The following predictions are excerpted from IDC’s 2017 CMO FutureScape report which provides additional details and guidance. (Here’s the summary webcast.) Of course, no one can have 10 top priorities, so pick and choose the one or two that will be most effective for your organization for the next 12 …
Read More »Blowing Up the Funnel
IDC predicts that by 2020, 1 in 5 marketers will abandon the traditional funnel for a buyer-centric approach. The funnel belongs to the 20th century. Back then, buyers were ignorant about their choices and sellers knew little about the needs and preferences of their prospective customers. Now, leading companies are …
Read More »The Five Key Competencies for a Modern Tech Marketing Organization (via IDG Enterprise Marketing)
Our current market landscape is being led by self-educated buyers, and these buyers are moving fast and marketers need to move faster. Rich Vancil, Group VP of IDC, kicked off his IDC Directions session on “Best Practices in Building the New Marketing Machine” with this sentiment. So how do marketers …
Read More »The Marketing Personalized Lead and the Sales Buyer’s Journey
All B2B marketers know what an MQL is, but what’s an MPL? It’s the Marketing Personalized Lead and it reflects the needs of the individual sales resource to whom the lead will be distributed. This requires marketing to apply the same science to understanding the needs of the sales channel …
Read More »Who Really Counts? Mapping Internal Influence in the B2B Buying Game
Everyone knows that B2B customers buy as a team. Participants play different roles – technical, line-of-business, financial, etc. Marketers usually focus on individual personas. But buying is not conducted in isolation. It’s social. By understanding not only the players but also the way the game is played, marketers will develop …
Read More »Cognitive Marketing: The Future for Smart Marketers
“Modern marketing is all about making the most compelling offers to the best customers the fastest.” Cognitive computing has a big future in marketing. The ability to track virtually everything everyone does on line has elevated the analytical requirements for marketers to the scope of a global stock market. Billions …
Read More »IDC CMO FutureScape: Predictions for 2016 and the Digital Transformation
Think marketing has already experienced the biggest impact from digital transformation? Think again. IDC CMO Advisory Service predicts that CMO jobs will turnover 25% per year; that 20% of marketers will blow up their funnel; and that cognitive marketing as a mainstream practice is not far away. Here are our …
Read More »Content Strategy: Think Utility Before Customization
For a company with dozens of product lines, numerous possible personas, and a global presence, developing content can be a daunting venture. The number of permutations for information types and distribution sources can be overwhelming. But before going crazy, you might be surprised to know that customers may not need …
Read More »Audience Marketing: Death to the Product “Selfie”
Companies may not intend to be narcissistic. But they unintentionally produce a lot of “product selfies.” Marketers start out right. They consider customer needs when answering the question, “Why buy my product?” Then customer focus stops there. Most companies give only superficial attention to the context in which their audience …
Read More »Chief Digital Officers: Bridging the Innovation Gap Between the CIO and CMO
The chief digital officer (CDO) is no longer an exotic, quixotic, flash-in-the-pan role. In some of the world’s leading brands, the CDO is now the general manager of a large digital business unit with significant revenue targets reporting to the CEO. This is one of the fascinating conclusions from IDC’s …
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