Commentary

Marketing Expectations in 2011

According to the CMO Council's Marketing Outlook 2011 study, as marketing budgets are on the rise, the key management mandate to marketers is to drive top-line growth and market share while better defining the brand and value proposition. 57% of senior-level marketers say they are increasing their overall marketing spend in 2011 as 26% plan to increase budgets between 1% and 5%, according to the report.

Anticipated Percentage Change in Budget; 2011 vs. 2010

Expectation

% of Respondents

No change

31%

Increase

  

   < 1%

8%

   1-5%

26

   6-10%

12

   11-15%

3

   16-20%

2

   > 20%

6

Decrease

  

   < 1%

3%

   1-5%

4

   6-10%

2

   11-15%

1

   16-20%

1

   > 20%

1

Source: CMO Council, July 2010

Through new automated campaign and lead management tools, marketers can engage in highly interactive, highly relevant dialogues across multiple channels, reaching across social, digital, and traditional media channels. Connecting the measurements of these multiple channels is one of the key challenges marketers will seek to address in 2011.

Among chief deliverables this year, CMOs cite driving top-line growth, followed by growing and retaining market share and defining brand value:

Senior Management Mandates To Marketing for 2011

Mandate

% of Respondents (Multiple Response OK)

Drive top line growth

46%

Grow or retain market share

45

Better define brand and value proposition

31

Improve customer insight and retention

25

Lower costs and improve efficiencies

22

Maintain high quality sales pipeline

20

Access new markets and audiences

17

Increase accountability and measurement

15

Source: CMO Council, July 2010

The study responses conclude that marketing must redefine the customer experience, developing web experiences that are highly engaging, personalized and differentiated.

·      This new "experience mix" must include social platforms, and integrate the messaging and engagements through traditional channels

·      Ecommerce capabilities and channels of fulfillment must also be integrated to create a unified, seamless multi-channel customer experience

·      This experience must now bridge the gap between the art of marketing and the science of analytics, measurement and process

·      Marketers need to better understand the impact marketing and technology integration can have in making customer experiences more gratifying and satisfying, to improve loyalty, retention and repeat purchase.

Despite marketing's renewed focus on building strategic, integrated campaigns says the report, several major challenges could impact marketers' ability to fulfill their mandates, says the report.

·      New technologies are keeping marketing on its toes as processes and engagement cycles have sped up, making maintaining technological proficiency a key priority

·      The influence of the Internet is also emerging as a key challenge for marketers. Driven by a more savvy and demanding customer, the Internet demands new talent to develop strategy, execute, monitor and measure, and not all marketing organizations are currently equipped with that personnel

·      Though the recovering economy reigns supreme as the top challenge for survey respondents through 2011, digital dominates three of the top five concerns, highlighting the ongoing stress of new technology within marketing.

The economy is cited as CMO's biggest challenge, followed by technological challenges and Internet influence and voice:

Top Three Emerging Issues/Challenges to Address

Issue

% of Respondents

Recovering economy

51%

New technologies or engagement channels

42

Internet influence and voice

27

Need for new talent with specialized skill sets

21

Financing & investment freeze

18

Increased regulatory and government oversight

17

Diluted market, diminished demand

14

Corporate restructuring

14

Source: CMO Council, July 2010

The extensive report concludes by noting that throughout 2011, marketers will focus on operational transformation in an effort to fulfill a move away from "Random Acts of Marketing," and realize the more accountable, productive models that senior management demands. In doing so, they will pay special attention to improving operational visibility and accountability. 60% of marketers say that they intend to set clear goals and track deliverables to better monitor and control spend while maximizing effectiveness.

In this study 64% of respondents said they reported directly to the CEO, president or COO, while another 14% said they were accountable to a regional vice president, general manager or division/business group head. Among the respondents, 34% held CMO or Head of Marketing titles, while 33% held roles of Vice President or above.

For additional information and to access the PDF file of the Marketing Outlook, please visit the CMA Council here.

 

1 comment about "Marketing Expectations in 2011".
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  1. Peter Rosenwald from Consult Partners, July 28, 2011 at 9:56 a.m.

    Very interesting research but there does seem to be one large ambiguity.
    Under "Senior Management Mandates" 'Accountability is at the bottom of the list with only 15% while your concluding paragraph says: "...marketers will focus on operational transformation in an effort to fulfill a move away from "Random Acts of Marketing," and realize the more accountable, productive models that senior management demands. In doing so, they will pay special attention to improving operational visibility and accountability."
    As the author of Accountable Marketing (Thomson), I hope the text is right and the numbers wrong as the time for accountability in marketing is long overdue.

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