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B2B Marketing Training Request Business Case Guide

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This Business Case Guide is designed to provide a practical set of guidelines and suggestions for writing a business case that will secure the training you require.

Including sample content, research, trends and industry stats, this document will help you:

• Savetimebuildingyourbusinesscase• Maximiseyourchanceofleadershipbuy-in• Maximiseyourchanceofsecuringtrainingbudget• Winyourpitch

B2B Marketing Training Business Case Guide

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Marketing training trends and stats

Your training request business case

The current situation The training need Whatimpactisthistrainingneedcurrentlyhavingonthebusiness?

The proposed training solution Objectives and target outcomes Proposed training course name and provider Nature of proposed training course Cost and business impact Benefits

Appendices

Appendix 1 Casestudy:Marketingteamoftheyear

Appendix 2 B2BMarketingTrainingcasestudies:AccessGroup

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Contents

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Corporate spend on employee training is up

Asglobalrecoveryfromtherecessionof2009continues,corporate spending on employee training is increasing apace,withtrendsintheUSshowingtrainingspendincreasesof10percentin2011,12percentin2012and15percentin2013-14.(Source:Forbes.com)

Formarketingtraining,thestoriesbehindthistrendareequally as compelling as the increases themselves.

70percentoforganisationscitecapabilitygapsasoneoftheirtopfivechallenges.(Source:Forbes.com)

Thechangesdrivingthesecapabilityandskillsgapsarecleartoo.76percentofmarketersbelievemarketinghaschangedmoreinthelastfewyearsthaninthelast50.(Source:AdobeDigitalDistressSurvey2013)

Muchofthischangeisbeingdrivenbythegrowthinmarketingtechnologyandthewayinwhichtechisshapingthecustomerjourneyandexpectations.

Astheuptakeofmarketingtechgrows,sotoodoestheneedformarketerstocatchupwithtechnology-drivenmarketingskills.GartnerprojectsthatCMOswillspendmorethanCIOsdooninformationtechnologyby2017.

What’smore,organisationsthatareinvestinginskillsdevelopmentandtrainingfortheirmarketingteamsareseeingtangiblereturns.McKinsey&Co’sbenchmarkingstudy2015foundthattherevenuegrowthofcompanieswithadvancedmarketingcapabilitiesis30percentgreaterthan the average.

Goals and KPIs

Someofkeysuccessfactorsattributedtotrainingarechanging too. Leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of aligning training objectives with strategic business goals.

‘Soft’aswellas‘hard’KPIsarealsoplayingagreaterroleinbusinesscasemakingfortraining,withemployeeengagement, staff retention and team encouragement serving as credible measures of success.

Storytelling

Inasimilarwaytohowcontentmarketingandbrandingisbecomingmorestory-driven,trainingisbecomingincreasinglyfocussedontheuseofreal-worldstoriestoeducate and inspire candidates.

Alongsidethistrend,anincreasingdemandforpeer-to-peerlearningisenablingmarketerstogaininsightsfromthestoriesandexperiencesoftheirpeercompetitorsaspartoftheirtrainingexperience.

Marketing training trends and stats

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Professional certifications

Asmarketingrolesbecomeincreasinglydynamic,technicalanddata-driven,thereisagrowingexpectationfordocumentableskillsdevelopment.

Marketingtechnologyplatformsarealreadysteppinguptooffercertifications,buttheirfocusisonamarketer’ssoftwareuserskills.

The future trend is for an increasing demand from both candidates and recruiters for professional certification in a wideranddeeperrangeofmodernB2Bmarketingskills.

Stats:

Nurtured leads produce, on average, a

20% increase in sales opportunities versusnon-nurturedleads.

(DemandGen Report)

Nurturedleadsmake

47% larger purchases than non-nurturedleads.

(The Annuitas Group)

Companies with mature lead generation and

management practices have a

9.3% higher sales quota achievement rate.

(CSO Insights)

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The current situation

The training need

Whatisthespecificskillsgapyouneedtoresolve?

Whyhasthisneedcomeabout,e.g.changingapproachestomarketing,changingcustomerbehaviourandexpectations,changingcompetitorenvironment?

For example:

The way prospective customers engage with our business has fundamentally changed. 70 per cent of our converting leads now come via content marketing engagement on LinkedIn and Twitter. This is despite the fact that we have only undertaken limited content marketing activity so far. Social media is now clearly our customers’ preferred engagement channel.

In response to this huge opportunity there is a need now to for me to have training in the specific skills of social media marketing, content marketing and digital branding.

What impact is this training need currently having on the business?

