The CMO Council State of Marketing Report, featuring the 2010 Marketing Outlook Audit, is the largest independent assessment of senior marketing executives today. This annual global benchmarking initiative undertaken by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, gains insights into how senior marketing decision makers are managing marketing mix modeling, budget allocations and media mix spend, and investments into infrastructure, technology platforms and enhancements to internal competencies. Given the economic challenges and market pressures worldwide, this year’s review of ‘08 performance and ‘09 challenges and intentions is far deeper and wider than before. The results of this study will be extremely valuable to all participants seeking peer-level input and consensus on critical issues and priorities in the year ahead.
If you to be up to date on what marketing thought leaders are thinking about and doing in their marketing programs, activities, and spend, this is the report to read.
There are many excellent conclusions and observations available in this document. Some of the big picture marketing goals and strategies of 2010 according to a survey of senior marketing leaders include:
- Reallocating more money towards electronic media that is engaging and helps drive increases in customer loyalty.
- Undertake very big consumer insights and business intelligence drive as we gear up to invest in emerging markets.
- Shifting marketing dollars to direct sales engagement and sales training.
- Need to work on coordination and time management of integrated marketing campaign teams.
- Be wiser in channeling the right message into the correct channel to maximize effectiveness.
- Improve communication between marketing and non-marketing employees.
Some additional recommendations by Deloitte and ExactTarget include:
Improve marketing alignment across the value chain.
In recent years, a large number of companies have improved their marketing performance by creating greater internal alignment between Sales and Marketing. Now, many are expanding this effort beyond their four walls to include their key value chain partners. For example, companies in the consumer packaged goods and consumer electronics industries are collaborating with retailers to align their marketing programs, investments, and planning.
Harness the power of social media.
New digital technologies and social media channels are changing the way customers think and behave. Established companies are naturally reluctant to shift their focus away from traditional marketing channels that have served them well in the past. Also, many companies don’t know how to operate effectively in this new environment, and are afraid of losing control over their marketing messages. Unfortunately, sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option for most. Conversations that have a profound impact on your product and brand are already happening in these new channels.
Get more value from customer analytics.
By now, nearly all major companies are likely making a conscious effort to unearth the valuable insights hidden in their customer data. In fact, according to this year’s CMO Survey, 62 percent of respondents plan on “improving customer segmentation and targeting,” making it the number one improvement strategy for 2010. Yet our experience working with companies around the world suggests that most will barely scratch the surface when it comes unleashing the full power of customer analytics.
Embrace customer service.
The importance of good customer service will continue to increase as consumers feel more and more comfortable airing their grievances online. Consumers don’t want to go to this level. As one consumer told us in a recent focus group, “I’ll call and then email, but if I don’t get the help I’m looking for, look out! They can’t ignore me when I put it on Facebook and Twitter.” Social media levels the playing field. Progressive marketers will embrace this accountability instead of fearing it.
Scale through automation.
63% of marketing executives are looking to automation to improve efficiency and campaign effectiveness. The two most common marketing automation solutions planned for deployment in 2010 are for email marketing (46%) and social networking (39%). As a provider of automation tools for both of these channels, we have seen how this type of automation can improve response. For example, we have witnessed automated messages triggered to email subscribers based on their online behavior generated as much as 70 times the conversion rate of non-triggered messages.
Measure what matters.
As marketers look to improve their online marketing capabilities, they must look beyond top-line performance metrics. High-level metrics are still the most commonly used measure of online effectiveness with 63% looking at page views and registrations. Comparatively, only 38% measure online effectiveness via transactions and/or subscriptions and 22% look at deal values and/or selling cycles.
A summary of the report is available for free here.
The complete report is available for $199 here.
I would be interested in hearing your feedback about the conclusions and trends to see if your company is experiencing facing similar challenges and opportunities for the marketing function.
Happy reading!
