• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 22, 2011

According to a report from Forbes Insights,  "Bringing 20/20 Foresight to Marketing," 52% of a group of marketing and corporate managers cited customer retention as their top current priority, followed by customer acquisition (38%), and customer profitability (29%), and these remain top priorities for 2012, as well.

To gain a clearer picture of the priorities, concerns, and actions of major marketers, Forbes Insights, in association with Coremetrics, surveyed 321 marketing executives at companies with more than $250 million in annual revenue in the U.S. and the U.K. These executives represent companies in industries that traditionally are heavy users of Internet marketing including retail, travel/hospitality, financial services/banking, and technology/media/telecom.

Today's marketers have a wider range of options available than ever before, says the report, for reaching their targets, broadcast and print, online marketing, social networks, mobile media, flash sales, location-based apps, with more options seeming to emerge daily.

Given the continued emergence of disruptive marketing technologies, asks the report, how can companies stay abreast, much less ahead, of where consumers will interact with their brands? Marketers today need to view the customer with 20/20 foresight, but are caught in hindsight by focusing on what's worked in the past, not what is working in the present or will work in the future.

Respondents' budgets are reflecting these priorities as well, with 39% of executives dedicating the largest chunk of their funds to customer retention. Customer acquisition runs a close second (36%). The survey asked about budgeting in 2012 as well. Over the next year, 56% of respondents said that they will increase their online marketing spend, 54% will increase their social media spend, and 50% will increase their mobile marketing spend.

With online marketing being driven by transactions, lead generation, and conversion, marketers are less focused on brand building and more focused on customer retention and acquisition, observes the report.

Asked about both their current priorities, as well as what they believe their priorities will be a year from now, respondents clearly had the customer in mind. 52% cited customer retention as their top current priority, followed by customer acquisition, and customer profitability.

Company's Top Marketing Priorities (% of Respondents)
	Today	OneYear From Now
Customer retention	52%	41%
Customer acquisition	38	41
Customer profitability	29	27
Branding	28	24
Direct marketing	19	16
Online marketing	18	23
Traditional print and broadcast marketing	17	10
Business intelligence/ data-based decision making	17	16
Accountability and metrics	17	14
In-store/ brick-and-mortar business	15	11
Social media strategy and tactics	11	19
Mobile marketing	11	17
Source: Forbes Insights, June 2011

For the most part, marketing budgets mirror these priorities. About four-in-ten executives are dedicating the largest chunk of their funds to customer retention; customer acquisition runs a close second. Yet maximizing customer profitability, a crucial priority, does not appear to be a key budget item, as just 19% said it was a top area of spending.

Top Areas In Terms Of Spending In Current Marketing Budget
Spending For	% of Respondents
Customer retention	39%
Customer acquisition	36
Branding	34
Online marketing	30
Direct marketing	30
Traditional print and broadcast advertising	24
Customer profitability	19
In-store/ brick-and-mortar business	16
Business intelligence/ data-based decision making	14
Social media strategy and tactics	12
Accountability and metrics	10
Mobile marketing	10
Source: Forbes Insights, June 2011

Online tactics will also see significant lifts in budgets

• 56% will increase their online marketing spending
• 54% will increase their social media spending
•  50% will increase their mobile marketing spending

Marketers appear to be increasing their investments only after they've been caught off-guard by changes in the marketplace, according to the study. Asked about what key developments over the past year surprised them most, many noted the most important changes such as the Twitter's strength as a marketing tool, greater use of smartphones and tablets, and the rise of flash-sale sites such as Groupon.

When asked to predict what marketing related developments would occur in the next 12 months, issues such as app overload, growth of the tablet market, and the mainstreaming of social media all were chosen, but there was little agreement as to what would be most important.

The report concludes that, marketing's biggest challenge appears to be presenting a consistent, unified brand across multiple customer touchpoints... on the Web, on social media, via mobile devices, and through traditional brick-and-mortar. This challenge extends to consistent messaging, a consistent customer experience, and a consistent, unified view of the customer.

The vice president of media, digital marketing and social media at an internationally known telecom and wireless company, notes that "It's easy to measure disparate behaviors... but difficult to aggregate... a single view across multiple digital channels... difficult to provide actionable insights back to the business."

78% of executives said that, compared to one year ago, more scrutiny is placed on their marketing efforts, while 48% report that short-term results are being prioritized at the expense of long-term goals.

To access the PDF report through Media Buyer/Planner, please visit here