Marketing in the era of The Breathless Business

Last year, Octopus Group discovered that senior marketers were losing sleep because of their jobs. Its annual survey into the lives of B2B marketing directors and buyers found that in 2016, 92% of marketers felt pressured to keep up with competitors and 90% felt they had to become more creative and innovative to compete with other suppliers in the market.

As we pointed out last year in our report, The Sleepless CMO: ‘Ask any prominent sports coach about the most important factor in athlete recovery and they will say ‘sleep’. Business is no different, with recent articles appearing in the Chicago Tribune and Business Insider directly aligning sleep to performance.’

It was therefore a worry to see that B2B marketers were six times more likely to lose sleep than gain it in 2016. The reasons for sleep loss were varied, with responsibilities, late working and balancing data and creativity all playing a part. But the biggest cause of sleeplessness in marketers was competitive threat.

Last year’s ‘Tech Heads’ research conducted by Octopus Group revealed the major stresses worrying marketers.

This year, similar research we’ve carried out has uncovered the fact that 65% of marketers are more stressed than they were a year ago, and 61% are routinely working longer than their contracted hours. This is well as the widely held belief that marketing is not seen as strategic by their businesses.

What’s causing the stress in this breathless business world?

Our research shows that more than half of marketers (56%) would prefer to be working at a more strategic level. But, for many, simply keeping up with the day job is the biggest challenge. Some are being derailed by basic tasks they could easily delegate to others, but end up doing themselves, and attending meetings they don’t need to. Others are struggling to deal with change proactively, as opposed to reactively.

Sound familiar?

The research reveals that the demands of the nine-to-five mean that nearly half of all marketers are trying to think about strategy outside core hours. But they’re fighting a losing battle and instead spend that time playing catch-up.

Akin to last year’s findings, keeping up with the competition remains a big worry for 40% of marketers. In 2016, not only was this forcing marketers to keep pace with innovation, but the competitor landscape was also confusing B2B buyers and, ultimately, delaying the process of supplier selection.

This year, marketers’ stresses are heightened by additional factors, with 37% concerned about limited resource and the skillsets of their teams. That’s without even touching on the pressure that comes with delivering marketing plans on time and on budget.

Ultimately, it seems as though marketers are so busy with daily tasks and coping with change that they’re losing the capacity to plan. And with so much running, chasing and catching up, many are feeling breathless.

So, what can overworked marketers do to get their breath back?

Octopus Group has now released its latest research, The Breathless Business – which pinpoints the signs of a ‘breathless marketer’ and reveals that stress levels are reaching boiling-point for three-quarters of marketers we polled, with businesses losing the capacity to plan into the future.

As planning cycles get shorter and long-term strategies seemingly fade into the past, marketers are facing change from all directions, with 77% admitting to being stressed, 65% saying they’re more stressed year-on-year, and 61% regularly working beyond their normal hours.

The study shows that senior marketers are torn between delivering on strategy and getting the day job done, while battling to cope in a changing world that’s in hyper-drive. 59% are having to become more creative and innovative in order to compete with other suppliers in the market, while 52% are having to get to grips with more areas of the business in order to be effective.

This year, we discovered a series of problems marketers face around strategy, competitive pressures, internal priorities and coping with innovation. Despite nearly half of those surveyed thinking about strategy outside core hours, they’re losing the battle and spending too much time playing catch-up.

Unsurprisingly, their stresses are a reflection of the challenges their businesses face, with 61% saying their company doesn’t spend enough time thinking about the future or view marketing as strategic in its approach.

Marketers need to get their breath back by becoming slicker, smarter and stronger through innovation, using available resources better and renewing the focus on the customer.

Octopus Group’s Breathless Business survey was carried out by its research unit, Loudhouse, in March 2017. 200 senior marketers were surveyed, as well as 400 senior B2B buyers.

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