How Digital is Helping Marketers to Rule the World.
Today I had the very enjoyable experience of speaking with the B2B Marketing Community here in Singapore. Together we explored how digital disruption is changing the game for marketing, and painted the picture of how we as a profession need to lift our game and take ownership of this customer-led shift to digital experiences.
One is the loneliest number
Whoever said that One is the loneliest number, has clearly never been the third-wheel before. Two is company, and three is a crowd.
For marketers, this has been our relationship with sales (or The Business) and the Customer. Stuck on the outside, looking in, and trying our hardest to add value along the way. Today however, we see our customer’s demanding a different kind of experience, one that is even more customer-centric and supports their thirst for delightful digital experiences.
Two ways Marketing will rule the world
If this traditional view of relationship with out customers is changing, there are two things that marketing need to own, and deliver better than we are today; data and digital experience.
Data is the ultimate credibility proof-point for marketing today. Through our understanding of our customers, prospects, their preferences, behavior and interpretation of intent-signals — we as marketers are better equipped than ever to turn data into real insight. The problem is, many of us are not doing this today, or at least, not as well as we need to be. SAP have noticed this, and this understanding forms the basis for our renewed focus on the marketing stack.
In a round-up of ChiefMartec’s 2015 Stackies award winners, customer data was being stored across on average, 25 different solutions and data sources. It’s no wonder that in a 2015 VentureBeat Insights study we learn that 96% of marketers (just about everyone!) “say that building a single view of the customer is challenging.” If we cannot even collect this data, it is no surprise that as a result, marketers are failing at doing something meaningful with this data, eConsultancy share that only 19% of marketers are using personalization at scale in their marketing today — not a great indicator for the new, digital, big-data marketer we describe ourselves as being.
If data is the basis of our credibility, digital experience (DX) is the arena in which we will wield it. CEB helped us understand that 57% of the B2B buyers journey happens before buyers engage with a brand, but what does mean for our complicated ‘three’s company relationship between sales, marketing and the customer?
In a recent Forester report by Andy Hoar titled “The Death of the B2B Sales Person” we learn that, unsurprisingly B2B buyers are humans, just like everyone else — with 93% of B2B buyers polled advising that they ‘prefer to buy online than through a sales person.” Call it B2B becoming B2C or the frequently touted B2P *groan* world, whatever, what we learn is that peoples preferences for delightful digital experiences that put them first and in control of their own destiny remain whether they are purchasing homewares for themselves, or enterprise software for their company alike.
In a recent AMEX Barometer survey of consumers globally, we learned that 86% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for a better customers experience, but just 1% of those respondents are receiving such a CX. Our role as marketers to take ownership and support our businesses in delivering this customer experience has never been more important, and yet, for whatever reason, marketers are not taking that lead. In a recent ITSMA and Vision Edge Marketing study we discover that “46% of marketing teams do not select marketing technology solutions.”
Recent research by SAP and AMR shows that many Australian consumers have been overlooked. Some of our biggest and best‑known brands are alienating consumers due to poor digital experiences. This isn’t just bad for consumers; it’s bad for business. Digital experiences that fail to delight consumers can negatively influence customer advocacy, lead to a loss of loyalty and ultimately affect revenue. As part of a larger report with a wealth of findings, we learn “There is a significant digital experience gap in Australia — meaning there is a large discrepancy between the digital experiences that delight consumers and what Australian brands are actually delivering.” In fact, just “22% of consumers were delighted with the digital experiences brands offer, and a “whopping 47% were unsatisfied with their digital experience today.”
Three most important things.
In the face of this change, we are marketers must reflect on our authenticity and the real value we offer our customers and our business. Basically, Brand, Pipeline & Revenue.
Brand is our wheelhouse, and an increased focus on delivering business outcomes simply cannot come at the expense of our most valuable asset. In support of delivering delightful digital experiences, marketers must drive increased investment in brand, and apply our brand in how we structure content to customer needs, generate perception change and purchase consideration, as well as helping people connect with our brand through values and as individuals. In the Digital Experience study by SAP and AMR, we saw that the emotional connections we make through digital experiences are a significant portion of what makes for a delightful digital experience, second only to functionality and performance measures.
At the same time, only through shared objectives and a focus on business success can marketing break down this silo and truly move from third-wheel to a valuable and increasingly visible part of the relationship businesses have with our customers.
How ready is your organization to bridge the digital experience gap? What have you done already, and what capabilities do you and your team bring to this emerging challenge?
