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StreetSavvy Marketing Predictions
for 2016
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We, at C-Level Partners, don’t want to be left out. My colleague, Vince Ferraro, and I have been
C-level executives in marketing and general management for many years. We now
consult with companies on marketing and their go-to-market strategies. We decided to look at “Big M” marketing,
relating to predictions for how companies and brands go to market and how they
interact with customers. So without
fanfare and any biased perspective, we share these predictions for Marketing
for 2016.
Let me be candid. While most of these are predictions based on
our work with clients, with start-ups and in talking with our marketing
colleagues, there are also some “aspirational trends” that we hope come true
for the profession as well as we believe they are important for marketing
professionals and the businesses they manage.
Some of these trends overlap and leverage each other. To us, that will represent the power of good
marketing. In no particular order, our
top sweet 16 are:
1.
Cognitive Commerce has begun. Marketers will use information on customers
from their databases, the internet, and other sources to build stronger
relationships, build predictive algorithms, personalize content, and deliver products
and services to meet their specific needs.
2.
The distinction between offline and online will
disappear as real time analytics will unite both camps. Marketers will consider all (omni) marketing channels
to optimize their marketing programs based on cost, effectiveness, ROI and the
satisfaction quotient from building relationships with customers.
3.
Branding will be from the inside out. Companies will not push the brand but the
brand will be built on trust, engagement, referrals, authentic dialog, and
transparency.
4.
Digital Marketing will cease to exist as a
standalone part of marketing. There isn't
a need for separation anymore. World class marketers will know how to market
in a digital world. Traditional and online marketing not only will coexist, but
one will leverage the other and work better together.
5.
Advances in video broadcasting and continued
growth in mobile devices will change TV marketing forever. Marketers will use new technologies to
enable a more immersive experience and TV and other broadcast video usage will
expand on all screens - laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, HDTVs and even
screens in cars,( i.e. telematics).
6.
Content will be created specifically with video
channels in mind. Further, there will
continue to be a migration to mobile video which will become de rigor on a company’s website,
in blogs, in training, and on Youtube.
Youtube channels for marketers will continue to expand. In addition, the use of video podcasting and live
streaming are also in a growth mode. The
world is clearly digital and going video and marketers will take advantage of
that.
7.
Personalization will grow as its ROI is measured
and as customers come to expect to be treated as individuals. We, at C-Level Partners, have written that there
are now 7Ps of marketing and personalization is one of them. Technology and marketing automation will
enable this to happen. This
personalization will improve company branding and the ability to build stronger
relationships with customers.
8.
Marketers will get back to basics. Solid, well planned marketing will trump the
sexy marketing in the past. The CMO and
business leaders will focus on marketing as a strategic investment to generate
profitable revenue.
9.
The human touch will return to marketing. How many of you love to listen to an automated
customer service system saying that “your call is important to us…” That’s bull! Companies will realize that you are important
and will show it by having more touch than tech or at least do a better job of
integrating the two. Being human will
also apply to helping customers understand the value of the company’s products
and determining what motivates buying behavior.
This is like getting back to the future… and I love it.
10.
Employee experience (EX) will be as important as
customer experience (CX). Engaged
employees are critical because at the front line – in retail, sales and customer
service- they ARE the brand, or at least a fair representation of it. Engaged employees also feel part of the
company, behave like owners, and will be promoters of the company's products
and services. According to our anecdotal
evidence, only about 30% are engaged today.
Think Zappos, Starbucks, 1and1, and Jet for companies who provide both
good EX and CX.
11.
Marketing and Data Science will be the new
dynamic duo. This will be key to
understanding the customer persona from many angles - demographics, psychographics,
sentiments, and buying behavior. Vince
and I, both being engineers, can relate and understand this dynamic. We expect to see the CIO and CMO becoming
BFF’s.
12.
As a corollary to #11, data will be the new
currency for the younger generation. Data will enable the ability to
personalize the marketing message and make that message more meaningful and
differentiated for a particular customer.
But it doesn’t only apply to the younger generation; big data will be
used to help understand buying behavior of all customers and couple that
information with the dynamics of profitable revenue growth for the
corporation. The new marketer will be,
must be, a datahead or recruit the right people in his/her organization who
have the skills to analyze the myriad of data available from business and
marketing systems.
13.
Marketers will provide more original insights
into business. Marketers will not be
mere curators of data and content. The
key word is original. By having
more insight into business, the CMO will be able to justify his/her seat at the
executive table. (This is a belief and
expectation!)
14.
Customer success will be determined by a
combination of satisfaction, retention, and referral. We have always believed that the combination
of the three components will yield the most loyal customers. In conjunction with this, customers
themselves, through social media, will become the company’s best sales people.
Technology to help build customer engagement will continue to evolve and become
more sophisticated.
15.
Marketing and selling will be in an omni-channel
world. Marketing execs will understand
the buying persona of their customers and will use math and analytics to
optimize the sales and distribution channels.
But the key here is that it will not be one channel vs. the other. The marketer will blend online and offline,
retail and wholesale, third party distribution and direct to ensure the buying
experience matches the customer and to improve the profitability of the
company.
16.
Chief Marketing Officers will evolve to become
strategic businesspeople first and “marketing" executives second. This is our wish and expectation; therefore, we
took the liberty to include it as one of our predictions. The CMO will be the linking pin from the
outside world of the customer to the inside world of production, manufacturing
and operations. He/she will have a
unique view on building and capturing valued.
In the past, we have not seen this from most of our traditional marketing
colleagues as many have been focused on one area e.g. advertising, digital,
brand, and product. The new marketing
executive will be a generalist, a businessperson with a focus on top and bottom
line growth, steeped in data analytics, change management, and growth levers, coupled
with creative and innovative bent. We may
be wrong about this one for 2016, but we believe it will eventually take root
over time.
We would be interested in hearing your thoughts on your
sweet 16 predictions for 2016. Let’s
keep the dialog going at www.clevelpartners.net. And feel free to contact me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net or
Vince at vferraro@clevelpartners.net
for a complimentary discussion on how we can help you achieve value creation
and profitable revenue growth.
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