In a recent study conducted by IBM with more than 1,700 Chief Marketing Officer’s (CMO’s), four big challenges were identified: the explosion of data, social media, the proliferation of channels and shifting consumer demographics. These challenges are universally seen as catalysts for change in the marketing function. It is also widely known that companies that are viewed as ‘successful’, have a common purpose, a long term view, are emotionally engaged with their customers, work in some way to build communities and are continually innovating.
Putting the two together, the challenges faced by marketers and the factors common to successful companies, means that today’s marketing professional will need to stretch their thinking, their skills and their vision to stay in the game.
The most proactive CMO’s, like their CEO counterparts, know that the key to success is ‘customer intimacy’-that it’s important to understand individuals as well as markets.
Traditional mass marketing is ‘out’, but the distance marketing folk have to cover to understand individual customers has increased and grown in complexity. The focus is now on relationships, not just transactions, and the desire to form bonds with customers is driving more success, or in the absence of, spectacular failure.
The digital revolution has forever changed the balance of power between the individual and the institution. To effectively cultivate meaningful relationships with customers, marketing teams will have to connect with them in ways that their customers perceive as valuable. This entails engaging with customers throughout the entire customer lifecycle, building online and offline communities of interest and collaborating to fuse internal and external faces of the enterprise. So how should you respond?
- Focus on creating value for customers as individuals
- Leverage new digital channels to stimulate customer conversations and new relationships
- Engage with customers throughout the customer lifecycle, not just according to your company accounting cycles
- Build online and offline communities to strengthen your brand
- Use advanced analytics and compelling metrics to improve decision making and to demonstrate accountability
It comes down to defining key behaviours, beliefs and values needed to drive a relentless customer strategy.
Can you handle it?
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