Study: More B2B marketers in APAC shifting priority from lead gen to creativity

Nine out of 10 senior B2B marketing leaders in Asia Pacific are increasingly embracing creative confidence, moving away from performance marketing and lead generation as priorities. According to a YouGov survey commissioned by LinkedIn which had 1,629 across markets including Singapore, India and Australia, B2B marketers in the region are paying more attention to brand campaigns that leverage storytelling and emotion to grow brand stickiness and reach relevant audiences.

In fact, creativity is now being recognised as essential to long-term brand building (34%) and helps drive memorability amongst customers (28%).

The shift towards creative confidence is helpful for B2B companies as B2B branding has been found to be especially crucial in Asia Pacific, where purchasing decisions are emotionally-driven.

The majority of marketers (82%) in the region agreed that B2B purchases are as emotionally driven as B2C ones, significantly higher than the 69% global average. At the same time, 95% of B2B marketing leaders in the region recognise that brand building is just as important to driving long-term revenue growth in the industry as it is in consumer marketing.

As B2B marketers make the effort to shift focus away from performance marketing, attracting top creative talent remains a challenge, LinkedIn said, with 87% of marketers sharing that the best talents in the industry are in consumer marketing. In general, Asia Pacific is also the most competitive region globally to hire creative talent. Close to seven in 10 (67%) of marketing leaders find it challenging to do so versus the global average of 57%.

It is a known fact that B2B marketing is often thought of as less exciting compared to B2C, making it more challenging for companies to target audiences and cut through the clutter. A similar sentiment is shared among the Asia Pacific B2B marketing leaders surveyed, with 75% of them believe that B2B marketing is more challenging than B2C. Interestingly, this is significantly higher than the global average (56%). But despite the professional opportunity, 87% are concerned that the best talent in the industry is drawn to working in consumer marketing over B2B marketing.

That said, there is still room for individuals to grow in the B2B space as companies push toward creativity. Marketing leaders in this field identified innovation, problem-solving, and data analytics as the top skills that will drive them towards creative confidence. More than half (54%) say fostering a strong creative output is largely reliant on the diversity of experience within a team.

And when it comes to agency partners specifically, the diversity of industry experience (53%) is regarded as the most important factor to produce a strong creative output, followed by a diversity of experience within a team; diversity of skills; and diversity of personal and professional networks (all 48%).

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions' head of Asia Pacific marketing, Sarah Tucker, explained that the region is one of the most unique markets for B2B marketing. "In this landscape, brand building underpinned by creative storytelling is critical to capture the attention of B2B audiences. It comes to no surprise that marketers are moving away from traditional tactics, and embracing brand-led marketing that shows the real, human side to their businesses," she added.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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