Resource
The Old Marketing Value Chain had two links: rules and tools. The New Marketing Value Chain has three links:
1. Data-driven insight
2. Truly quantifiable strategy
3. Application of creative and technology
Data-driven insight, the first link of the new value chain, reveals “why” marketing works. It discerns hidden patterns in the numbers that improve the decision making process in the other two links.
Intelligence derived from data can help you find your most profitable customers, identify new business opportunities, deliver better targeted leads to sales, offer real-time insights to make smarter campaign decisions (e.g., running “what if” scenarios, changing creative on the fly, etc.), and much more.
Data is the first link in the New Marketing Value Chain, because the insights that can be drawn from it are necessary to even begin successful implementation of the next two links.
The second link of the chain –– strategy –– then becomes more important than ever. No longer “flying blind,” companies can greatly minimize, if not eliminate, waste from their programs, often maintaining their existing budget, yet achieving quantifiable improvement in marketing performance. Effective marketers will use data to empower their strategies, adjusting a campaign’s approach in real-time based on data-driven insights.
The third link is the combined power of creative work and technology. Marketers will need to continue to track and capitalize on the best technologies and channels available. They’ll still need to engage customers and inspire employees with powerful brands and creative expression. But data will make these things much more accountable than in the past. The creative process and use of technology throughout the marketing approach will be imbued with insight from data, rather than reliant on capricious rules of thumb.
In this way, the new accessibility of data and analytics is transforming marketing. Data-driven insights are the basis of the New Marketing Value Chain. To adapt, marketers need to reinvent their strategies. Read our upcoming post on Wednesday to learn more.
What are you doing to reinvent your work?
Photo credit: Emilian Robert Vicol via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
Here on the blog, this month is all about the evolution of marketing. As you’ve probably noticed, it’s changing fast and furiously. Our approaches to marketing and business decision making must be adaptable; we must evolve with the world around us. The most essential part of the New Marketing Value Chain is data. That does not necessarily mean big data, either, even though that buzzword gets a lot of attention.
In recent years, we have gained widespread access to customer data. Thanks to the internet, we know more about our customers than ever before. While the Old Marketing Value Chain was based in rules and tools–understanding marketing concepts and applying them to the latest technological advancements–the New Marketing Value Chain is based almost entirely on data-driven insight.
Letting data do the work for you takes the guesswork out of marketing, and as we’ve said before, successful marketing campaigns are based in predictability and returns. Data provides the insight necessary to give your customers what they want, when they want it. And more often than not, that results in closing the sale for your company.
Data-driven insight, the first link of the new value chain, reveals “why” marketing works. Through careful analysis, marketers can find patterns that change decision making for the better. In your data, you’ll discover profitable customers, new business opportunities and leads you had no idea were there.
Even better? Your marketing campaign decisions will start to reap rewards that previously, you’d only imagined. Real-time insights help you change creative on the fly, when necessary, and take advantage of every opportunity to provide value and promise to your customers. In the end, they’ll thank you for it by making a purchase. Drive them there by becoming a trusted resource that always seems to know what to say.
The second link of the chain, “strategy,” is now more important than ever. Thanks to data’s disruption, companies are free to minimize waste and stop flying blind. The ROI of marketing has never been more certain than it is today. At every turn, make your decisions quantitative, and your results will become quantifiable.
To learn more about the New Marketing Value Chain, follow our blog closely this month and stay tuned for a white paper discussing this topic–available soon.
Resource
For the past century, marketers have provided value by combining best practices with conventional wisdom and intuition and applying that knowledge across a platform of the latest, greatest tools and channels. In short, they mastered sets of “rules and tools” relevant in their time period. This is the Old Marketing Value Chain, as introduced last Friday.
Throughout the 20th century, a number of people articulated the “rules and tools” based approach of their day. In 1923, Claude Hopkins argued that there are rules of advertising that, as long as they were understood and followed, would make success both attainable and repeatable (predictable!). His successors included advertising great David Oglivy in the 1960s, and marketing consultants Al Ries and Jack Trout in the 1990s. Similar claims are being made today by various players who provide guidance around things like demand generation or multichannel marketing.
Mastery of marketing tools can also be traced to the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, mail order advertising and the effective use of samples were state-of-the-art marketing tools. Pioneers such as Lester Wunderman (hailed as the “Father of Direct marketing”) carved their niche by learning these tools of marketing better than anyone else. Today, many companies take the same approach, focusing on mastery of technology platforms for marketing automation and CRM integration, or channels such as social media, for example.
Combining best practices, conventional wisdom and intuition, and then applying this knowledge across the latest and greatest tools and channels is how marketing delivered its value. The more you knew about such “rules and tools,” the thinking went, the more predictable your outputs would be.
