• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 26, 2024

Vendors may not encourage this kind of thinking, but Forrester advises B2B marketers to forego initiatives that may slow them down and perpetuate silos next year. 

Moreover, it urges them to avoid building complex marketing programs or extending prior-year plans, Forrester writes in Budget Planning Guide 2025: B2B Marketing Executives.

Finally, it advises B2B marketers to move away siloed digital channels like email to a channel-agnostic digital strategy. 

“Calling SEO, social media, or email a marketing strategy is mistaking a screwdriver for your toolbox and the blueprint you are building to,” Forrester writes. “Invest in a channel-agnostic digital marketing strategy to drive a more outsized impact and an improved engagement experience.” 

In addition, the study offers these prescriptions for setting 2025 B2B marketing strategies:

• Prioritize moving high-impact generative AI (genAI) use cases into production 
• Fortify marketing practices to weather privacy changes and your own risk tolerance
• Extend partner ecosystem program investments across the entire customer lifecycle 
• Amplify integrated customer engagement programs to drive retention

B2B marketers planning their 2025 budgets apparently are being cautious. Of those polled by Forrester for its Marketing Budgets Survey, 2024, 47% are expecting hikes of 1% to 4% -- a basic flatlining after inflation is taken into consideration.

However, 35% of B2B marketers foresee marketing budget increases of 5% or more, and only 9% foresee a decrease.