Why B2B Marketers Are Ready to Go All In on Programmatic

Exclusive Adweek Brandshare Study Conducted by Dun & Bradstreet

A just-released survey of B2B marketers and agencies, conducted by Adweek BrandShare for Dun & Bradstreet, discovered that it's a defining moment for B2B programmatic adoption. Not only are B2B brands now more knowledgeable about data-driven media, but programmatic tools appear more capable of delivering the kinds of lead generation and content-focused campaigns that are crucial to B2B success. Here are the key findings:

B2B adoption of programmatic advertising is at a tipping point
"I think in 2017 we will see a step change in the use of programmatic media buying by B2B companies," notes Ashu Garg, a general partner at VC firm Foundation Capital. Indeed, 65 percent of B2B marketers in the survey indicated they're now using programmatic. As important, nearly 70 percent said they plan to increase their programmatic ad spend in 2017, with 22 percent expecting to increase it by more than 25 percent. Just three percent anticipated spending less.

Targeting is the number one challenge B2B marketers see for programmatic

It can be a challenge to connect B2B's account-based sales needs with broader digital marketing campaigns. Not to mention, B2B marketers require data sources that not only accurately identify business decision makers but also reach them across channels and devices. Aligning this kind of granular data with account-based filters is a challenge. That's one reason why survey respondents put targeting the right audience at the top of their list of biggest programmatic obstacles.

Sales-related metrics are used to gauge success

Conversions and leads were two of the most important programmatic KPIs identified by B2B marketers in the survey. Explains Joanna O'Connell, CMO of MediaMath, "Most B2B marketers are looking for conversions. It's important to keep in mind that programmatic marketing for any marketer should be optimized for outcomes, rather than proxies for success like 'clicked on a link' or 'opened the email.'

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This article originally appeared on Adweek.