Look out – there could be a creative squeeze coming. Because while B2B organisations are putting more emphasis on creativity, practical and process challenges mean those ideas can still be just as hard to deliver.

72% of our respondents agree that having a creative idea is easier than executing it; that rises to 82% among American marketers. And no wonder, when 71% say B2B tech companies are reticent about new marketing approaches, and almost half (49%) report finding creative ideas harder to get signed off.

Other obstacles depend on where you work. Marketers in the US cite strategic creative thinking as their most common barrier to creativity (joint with working environment) – but it doesn’t figure in the top ten challenges for the UK, where business structure and process issues are the most common.

One surprise for those of us who thought ideas are best shared in person: more than eight out of ten respondents (82%) say the shift to remote working has actually improved their company’s ability to be creative. And while about a quarter of marketers cite their working environment as a creativity barrier, home working is not the issue: just 5% say it has made matters worse.

What remote working has taken away in face-to-face interaction, it may have made up for in the ability to work asynchronously, and collaborate with colleagues and specialists in a wider variety of geographical locations. Customers, too, are working differently – forcing B2B marketers to think again and come up with fresh approaches.

However, larger companies have handled the change much more effectively. Marketers in smaller businesses with a turnover under £10 million are 17 times more likely to say remote working has hindered creativity.