But the Old Marketing Value Chain has severe limitations, especially given today’s marketing climate.
While effective to a point, old-chain techniques fall far short of achieving predictability. The Old Marketing Value Chain displays two significant limitations:
-
Marking conditions are not constant. Strict adherence to “rules” suggest that conditions are constant and within the marketer’s control. They are not. In today’s marketing environment, many conditions are dynamic, such as rapidly-changing customer behaviors and competitive “noise.” Rules that work in some conditions may be ineffective or even detrimental in others.
-
Marketing tools continue to evolve with the times. A tool-based approach does not sufficiently acknowledge that marketing tools are also dynamic. Even the best marketing analytics software in use today is just the best current option. Evolving technology can unseat even the most entrenched tools (just ask Blackberry). What’s more, even if you have the latest and greatest tools, your competitors are never far behind in acquiring tools that are just as good.
The more dynamic the environment, the greater the likelihood of waste occurring in a “rules and tools” based value chain. Because we live in a world that is now in a constant state of flux, this has become a serious problem. While this approach can still lead to successful marketing outcomes, the odds of it doing so have decreased as unpredictability has increased.
Unfortunately the demands on marketing practitioners have also increased. CMOs are transitioning away from soft success measures. Expectations of marketing accountability have increased to the levels expected of sales performance. Today, more predictability is required, not less.
The “Rules and Tools” approach is now obsolete. Return on Wednesday to start exploring a new approach for today’s landscape.
Photo credit: Barbara Willi via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
Earlier this week, we described how marketing has historically fallen short of its ideal of predictability causing inefficiency and waste. Today, we’ll look at the traditional “Marketing Value Chain” to understand its shortcomings and why a new approach is needed.
A value chain can be defined as a set of activities that an organization performs in order to deliver a product or service. The concept was first popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. While Porter was talking about the activities of entire organization, his idea can easily be applied to the marketing function alone. Like any system, it is made up of inputs, transformative processes and outputs. How value chain activities are carried out determines costs and affects profits.
Rules and Tools
The Old Marketing Value Chain worked by successfully employing the correct sets of “rules and tools.” Marketers mastered the following two-link chain and applied it to their products and brands, hoping high-quality “inputs” would lead to high-quality “outputs.” This marketing chain was undeniably effective, especially in comparison to marketing with no plan or strategy. But it also had key flaws, which meant that inefficiency and waste were a necessary byproduct of any marketing campaign, even successful ones.
In the “rules and tools” approach, rules refer to the guidelines marketers follow: best practices and conventional wisdom that the marketer has been taught and practiced throughout his or her career. These practices allow the marketer to shape a strategic approach based on what has worked before, on the theory that it will work again.
“Tools” include mass marketing, branding, lead generation and other approaches that have been proven effective. Again, these tools assume a static environment, in which what has worked will always work. The content may change, but the tools remain the same.
The Marketing Value Chain has changed dramatically in recent years. Visit our blog throughout the month to learn more about “The New Marketing Value Chain” and how to accordingly adjust marketing strategies to fit today’s world.
Resource
For over 50 years, many people suffering from certain autoimmune disorders have benefited from antibody replacement therapy. The precise mechanism by which this therapy works on these conditions has still not been definitively established. The bottom line is that often, it does work, though doctors cannot predict whether or not it will do so in individual cases.
This situation should sound familiar to modern marketers. The discipline does work, sometimes even dramatically. But since its inception at the beginning of the 20th century, marketers have been at a loss to predict its effects with a great degree of accuracy. As a result, a certain amount of waste has been accepted in marketing investment.
Marketing’s goal has always been predictability.
The ability to estimate the outcomes of marketing programs minimizes inefficiency and makes it possible to tie marketing directly to revenue contributions. Since driving revenue directly or indirectly is marketing’s ultimate goal, the ability to create and execute an efficient and effective marketing strategy is paramount.
The industry has been acutely aware of the problem of achieving predictable marketing for many years. Some have sought to make marketing more “scientific.” As far back as 1923, Claude C. Hopkins wrote in his book, Scientific Advertising, “The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of science. It is based on fixed principles and is reasonably exact…Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest of business ventures.”
The extent to which the impact of marketing programs can be predicted enables inefficiency (and the costs associated with it) to be minimized. It also makes it possible to accurately tie marketing with revenue contribution so that it can be looked upon as an investment rather than a cost. But if we are to create predictable marketing strategies, we must also adapt them to the times. Hopkins’ instructions from 1923 are almost a century old, and the new worlds of social media and digital advertising have irrevocably changed the marketing game. It’s time for a “New Marketing Value Chain,” one that reflects the way brands and consumers interact today, in the twenty-first century.
Visit our blog throughout the month to learn more about “The New Marketing Value Chain” and how your business needs to adapt to stay relevant.
