"B to B" marketing is not aligned with Sales

One of the central reasons that B to B marketing is not aligned with sales is the traditional domination of Marketing by Consumer marketing. The consumer large advertising budget and its centralized decision making make Consumer marketing the focal point for consultants and agencies. Additionally the availability of LOTS of data make it much more attractive for University professors for getting papers published. [Until recently neither Harvard nor Stanford offered B to B marketing courses.]
But in many companies the Marketing responsibility is to provide leverage to the sales channels for revenue generation, which extends significantly beyond the “awareness” focus of consumer marketing.
Unfortunately in many companies the processes and criteria for B to B marketing is too influenced by consumer marketing and does not extend to the requirements of supporting the sales cycle through the close. Frequently B to B markets are referred to as “considered purchase” markets, which is different than the “impulse” markets for Consumer marketing. Using that differentiating attribute we can understand some of the requirements of B to B Marketing:
The decision whether or not to initiate a project is done by a group of managers who compare the value to the customer of one project over another. The expected values are specific and tangible. If we expect our sales channels to encourage our customer to initiate a project that could require our product we will also need to provide information on the expected value to the customer that would result from project initiation. And some indication of the project completion requirements. This program description is much more “actionable” than the usually “directional” customer values associated with impulse purchase.
The same is true regarding product/vendor selection. There will be a vendor/product comparison by the buying team! They will use real metrics to compare vendors and their advantages, And then the value to the customer of those advantages will be evaluated and compared. If we do not provide the information the customer will develop it for themselves as time permits, or perhaps your competitor will provide it. “Directional” metrics that are not comparable are not very useful in this stage of the sales cycle. And each claim will probably be assessed for accuracy, so evidence for each claim is a required…or else a lots of time and trust needs to be provided by the sales channel.
These elements which are needed for B to B sales efforts are not usually provided by B to B Marketing, only the traditional consumer "impulse purchase" elements, which really only impact awareness.