A couple of years ago Tom Pisello shared with us some IDC research on sales and marketing spending in the IT sector. Also reviewed at Futurelab, this highlighted some trends which will only have become more pronounced. They are also likely to apply to broader B2B marketing. A key finding was that buyers are getting harder to reach. They are more skeptical, cautious and frugal. As a consequence, we marketers must work harder to communicate the value we offer.  This extra effort is seen in increased investment in skills (vs programmes), in lead generation (vs awareness), and in sales tools. As customers get harder to reach, investments in case studies, white papers and interactive on-line tools have grown to almost 20%, similar to Advertising and Events.  The bottom line is marketing budgets are shifting to support the moment of truth in sales - putting our marketing where our mouths are.