ON24 Research Finds That Digital Engagement is Preferred by B2B Buyers and Sales and Marketing Teams

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Forrester finds that post-pandemic, B2B buyers require 58% more interactions to make a purchase decision than they did in 2019. To further investigate this trend, ON24 (NYSE: ONTF) partnered with B2B marketing agency, Heinz Marketing, to produce The 2022 Digital Engagement Landscape, a survey-based research report that examines which channels and tactics are most effective at engaging B2B buyers and how sales and marketing teams can optimize their impact.

“As the industry’s trusted advisor in scaling buyer engagement through digital experiences, our goal for this research is to help sales and marketing organizations take a critical look at their marketing mix and understand which channels and tactics have the greatest potential to cost-effectively drive results.”

Tweet this

“B2B companies must think differently about driving revenue growth in 2023,” says Callan Young, Chief Marketing Officer, ON24. “As the industry’s trusted advisor in scaling buyer engagement through digital experiences, our goal for this research is to help sales and marketing organizations take a critical look at their marketing mix and understand which channels and tactics have the greatest potential to cost-effectively drive results.”

After separately surveying three respective groups of B2B buyers, marketers, and sellers, ON24 and Heinz uncovered that digital engagement channels are preferred by each cohort. In fact, 70% of B2B buyers stated they prefer to engage with brands virtually or in a hybrid format rather than attend an in-person event and 90% have seen an increase in their digital event participation levels. Marketers are following suit – more than half of those surveyed ran more webinars and digital events in 2022 compared to the year prior, and of those that did, nearly 75% saw improved outcomes. When sellers were asked about the importance of digital engagement channels for prospecting and closing deals, 95% confirmed that virtual and hybrid events are highly valuable.

The research also explored the way sellers and marketers are using the data generated by digital engagement channels and found that both groups have opportunities to improve. Despite 88% of the marketers surveyed agreeing that digital engagement data provides valuable insights into the buying journey, less than one-third of marketers are using that data to personalize their next interaction with audiences. And, of the sellers surveyed, the majority do not receive detailed digital engagement data and nearly one-third feel that a lack of digital engagement data in CRM systems is one of their biggest challenges to personalizing their outreach.

“Our research affirms that a digital engagement strategy is critical for businesses to successfully drive revenue growth today,” says Young. “We know that top-performing sales and marketing organizations leverage the insights that digital engagement provides to deliver a personalized and differentiated B2B buying experience.”

ON24 partnered with Heinz Marketing to field three surveys to uncover expectations about digital engagement, personalization and data usage. To download the full report, visit The 2022 Digital Engagement Landscape.

About Heinz Marketing

Focused on helping clients drive predictable growth via a revenue responsible focus, Heinz Marketing helps B2B marketing teams elevate their impact and contribution to business outcomes that matter. Their proven Predictable Pipeline methodology has been successfully customized and implemented at countless organizations, changing the trajectory of marketing work, careers and lives. The Heinz Marketing team is made up of full-funnel experts who speak the language of sales, empowering clients with strategy and tools for success.

About ON24

ON24 is on a mission to re-imagine how companies engage, understand and build relationships with their audience in a digital world. Through our leading sales and marketing platform for digital engagement, businesses use our portfolio of webinar, virtual event and content experiences to drive engagement and generate first-party data, delivering ​revenue growth across the enterprise – from demand generation to customer success to partner enablement.

ON24 powers digital engagement for more than 2,000 customers worldwide, including 3 of the 5 largest global technology companies, 3 of the 6 largest US banks, 3 of the 5 largest global healthcare companies, and 3 of the 5 largest global industrial manufacturers, enabling organizations to reach millions of professionals a month for billions of engagement minutes per year with all the first-party data being captured, generated and integrated from one place. ON24 is headquartered in San Francisco with global offices in North America, EMEA, and APAC. For more information, visit www.ON24.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains “forward-looking statements” under applicable securities laws. In some cases, such statements can be identified by words such as: “expect,” “convert,” “believe,” “plan,” “future,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements include express or implied statements regarding our ability to achieve our business strategies, growth, or other future events or conditions. Such statements are based on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions about future events or conditions, which are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the filings we make from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on them. All statements herein are based only on information currently available to us and speak only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any such statement.

© 2023 ON24, Inc. All rights reserved. ON24 and the ON24 logo are trademarks owned by ON24, Inc., and are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.