There’s little doubt that 2013 was the Year of the Customer. Successful companies have always known that the “Customer is King.” What was different about 2013 was that companies, particularly their marketing and sales organizations, had better tools with which to understand their needs, wants and desires and better ways to serve these needs.
2013 was also the year in which the Modern Marketing Organization consolidated and deepened its role within large and mid-sized organizations as the owner and driver of revenue-producing initiatives and programs. More than ever before, Marketing has direct control over the sales/buying process and with it the customer journey. That change has given Marketing more opportunity to prove its value to the company, while at the same time increasing pressure to deliver results with measureable advances in performance and productivity.
This premier Demand Metric Outlook Study will examine Highlights of 2013: Our best research, great marketing moments and major
influencers in our industry as shared by our Research Directors and Senior Analyst Network.
In the Horizons section of this study, we pull out our crystal balls and share our predictions for trends, new ideas and emerging vendors and
products we see on the Horizon for 2014.
To obtain this document, visit us at http://www.demandmetric.com/register
5. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM 2013
From Marketing Automation to Gamification, the 2013 Demand Metric research agenda was devoted to providing marketing professionals with
fresh insights, new methodologies, maturity models and best-in-class tools for assessing, designing and driving your organization. The key
takeaways from 2013 are:
1. Marketing Automation software has moved down market from an enterprise corporate solution to a mid-market company requirement in
the last three years. Marketing Automation products and the solutions integrated into CRM systems lay the foundation for the Modern
Marketing Organization. Success with this integrated foundation requires:
! Clean, high quality data as the basis of your CRM system.
! Expertise: Few marketing automation systems provide anything beyond the most basic attribution options, so a sophisticated
approach will probably require using external software or consultants.
! Measuring and reporting your results.
2. Alignment between marketing and sales is critical to Sales Enablement and a key ingredient of the improvements in performance and
productivity that companies are requiring of their marketing departments.
3. Sales Enablement has a very significant and positive impact on the organizations that are employing it using systems & best practices.
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6. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Chart 1: Digital Marketing Landscape Benchmark Report; Benefits
4. Revenue & ROI Marketing. As marketing becomes more directly
responsible for driving revenue, marketing analytics have become
increasingly important. Organizations that are investing at least 6%
or more of their marketing budgets to analytics are claiming the
greatest impact and highest credibility from their efforts.
Benefits of Digital Experience Creation
74%
Visits, page views, etc.
5. Digital Marketing. The growth of digital marketing has meant
that even small marketing organizations need to manage many
different programs and content versions across multiple channels,
and to introduce new versions more quickly. Digital Marketing is a
means to an end, and that end is increasingly the creation of
unique, memorable digital experiences that captivate and engage
customers and prospects. (Chart 1)
64%
Grow brand awareness
49%
More leads
47%
Better leads
34%
Better conversion (L to Q)
31%
More sales
23%
Better conversion (Q to S)
11%
Shorter sales cycle
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Published November 2013, n=518
6. Customer Journeys. As prospects and customers embark on their
self-directed purchase journeys, vendor sales’ relationships must
change from creating and filling a need to one of a partner and
coach. Only by understanding and aligning sales’ activities to the
buyer-personas journey and expectations can companies be
successful and drive revenue growth.
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7. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Chart 2: Employee Engagement Benchmark Report; Retention
Organizations with Customer Retention of 80%+
60%
55%
50%
40%
30%
7. Customer Value. Customer lifetime value is an indispensable
metric that can serve the long-term monetary and strategic goals of
your company. Organizations that use this metric are driving longterm profitability by focusing on the ‘right’ type of customers.
8. Gamification. New ways to engage customers and prospects such
as location-based advertising and gamification became cutting-edge
tools for modern marketers in 2013.
9. Break up Sales and Marketing. Organizations that maintained
separate sales and marketing teams were more likely to achieve
their revenue goals than teams that were integrated under a single
manager.
