must adopt new approaches to engage customers if they're going to increase their business contribution, drive market success, and start leading tech companies from the front instead of in sale's slipstream.