Photo credit: Christian Schnettelker via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
As HubSpot recently pointed out, a small budget doesn’t necessarily prevent your company from conducting market research. From user testing to content surveys, any organization can collect data for minimal cost if they’re willing to put the work in. These methods work for larger companies, too, even though the scale might be drastically different. There are a number of less expensive, but more accessible ways to find out exactly what your customers want and need.
Good, old-fashioned customer surveys are one method that always stand the test of time, but the key is to involve your customer-facing team members and sales representatives in the process. Make it personal for your customers, and let them know they’re appreciated, no matter what size your company might be. If you want to get to know your customers on a deeper level but don’t know where to start with your limited budget, check out our five ways to access key insights without the kind of money that big data exploration or advanced analytics require.
Customer Conversations on Social Media
Community Manager positions are all the rage these days, and for good reason. They effectively bridge the gap between product management, customer service and social media marketing. Since customers routinely turn to social networks with their praises and complaints for products or services, it’s a natural place for brands to engage them in conversation. By doing so, your company gains the opportunity to identify pain points, drive advocacy and redirect negative situations.
Incentivized Surveys
Don’t just survey your customers; survey them with an incentive. Whether it’s a product trial or a piece of insider content, go out of your way to reward customers who provide you with direct insights into the buyer journey.
Personalized Interviews via Your Sales Team
In this busy, digital age, it makes customers increasingly happy to receive a personalized message from a member of your sales team. It shows that, despite your revenue-enhancing goals, you genuinely care about the people on the other side. Consider personalized email or phone outreach to ask customers why they chose not to buy a particular product, or how existing products could be improved from a user perspective. Once that relationship is established, customers will be more willing to reach out to sales reps for advice or to make a future purchase.
CRM and Google Analytics
If your organization hasn’t reached the point that it makes sense to invest in help with advanced data analysis, be sure to use the tools at your disposal to their fullest advantage. Examine your CRM tools for new levels of integration with email and social media, and don’t be afraid to get to know Google Analytics. Customers’ behavior on your site can tell you a lot about what they’re looking for.
Email Marketing Software
An email subscription list is considered one of the top tools for lead nurturing and conversion. Instead of simply creating content and sending it out, look deeply into your email marketing results. Form strategies to further engage highly interested readers–the people who click through and spend extended time on your website would be a great place to start.
Have you found affordable ways to mine for customer data?
Photo Credit: NEC Corporation via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
We’ve spent this month extolling the virtues of data and encouraging marketers to give data a central role in informing decision making and strategy development. But on a practical level, the stream of data coming from your website, social media and CRM can easily become an overwhelming tidal wave of data that multiplies daily. How are companies supposed to keep up?
This question is intimidating, especially because marketers know that using data to its fullest advantage is key to generating growth. Data can play a role in every decision. The best way to handle your data will vary depending on your company’s specific needs, but companies of all sizes can get a handle on the day to day management of their data with these three strategies:
Implement a plan for bi-weekly check-ins of campaign data to be managed by a dedicated team
With data coming in each day it can be easy to get caught up in tiny details and interactions, whether you’re tracing all of your referral traffic or crafting thoughtful responses to social discussions. Putting energy into these day-to-day activities is, of course, time well spent, but bi-weekly check-ins will help keep your entire team focused and on the same page. Use this time to compare notes and see if you’re picking up on trends, whether it’s a burst of similar inquiries or promising interactions.
Hire a data specialist to monitor data and provide insights to the rest of the team
The analytics tools available are constantly growing in power and complexity and the full potential of your data may be difficult for a non-specialist to realize. Data specialists are individuals whose extensive training and exposure grant them a unique ability to identify patterns and recognize actionable insight from the large amounts of data you’re gathering. This insight often makes data specialists worth their weight in gold!
Work with an external group of data analysts
Of course, not all companies are in a position to add a data specialist as a full-time team member. Businesses of all sizes can gain that expertise by retaining the service of outside consultants or firms with data insight capabilities. Outside experts can ensure that your data is measuring engagement and that you have the insights you need to make informed decisions.
How is your company keeping a grip on its data?
Photo credit: Sonny Abesamis via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
In this year’s Demand Gen Report on B2B buyers, we learn that more than two thirds (68 percent) of respondents agreed that the number of sources they use to research and evaluate purchases has increased over the past year. As we said last week, many marketers are starting to feel like they’re at the mercy of the self-informed buyer. If a prospect engages with a member of your sales team at all, it happens later in the buying cycle than ever before. With sales representatives largely removed from the process, the direction of business decisions relies more heavily on the marketing department than it did in the past. With the understanding that customer research and evaluation will only continue to rise, marketers must respond. Wondering how to do that? Don’t worry–we’ve got you covered.