Thinkabout:• Individuals• Themarketingteam• Thewiderbusiness• Businessstrategyandgoals

For example:

I don’t currently have the specific knowledge or tools to implement a strategic approach to engaging with and nurturing our leads via social media.

As a result of this capabilities gap, the sales team are missing out on potential leads and sales conversion opportunities. Sales manager time is being invested in researching and contacting leads that could more efficiently be nurtured by marketing, with the right social media marketing and content marketing tools. This will free more sales manager time up to focus on closing sales.

Pipeline growth and sales revenue targets are being impacted by the missed potential opportunities to capture and nurture our best converting leads through LinkedIn and Twitter.

Your business case

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The proposed training solution

Objectives and target outcomes, including

• Learning• Capabilities• Output• OutcomesandKPIs

For example:

Learning

I will learn the skills and most effective approaches for using social media and content marketing to build the visibility and authority of the business brand, generate leads, engage with and nurture leads for sales conversion and nurture existing customers.

Capabilities and output

I will be equipped to:

• Createanddeliveronastrategiccontentmarketingandsocial media strategy, including paid and earned reach

• Createanddeliveronatargetedcontentmarketingcalendar

•Mentorothermembersofthemarketingteamusingtheskills and tools I have gained.

ThetargetoutcomeistoincreasethesizeoftheMQLsalespipeline by 20% in the next 12 months following training.

Proposed training course name and provider

For example:

Course: The advanced certificate in B2B marketing

Provider:B2BMarketing

Nature of proposed training course

Thinkaboutthecourse:

• Format• Duration• Location• Certificationandaccreditations

For example:

A face-to-face training course held at the central London trainingsuiteofB2BMarketing,includingtwomandatoryoneday modules and two elective modules:

• MarketingOperationsandManagement• BuildingaBrandintheDigitalAge• SocialMediaStrategies• StrategicContentMarketing

Cost and business impact

Definethecostspercandidateandcoveroffanylogisticalimpactsthatneedtobeconsidered,forexample,timespentout of the office by the candidates.

Benefits, including those for:

• Individuals• Themarketingteam• Thewiderbusiness• Businessstrategyandgoals

For example:

This training course will help to create a centre of excellence within the business for social media and content marketing.

The certification aspect of the training course will be highly motivational for me.

The sales team will benefit from an increased pipeline and greaternumberofMQLstoconvert.

Sales managers will be able use their own time more productively and efficiently on closing hot prospects, while Marketingtakescareofthepipelinenurturing.

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90%

ofmarketersthink theirteam’sdataskills

need to improve*

79%

ofB2Bmarketerscite face-to-facelivetraining

as their preferred training format**

On average,

6.3%

ofB2Bmarketing budget is spent

on training**

44%

ofmarketersratetheir skillsaspoorwhenit

comes to applying data to their storytelling*

47%

ofB2Bmarketersview customer insight, segmentation

and profiling as the most important3skillsamarketer

should have**

28%

ofB2Bmarketersfeel theirskillsareweakestin

customer insight, segmentation and

profiling**

More stats to help support your case

*Source:B2BMarketingDataSkillsBenchmarkingReport

**Source:B2BMarketingProfessionalDevelopmentBenchmarkingReport

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How to be an award winning Marketing Team of the Year – a case study

Appendix 1

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Atos entry – Marketing Team of the Year

Category number: 25 Category name: Marketing Team of the Year Company name: Atos Names and job titles of individual team members: Catherine Howard, Head of UK & Ireland Marketing Sam Zacherino, Deputy Head of Marketing and Communications Chris Andrews, Senior Marketing Manager, Private Sector Russ Powell, Marketing Manager, Private Sector Denise Bradbury, Senior Marketing Manager, Public Sector Vicki Evans, Marketing Manager, Public Sector Lauren Emery, Senior Marketing Manager, Service Lines Chiara Bondesan, Marketing Manager, Alliances (Partners) Stacey Shurlin, Marketing Executive, Service Lines Jeff Spencer, Marketing Manager, Market, Competitor & Client Insight Lydia Wells, Marketing Executive, Events and Business Technology Innovation Centre Tori Arthurs, Marketing Graduate, Client Advocacy Programme Summary page

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From April 2014, the Atos UK & Ireland (UK&I) Marketing team have undergone a major transformation to become a professional, business aligned and ROI driven team which is highly valued across Atos. To improve engagement across the business, individual team members were allocated day-to-day responsibilities, their own business stakeholders and individual deliverables against the marketing plan created jointly. A “Dog Packtypes®” team building day enabled the team to analyse their skillsets, assessing the areas required for future development. Assisted by new processes that stress honest communication, transparent operations and development of relevant capabilities, the team have implemented new business-leading initiatives, over-delivered against their targets and attracted high praise from across the business and external clients. In an 8 month period, 4 members of the team received internal accolades including 1 rarely achieved gold accolade. Through sheer energy, passion and teamwork, the team have produced astonishing results in a relatively short amount of time and continue to shine – making them thoroughly deserving of this award.

