B2B marketing teams that outperform their competitors are more likely to have a common plan with Sales, have creative brand activations, and boost budgets in the face of economic pressures, according to recent research from The Marketing Practice.

The report was based on data from a survey of 803 B2B marketers. The researchers segmented the respondents into two groups: "leaders" (those who self-identified that their firm had outperformed the competition over the past two years) and "the rest."

B2B marketers among the leaders group are significantly more likely to say their team has a common plan with Sales and that there is strong collaboration with Sales. 

Some 25% of marketers in the leaders group say their brand activation is "extremely creative," compared with only 8% of the rest.