The Metrics Brothers Norwest B2B Sales & Marketing Benchmark Report
Mar 25, 2026
They dig into Norwest’s B2B sales and marketing benchmark study and debate its strengths and flaws. They highlight dramatic marketing budget cuts at smaller firms and shifts in who owns renewals. They discuss the collapse of MQL scoring and which marketing KPIs matter most. They call out widespread blind spots around CAC and cost-per-lead and point listeners to the report’s AI adoption section.
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Transcript
Episode notes
Present Marketing Spend As Percent Of Revenue
- Avoid mixing dollar figures and size buckets; report marketing spend as percent of revenue for clearer operator guidance.
- Keep survey intros concise and present data early (the hosts recommend skipping to page 32 if intro drags).
Small Companies Suffered Big Marketing Cuts
- Small companies ($5M–$15M ARR) cut marketing spend sharply from $3.3M in 2023 to $825K in 2025, nearly a 75% drop.
- Larger companies saw minor decreases, indicating budget pressure hit smaller firms hardest.
Positioning Is The Top GTM Problem In 2025
- Top 2025 GTM challenges: positioning product as must-have (44%), crowded category (33%), and longer sales cycles (43%), showing differentiation is increasingly critical.
- Ray and Dave note the survey omitted choices like pipeline and proving ROI, skewing interpretation.