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Main submission About the marketing candidate The Marketing team reports into the UK&I Atos Board. The team re-structured in April 2014 to mirror the organisation’s structure, aligning to sectors, service lines and support areas. The team’s vision is to be “A leading IT Services Marketing team that is known internally and externally for delivering business value”. All objectives and day-to-day responsibilities stem from this vision, delivering activities at all stages of the sales cycle. These include brand awareness, demand generation campaigns, targeted events, bid marketing, ABM and client advocacy. Responding to Atos’ need for greater understanding of Private Sector organisations, a new client insight team has been created. This adds a new dimension to the team in terms of strategic thinking. The brand they work for Atos in the UK&I is a leader in digital services, with annual revenues of £1.3 billion, employing 10,500 employees. Atos works with clients across all industries. Atos solutions include consulting, systems integration, managed services, business process outsourcing, cloud operations, Big Data, security and transactional services. Within the UK&I, Atos is ranked 10th in IT Services revenue according to TechMarketView. Commercial challenges In April 2014, an internal survey was deployed to understand what Atos thought of marketing and what was needed. Through hard-work, energy and a fun mind-set, the Marketing team have responded to this feedback and undergone a complete transformation. 12 months on, restructuring and driving ROI results has led to the team being described as “approachable, proactive and professional” with 100% of respondents stating that the team add value. More specifically, the team have delivered the following:

1) To showcase Atos as a leader in digital services, a Business Technology and Innovation Centre was built to hold specific client workshops and

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industry events. 2) To enable private sector growth, a global campaign was taken and

reworked to meet the needs of UK&I Manufacturers. The resulting "Factory of the Future” campaign has driven £300m+ sales pipeline. With orders due to close in 2015, this campaign has provided a best practice platform for all campaigns in 2015.

3) To drive partnership working, a new role was created covering joint partner events, joint funding opportunities and joint pipeline.

4) To support Public Sector pipeline, a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Harbour Programme was devised resulting in closed business with 3 councils.

5) Across all markets, the team supported £1.5bn of pipeline through account based marketing, bid marketing and using new digital techniques to get in front of target stakeholders.

6) The implementation of a new Client Advocacy Programme has resulted in 22 client advocates talking positively about their work with Atos.

Individual contributions The Marketing team has driven the marketing plan together, therefore it would be wrong to outline individual contributions from the team effort. Through undertaking a “Dog Packtypes®” team exercise in September 2014, it was evident where the strengths and development areas of each team member lay. “Packtypes®” outlines the different characteristics of an individual in relation to their dog type! This helped with self-awareness and building appreciation of each other’s strengths and how they are complementary. Team working and collaboration Following the feedback, the team undertook several workshops to create a detailed marketing plan with overall objectives. This also included ROI and budget against each activity and alignment to the different stages of the sales cycle. Across the team, clarity of responsibilities plus honest, transparent and open

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communication helped to improve visibility of everyone’s focus areas and provided flexibility to support others if needed. For example, the team collaborated on a partner event in July 2014 to ensure it was successfully delivered. Strategic alignment As already described, the team restructured to fully align the organisation, providing day-to-day contacts for business stakeholders with weekly 1-1’s and attendance at monthly team meetings. The marketing plan was created through working directly with the business stakeholders and was then presented to the Board to gain consensus, which resulted in a budget increase. Team development and retention “Packtypes®” provided a team view describing the team as creative, delivery focused and results oriented, but lacking in insightful, data-led approaches. This is being addressed through team training and future recruitment, including the introduction of a new client insight team. A quarterly Marketing Community Board looks at personal development, training and career paths with individual members. The introduction of a professional membership for the team has provided access to training, best practice sharing and networking opportunities. Colleague testimonials “In 12 months I have seen a significant transformation in the marketing team. Having previously had limited alignment with the business, the team has restructured and reflects the business’ structure, values and priorities. The team have collaborated strongly to beat their ambitious targets, generating over £680m of sales pipeline and their event, campaign and bid activities have really helped to position Atos as a Tier 1 digital technology leader. The past year has shown marketing to be a key function within our organisation and has become an ongoing Board level discussion.” Mark Ingleby, SVP, Sales and Marketing, Atos “Thanks for leaving a copy of the ‘X’ video-card on my desk. I think it looks brilliant! A really high quality job that demonstrates our drive and commitment to win this opportunity.”

