Guy Marion, CMO and Head of Growth at Autopilot analyzes the findings of their ‘State of Industry research report’ which was conducted in partnership with Cint.com and outlines the domains marketers would invest in 2017
It’s time to put 2016 in the books and look forward to a fresh start. 2017 is only a month away, and for many, we could not be more excited to put this “historic” year to rest. For marketers, the New Year is a time for some honest introspection. Examine what campaigns worked, what strategies flopped? How can you better position your company for 2017 and the ever-changing customer landscape?
We’ve had the same questions and so we sought out some answers. Over the course of the last year, we surveyed 500+ marketing decision-makers as part of our second State of Customer Journey Marketing report. We paid special attention to what we call high performance marketers – or marketers who attain “80 percent or more of their lead or performance goals this year.” These unique creatures have shed light on how they’re succeeding, including mapping out a customer journey and prioritizing social media as a key channel. Their marketing savvy has also drawn our attention to certain trends – three to be exact – that will shake up 2017 and beyond.
1. The journey-centric approach is evolving—and it’s about orchestration
Newer, best-of-breed customer journey orchestration engines are leaving outdated, all-in-one marketing automation systems behind. The modern marketer’s role is growing akin to a composer who stiches their marketing systems – like Segment, Slack, Instapage, Autopilot, and Salesforce – to form a beautiful symphony.
With this unbundled software approach and baked in lead intelligence, real-time data inputs from across the marketing stack will enable marketers to more quickly respond to user needs and adapt automated journeys on the fly— with less dependence on developers.
Goal-oriented insights, fueled by data at marketers’ fingertips, will drive actionable outputs and obvious ways to improve emails, on-site messages, SMS, and even direct mail efforts. The end result will be better targeting, segmentation, and a richer customer journey that spans a plethora of channels and converts as well as retains revenue.
2. Personalization at scale is not an oxymoron
It’s still the early days for personalization. Although 81 percent of marketers are personalizing their marketing, only 13 percent are utilizing personalization in the most relevant and contextual manner— based on app and service usage. Those who do, like Netflix and Facebook, regularly add value through personalized experiences that hook users, produce satisfied customers, and inspire their fair share of copycats.
Expect to see a continued convergence of marketing, success, and growth, fueled by this growing awareness of behavior-based personalization and its impact.
3. SMBs will make smarter bets by connecting their data and using predictive analytics
The average company uses seven marketing and analytics tools. That’s a lot for an early-stage company to manage; it results in dreaded data silo’s that are at best connected to their CRM. In 2017, expect to see easier ways for SMBs to centralize their data for customer segmentation and targeting. One benefit is for use in predictive analytics.
Almost half of today’s marketers are leveraging predictive intelligence to personalize their marketing. High-performing B2B marketers are the largest group of adopters, and are nearly twice as likely to be using predictive analytics (80 percent) in comparison to B2C marketers (41 percent).
The technology is continuing to gain steam, with 48 percent of marketers planning to invest in predictive in the next 12 months. B2B marketers make up the majority of future purchasers (53 percent), with about half as many B2C marketers intending to buy (28 percent).
Mid-market and enterprise companies are the primary beneficiaries of what predictive has to offer—with the budgets and margins to support the technology—but SMB marketers should know that predictive can:
-Route qualified leads to sales
-Build internal trust between sales and marketing
-Drive higher conversion rates
-Increase forecasting and pipeline predictability
-Keep an eye out for simpler data connectors and predictive analytics solutions who can bring to the SMB the tools to personalize marketing and craft a better, differentiated customer experience à la Amazon.
Predicting the future is a tough job, and if 2016 is any indication — nothing is certain. Fortunately, one of life’s certainty is that all things will inevitably change, marketing included. Prepare your marketing teams for the changing customer landscape by adopting new innovative solutions. Focus on more contextual channels, embrace personalization, and listen to your data scientists — smarter customer journeys are the future! 2017 is sure to bring its fair share of ups and downs, but if you start preparing today you can ensure your company’s success long into the next year.