37%
20%
10. The Competitive Advantage of Engaged Employees.
Organizations with high levels of engagement enjoy customer
retention rates that are 18 percentage points higher than
organizations with lower levels of engagement. (Chart 2)
10%
0%
Engagement < 50%
Engagement >50%
Published November 2013, n=291
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8. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
2013 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
BENCHMARK STUDIES
Demand Metric completed a number of benchmark studies in 2013, and each of them provide marketing organizations with insights on what
they should consider doing in 2014:
Investing in Marketing Analytics Pays Off
Demand Metric completed two studies on marketing analytics in 2013 – the Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report and the
Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report. The former looked at adoption and value that comes from the analytics process; the latter
considered the tools and data that support analytics. Recommended actions for marketers from these studies include:
! Allocate at least 6% or more of your marketing budget to analytics. Organizations that are investing at this level are claiming the
greatest impact and highest credibility from their efforts.
! Collaborate & share. Critical success factors for analytics effectiveness are high levels of collaboration throughout the process, and effective
sharing of results. Both of these factors strongly predict effectiveness of decision-making based on real-world results.
! Ditch the spreadsheets. While spreadsheets have a place in the analytics process, they should not be the primary analytics tool. The use of
spreadsheets has a negative impact on analytics tool satisfaction, the collaboration process and the sharing of results.
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10. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Chart 3: B2B Email Marketing Benchmark Report; Sender Score
Email remains the dominant marketing channel for many organizations
– 91% of this study’s participants use it to some degree, but only 28%
report that it is getting more effective.
Reported Sender Score
13%
95 or higher
The B2B Email Marketing Effectiveness Benchmark Report details these
findings. Recommendations for email marketing include:
8%
90 to 94
7%
85 to 89
80 to 84
3%
70 to 74
1%
Less than 70
! Know thy recipient. Significant inhibitors to inbox placement
include catch-all, invalid and high-risk email addresses, but marketers
are chronically underestimating their impact on campaign
effectiveness. Marketers should consider using services that help
identify and remove these addresses from their email lists.
3%
75 to 79
3%
62%
Don't know
0%
B2B Email Marketing Losing Effectiveness
20%
40%
60%
Published November 2013, n=291
! Manage your reputation. Whether you know it or not, you have a
digital reputation, but 62% of study participants had no idea what it
is. Most of those organizations that claim to know have a
dramatically inflated view of it. Measure your digital reputation at
Sender Score. It takes only minutes to obtain online, and it is free.
Scores that fall in a range between 50 and 80 indicate a need for
improvement, without which a portion of the sender’s emails will get
blocked. Scores less than 50 indicate the sender is perceived as a
spammer.
15. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Chart 4: Digital Marketing Benchmark Report; Sophistication
Here’s what marketers should know about the digital marketing
landscape:
Sophistication & Revenue Growth
Declining
Flat
! Make it a priority. There’s a relationship between putting a high
priority on digital experience marketing & revenue growth. 76% of
study participants reporting revenue growth in the most recent fiscal
year also put a high priority on digital experience creation.
Growing
100%
74%
80%
83%
62%
60%
40%
26%
20%
12%
18%
8%
0%
Basic
Mid-range
11%
6%
Advanced
Published November 2013, n=291
! Don’t let the tail wag the dog. The tools & technology choices for
creating digital experiences abound and change almost daily. Let your
objectives drive your tools choices. First clarify who you’re trying to
influence, how to reach them & what they need to experience. Then,
make tool and technology choices to achieve your objectives.
! Go big or go home. As you develop digital experiences, lean toward
the more sophisticated end of the spectrum. Basic levels of digital
sophistication don’t separate you from the pack. A big “wow” factor
is a significant differentiator.
Read the Digital Marketing Landscape Benchmark Report for more
insights.
20. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Figure 5: Sales Enablement in 2013 Best Practices Report
Published: December 2013
6. Customer decision process and buying changes. Customers
now do 50-60% of their buying research before speaking with a
sales rep. Sales Enablement applications can help companies target
their content specifically to the buyers’ direct needs increasing close
rates.
7. Competitive pressure. Sales Enablement enables reps to more
position their products against the competition with higher quality,
customized content, demos and presentations and quotes.
8. Market speed/changes. Sales Enablement reduces the conflict
between marketing and sales which reduces the lag time between
marketing efforts and sales closed.
9. New product/service that creates new customer or market
opportunity. Sales Enablement speed sales training on new
products, services and markets.
10. Corporate/Executive push for alignment/integration drives
the Sales Enablement initiative and provides critical resources in
staffing and budgets.
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22. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
2013 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
HOW-TO GUIDES
Marketing Automation: Integration is Key
Marketing Automation software has moved down market from an enterprise corporate solution to a mid-market company requirement in the last
three years. Marketing Automation products and the solutions integrated into CRM systems lay the foundation for the Modern Marketing
Organization.
In his How-To Guide, Driving Value with Marketing Automation, David Raab points out that the current complexity of marketing automation
software requires integration with existing CRM and SFA systems, lead scoring has become more sophisticated, and metrics tied to revenue have
become a leading indicator of overall system value:
“Deployment of marketing automation systems has become more complex as standalone systems now require integration with CRM and Sales Force
Automation systems to be effective. Few marketing automation systems provide anything beyond the most basic attribution options, so a sophisticated
approach will probably require using external software or consultants.
Lead scoring as a baseline success factor of marketing automation became more sophisticated in 2013. Marketing organizations began to look beyond
simple lead scoring by job title, industry and company size to the larger value of lead scoring models: models that actually predict sales acceptance
rather than closed deals.
Measuring results matters more than ever. Some measures will track progress against your deployment plan, such as the number of multi-step
campaigns in production. But the most important measures will show the value your system has created.”
24. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
But marketers must also be aware that MRM is not without its challenges:
“Because MRM is about process management, your action plan can draw on the extensive body of techniques developed to improve manufacturing
and other production processes.
But marketers must realize that MRM technology is only as good as the processes it manages, and ensure they devote enough effort to defining the
processes they want and training the staff to implement those processes correctly.”
Social CRM Best Practices
Social media are now part of every business and consumer activity, joining telephone, web, broadcast, and face-to-face interactions as primary
communication channels. This means that all marketing, sales, and service organizations should include social media as part of their basic
activities. Yet social media are still new enough that many organizations are still struggling to learn how to use them, while others are learning
how to use them most effectively.
In David Raab’s How-To Guide, Social CRM Best Practices, he illustrates the importance of integrating your social media into your CRM
system, reminding us that social media offers perspectives other channels do not:
“Even though social media are now as common as other communication channels, they play a different role. Specifically, they allow companies to
initiate relationships with people who are otherwise inaccessible, because they are not paying attention to conventional mass media and are not
responsive to untargeted direct messages such as bulk emails. Perhaps most important, social media allow consumers to share their own experiences
with a company, providing a more credible source of information than the company itself.
Social media must be integrated into every type of customer interaction, from advertising to prospects to support for previous buyers. Careful tool
selection and best practice-driven deployment will ensure that companies gain the most value possible from their social CRM investments.”
29. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
Journey Maps are More Than Customer Experience
In 2013, Christine Crandell showed us that Journey Maps can be so much more than a way to lead a prospect from curiosity to customer.
Journey Maps can be a foundational strategy for your marketing organization that enables you to increase sales and marketing alignment.
In Christine’s How-To Guide, Developing Sales Playbooks from Journey Maps, she leads us through the process of creating customer-focused
Journey Maps. Here are the highlights:
“By developing Playbooks based on journey maps, sales can improve their close rates and forecast predictability as well as build a more credible,
trusted relationship with prospects and customers.