Three ways for marketers to combat increased research and confidence among B2B buyers:
1. Become a Trusted Source
If customers are determined to conduct their own research, one strategy is to become a trusted place for them to conduct that research. Use a blog to provide help and data-backed insights that make you the go-to for prospects who have industry-related questions. In addition to a blog, provide valuable content in the form of newsletters, white papers and case studies. If you can, work in some video tutorials too!
2. Develop a Powerful Content Marketing Approach
Developing a reputation as a trusted source for industry research relies heavily on your content marketing strategy. Be proactive in your attempts to position yourself as the thought leaders on a topic that’s important to your company, and develop a plan to get your content in front of the right audience at the right time. Your strategy should be based in data-driven insights, documented and frequently tweaked based on what levels of engagement are telling you.
3. Utilize Customer Service Teams
Surveys and interviews are not out of style. In fact, in a world where soundbites and screens prevail, personal conversations–or interviews–make a powerful impact. Have your marketing department bridge the gap between marketing and sales, and ask customer service reps to engage with customers over email or social media to find out what customers need to know. They can answer their questions and mine information to inform future marketing strategies and lead to sale.
How is your company addressing the rise of the self-informed customer?
Photo Credit: Terry Johnston via Flickr Creative Commons
Resource
This year, 37 percent of B2B buyers said they spent more time using social media, almost double the 20 percent of respondents in the previous study. Additionally, the number of B2B buyers who connected directly with solution providers via social media increased by more than 57 percent. This is according to this year’s Demand Gen Report, “The 2014 B2B Buyer Landscape.”
These numbers prove something we’ve known for awhile: B2B social media is worth the investment. Social media is where buyers are today, and as such is among the richest sources of data you can draw upon for customer insights. As Demand Gen notes, the B2B buying process is getting longer and increasingly characterized by buyers conducting significant research to interpret the vast amounts of data they themselves have available.
Last month we outlined the best ways to leverage Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to reach your audiences, and offered a guide to making sense of the data you’ll generate through your social media channels. Demand Gen finds that senior executives prefer LinkedIn for their social networking, while non-executives prefer blogs. Further, they find that social media plays an important role as a second and third source of information as buyers research solution providers.
A lengthened buying process means that marketers have a chance to, and indeed are expected to, convey a full picture of their brand and the solutions they provide. Social media both provides an ideal medium to communicate your brand, and allows you to use the big data that belongs to social networks to connect directly with new leads. Social media’s treasure trove of data will help you measure engagement and adjust accordingly.
In 2014, B2B is shaped by the trifecta of Big Data, which allows for an unprecedented amount of customer insight, Customers, who investing more time in researching their solution providers, and Social Media, which brings the two together.
Resource
When it comes to understanding customers, data analysis is key. To take those insights a step further and truly impact marketing strategy, data optimization is required. That can be challenging, but given today’s breadth of data analysis tools, it doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re a large enterprise or a small company, there’s a way to improve marketing through data and analytics.
The old adage “actions speak louder than words” certainly applies to B2B customers, and one of the best ways to gain insight into their needs is to take a hard look at their online behaviors. While large enterprise analytics solutions work best for many companies, especially in B2B, Google Analytics is remarkably useful for small to mid-sized businesses. However you gain access to the information, one thing is clear: it’s critically important to understand what customers are doing on your site.
Use Google Analytics to Its Full Advantage
If you’re not in a position to access dynamic analytics tools built for large corporations, don’t worry. Google Analytics is free and available to everyone, but it packs a lot of punch. Even better, it’s improving all the time. If you’re wondering where to start, take a look around the web. There are a wealth of helpful tutorials and blogs full of tips from marketers who use Google Analytics on a regular basis. This post, originally from Buffer’s blog and posted on Fast Company, is one of our favorites. It will walk you through the first steps of setting up and using an Analytics account and help you understand the most basic but essential functions. Movéo’s own Analytics experts can help you establish goals, monitor traffic and develop methods for regular reporting and optimization. Contact us for more information.
Dig a Little Deeper
To really explore customer insights for your company, get creative with Google Analytics. Set up goals that can help you understand how to lead customers through a particular process on your site. Imagine your site as a mini-funnel, and construct an analysis of what trends are leading customers down the path you want them to take. The end goal could be reaching out to a sales rep, signing up for a white paper download or registering to attend your conference, but either way–the only way to learn how to coax them to the goal is to analyze what urges them to click, what referred them to your site and what content they find most appealing on the web. Notice how long they are spending on each page, and if one page is more compelling than another, adjust your site content accordingly. Give your customers what they want.
How do you analyze your customers’ behavior and optimize the data?
Photo credit: Colin Zhu via Flickr Creative Commons