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John Pink, SVP, Private Sector, Atos

Submission ends

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B2B Marketing Training case studies: Access Group

Appendix 2

Access Group does business in the

fiercely competitive space of B2B

tech and is one of the boldest

success stories in the sector, with

year-on-year growth numbers

topping 30 per cent.

CASE STUDY

ACCESS GROUPB2BMARKETING.NET

The key to its success lies in enabling clients to solve crucial business problems, rather than simply implementing software.

It’s an approach that leverages the extensive heritage and experience of Access to unlock and deliver insight, efficiencies and business growth for its clients.

marketing challengeIt takes a team of 800 people across fourteen sites and five divisions to deliver this success, and a twenty-strong marketing team to lead the way.

But high growth and steep revenue targets present tough challenges for any marketing team and, as the business restructured to meet its goals, it became clear that a step change was needed in its marketing too.

Head of field marketing, Paul De’Ath, describes this as a process of ‘professionalism’.

Access Group chose B2B Marketing to help it upskill and motivate its marketing team.

That help came in the shape of a B2B Marketing Professional Team membership, a package of training workshops, Leaders Programme membership and delegate spaces for key B2B Marketing events. Speaking about the membership, Paul says:

“We chose to work with B2B Marketing because it was clear it could help us achieve fast ROI through our team development.

B2B Marketing’s training and team membership delivers niche, practical skills, tools and learning that can be applied straight away in both day-to-day tactical initiatives and in strategic planning. We don’t have to wait two years for marketing team members to graduate, then get busy.”

Paul set about delivering a marketing team that was aligned with business goals, strategically focused and consistently adding significantly more value.

PAUL DE’ATH HEAD OF FIELD MARKETING

ACCESS

“The marketing team needed to change,”says Paul. “We needed the right people, the right structure and the right marketing skills. ”

The

Start with the people

“There’d been a history of a lack of investment in learning and professional development in marketing. It meant we had skills gaps in the team, and a group of people that were hungry to learn and develop. That’s where B2B Marketing came in.”

CASE STUDY access group b2bmarketing.net

Investing in the team through B2B Marketing has not only resolved the skills gaps, but boosted marketing team motivation and passion too.

For Paul, it’s very much about results: “The acid test I apply is to ask each team member to summarise three things they learnt in their last training workshop that they can bring to their work next week. B2B Marketing’s training always passed the test.”

The acid test

Examples of campaigns

Following the marketing restructure and a year of team and personal development with B2B Marketing, the changes have been marked notable.

“Working with B2B Marketing has made a tangible difference within the marketing team,” says Paul. “I’m seeing improved tactical decision-making, improved messaging, and far more targeted, persona-based approaches to audience engagement.

We’re creating campaigns and initiatives that challenge the market now, and I’m proud to say the team has been shortlisted for B2B Marketing Team of the Year by a judging panel of industry leaders.”

What’s changed?

CASE STUDY access group b2bmarketing.net

25% increase in the number of opportunities generated, year-on-year

£78.5m of marketing-generated pipeline revenue

£1m Each marketer is now worth £1m in closed revenue

Marketing staff retention rate

95.5%

And the numbers back up the story:

Marketing staff satisfaction and retention rate is reflected by Access Group’s inclusion in the Sunday Times Best 100 list.

B2B Marketing

Clover House147–149 Farringdon Rd

London EC1R 3HN

Tel. +44 (0) 20 7014 4920

info@b2bmarketing.netb2bmarketing.net

“Working with B2B Marketing has helped us change the game,” says Paul. “Attending events such as the annual B2B Marketing Summit is like being given a great big boost of ideas and inspiration. And it’s all real-life stuff that we can take away and deploy.”

The game changer

“With a business growth marketingstrategy focused on a marketing team on fire, Access is committed to building on its marketing capability and success.

Working with B2B Marketing on further team development and refining the skills of new recruits are both part of the plan to keep the B2B Marketing dopamine shots coming.”

What’s next for Access and B2B Marketing?

FIND OUT MOREB2B Marketing Training and Skills Audits can help your team achieve the same transformational success as Access Group. To find out how:

Go to b2bmarketing.net/join

or call us on +44 (0)207 014 4920.

B2B MarketingClover House

147–149 Farringdon RdLondon

EC1R 3HN

Tel. +44 (0)20 7014 4920

info@b2bmarketing.netb2bmarketing.net