The data and technology revolution is transforming the marketing world. Leading edge companies are recognising the potential of using data and technology to build deeper, more engaging customer relationships – by delivering personalised one-on-one customer messages, to each and every customer and prospect, at each and every stage of the customer journey.
Six strategies for success
To deliver this, leading edge marketers typically use six strategies for success.
They are transforming their marketing functions to recognise and engage with people as individuals, by better understanding who they are and what they’re looking for, and creating a dialogue with them using relevant messages, at the right time, through the right channels. To achieve this, marketers are investing in building:
1. Leading edge data and technology - Putting in place the customer data, systems and technology needed to identify who each customer is, and to identify and focus on the activities that are most effective.
2. Compelling customer insight - Generating and leveraging compelling customer insights that can be used to engage customers with the right message, at the right time, through the right channel.
They are leveraging new, more cost-efficient communication channels alongside traditional ones, and delivering a joined-up customer experience that makes it easy for people who see an advert to enquire and buy, by developing:
3. Big brand ideas - Creating big, compelling brand ideas that can be cascaded across all cross-functional teams, to deliver a seamless customer experience across all touch points.
4. New channel expertise - Bringing the brand to life across all customer touch points and communication channels, in a seamless and joined-up way.
They are quickly identifying and focusing investment on those communication messages and channels that are most effective, and eliminating those that are not, by embedding:
5. Tight performance management - Putting in place systematic test & learn processes to quickly identify and focus investment on the top performing activities and eliminate poor performing ones.
6. An agile, empowered culture - Streamlining teams and processes to be more agile – and empowering people to challenge the norms, and learn from their failures as well as their successes.
The transformation journey
CMOs typically start the transformation journey by streamlining their existing marketing team and day-to-day operations – consolidating duplicative functions, integrating end-to-end teams to work closely together, and simplifying the creative development process.
CMOs typically use the freed up resources to hire in three types of new expertise:
• Customer insight experts who can help develop more relevant products, services and messaging, delivered through more influential channels.
• New channel experts who can leverage new, more cost-efficient channels alongside traditional channels, as well as create a more seamless customer experience.
• Marketing effectiveness experts, including:
o Data experts who can set up and run systematic test & learn and rapid optimisation programmes that quickly identify the top performing communication activities and eliminate poor performing ones.
o Creative people who work alongside the data experts, to create content that can be tested and optimised in real time.
Once the new hires are in place, marketing organisations build strong cross-functional relationships – for example with data, technology, propositions and service teams to develop compelling propositions that bring the brand promise to life, and with channel teams to deliver a seamless, joined-up customer experience, and identify and focus on those communication messages and channels that are most effective.
The result
When executed well, great marketing transformations significantly increase marketing’s return on investment in a number of ways:
- From an organisational perspective, they typically result in a headcount reduction, as well as a lower reliance on external agencies and thus agency costs.
- From a customer perspective, brands that can recognise their customers are better able to engage them with a relevant message, at the right time, through the right channels.
- From a channel perspective, spend is typically reallocated away from more expensive traditional channels (such as television, press and posters) to new, more cost-efficient channels (such as digital, social and search). However, in all cases we viewed, a significant proportion of a brand’s budget is still spent on traditional channels, reinforcing the importance of maintaining a strong brand presence. Brands that have a seamless, joined-up customer experience across all touch points are more successful at converting awareness and consideration into product enquiry and purchase.
- From a marketing effectiveness perspective, companies that systematically test how well each communications activity performs in-market are able to identify and focus investment on those messages and channels that are most effective, and eliminate those that are not.
By Ruth Saunders, managing partner at Galleon Blue
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