Basing Playbooks on journey maps grounds the tool in an ‘outside-in’ approach that increases the effectiveness and productivity of each sales person.
It gives the sales person a clear roadmap of what to do and when - based on where the buyer is in their journey and their expectations at that time.
As prospects and customers embark on their self-directed purchase journeys, vendor sales’ relationship must change from creating and filling a need to
one of a partner and coach. A new approach to developing an “outside-in” Sales Playbook is needed to effectively enable and train sales resources.
Only by understanding and aligning sales’ activities to the buyer-personas journey and expectations can companies be successful and drive revenue
growth.”
ABOUT OUR HOW-TO GUIDES
Demand Metric’s How-To Guides provide practical, actionable advice and plans that enable marketers to gain the knowledge and skills that they
need to increase the performance and productivity of their organizations.
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31. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
1. In 2013, organizations started to crave a shared purpose within their culture. Those that didn't have one
began to seek authentic stories to tell. And those who already do have a shared purpose, began to tell
their story across all major media platforms. Look at Red Bull. They're not shouting at their customers
to purchase their product. Instead they're focusing on who their customers will become when they
consume their brand. They connect with adrenaline junkies through storytelling. I believe this shift is
here to stay.
Jessica Ann
CEO & Creative Director, Jessica Ann Media
Senior Research Analyst, Demand Metric
2. Gary Vaynerchuck has risen above the noise, especially with his recent book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. It
goes deep with detailed case studies, and it makes you think differently about how to tell your story in a
noisy social media world. He curates concepts that are on the cusp of content and marketing. And he
interprets and analyzes brand stories in a way that's informative, educational, and fun. And who doesn't
like fun? Modern marketing is fun for everyone involved because it puts the focus on high-quality
content with depth and context.
3. We're moving towards a concept that I like to call "slow media." Slow media makes you laugh, think, and
question the status quo. Slow media compels your customers to want to hear what your brand is saying
because you're creating meaningful media that has context and relevance to your customers. The tools
and technologies of today give you more choices than ever. This means that you (and your customers)
will be much more conscious of what gets consumed. We'll learn how to turn off needless interruptions.
And we'll welcome brands who can bring beauty, creativity, meaning, and context to the online
conversations.
View Jessica’s 2014 Predictions
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42. 2014 Outlook Study: Highlights and Horizons
1. In 2013, online video and video marketing went mainstream. Without a doubt, this trend is right in line
with the surge of consumer adoption for mobile devices, from iPhones to iPads. The data supports it
over and over again: Short, entertaining marketing videos dramatically increase the decision to buy. Just
how mainstream is video marketing in 2013? A recent report shared that 93% of marketing professionals
are now using online video for marketing and communications in 2013.
Phi Schmidt
Founder & Lead Strategist, The Project Shaman
Senior Research Analyst, Demand Metric
2. If you had to choose a single person who massively influenced the online video world, and pushed it fully
into the mainstream in 2013, it would actually be a tie. First we’ve got Reed Hastings, CEO of NetFlix
who proved this year that the marketplace is fully engaged and on board with on demand online video, so
much so that the ‘unstoppable’ video rental chain Blockbuster is closing the last of its stores. Second,
there’s Salar Kamangar, CEO of Youtube. Needless to say, YouTube became a global phenomenon
under his leadership, winning him 2013 Media Person of the Year for radically shaping and improving the
media landscape for both advertisers and consumers alike.
3. Video will be a preferred channel for consumers, when delivering your marketing messages in 2014. Not
only will it be expected as part of the shopping experience, but you’ll be expected to deliver high quality
professional video immediately, across all possible devices. The bar has been set high in 2013, and the
data supports that when quality’s low, or video doesn’t play fast enough, people move on to something
better and faster. 2014 will also mark the year that video becomes both more explicitly interactive, and
subtle simultaneously. Expect to see more animated and interactive elements online that are subtle but
drive the message (without even hitting play!).
View Phi’s 2014 Predictions
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