"THE GROWTH BLOG" - A RESOURCE FOR B2B LEADERS, MARKETERS, SALES & SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

The customer experience is no longer just the realm of marketing – it has become a key competitive differentiator. As a recent Forbes article states, “The customer is in control. Brands need to be more accessible and marketable and so do company boards, not just in terms of corporate governance, but when executing their business strategy and ensuring they are maximising shareholder value”. Marketing must sit at the heart of business decision-making if organisations want to stay ahead of the competition and embrace ever-higher customer expectations. Moreover, the availability of data and analytics has made it possible to assess the impact of marketing strategies on commercial performance, and marketing is increasingly being recognised as a core driver of the business as a result. It’s now in the CEO’s best interest to build a strong relationship with the CMO, and grant him or her a seat at the executive table.

Being the head honcho of an organisation means you probably don’t get the recommended eight hours of sleep. As a leader, your basic responsibilities fill up much of your workday, but your larger-scale responsibilities and concerns are undoubtedly on your mind well into the night. So, what are the things that CEOs worry about the most? 

Some business leaders are hesitant to embrace digital marketing, believing it to be a complex and costly exercise that requires a complete overhaul of traditional processes. But this doesn’t have to be the case. You can effectively modernise your marketing with a few tweaks here and there. The key is to develop complimentary tactics that enhance your existing strategies and improve the way your business relates to consumers.

Content marketing has been around for long enough now that most businesses are practising it in some form. According to a 2015 report on the state of content marketing in Australia, 89% of respondents said they are using content marketing, defined as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action”. Out of this figure however, only 29% believe their content marketing is effective.

Those of us in the inbound world know that the buyer’s journey has drastically changed. Buyers today have more control than ever before ­– they are self-educating and empowered by the information they can find online. The salesperson doesn’t dictate the sale anymore – buyers connect with brands when they’re ready and on their terms. This change in buyer behaviour means that now, more than ever, it’s imperative that the sales and marketing functions are aligned.

The data revolution known as ‘martech’ has swept the marketing industry, and forward-thinking organisations are starting to align their marketing departments with the new technology-driven business environment. Marketing automation software has transformed a discipline notoriously difficult to measure in terms of effectiveness and therefore budgetary requirements into one driven by data and aligned with the rest of the business. The marketing department is now responsible for more of the customer lifecycle, and this means focusing less on channels and internal processes. According to The Global 2015 Digital Marketer study conducted by Experian, 31 per cent of businesses in Australia and New Zealand are prioritising the integration of marketing automation technology this year.

Out with the old, in with the new… that’s how the saying goes, right? This can be applied to many things in life, be they bad habits, unhealthy relationships, perishable goods... Ever since the term ‘Inbound Marketing’ entered our vocabularies, it’s been touted as the new and improved way of marketing, relegating its predecessor, outbound marketing, to the ‘what not to do’ category. But just because Inbound Marketing has proved to be more effective in engaging buyers and generating leads doesn’t mean outbound methods should be discounted altogether.

Has your business blog lost its mojo? Do you have a more mechanical than meaningful approach to content? Blogging may start out as everyone’s priority, but it’s easy to let it fall behind. As soon as other projects come up, the blog is usually the first to suffer. It’s a challenge to consistently create high quality content when overall inbound marketing efforts take up most of your time.

You can’t be blamed for thinking that your company must have a social media policy. Take one look online and you’ll be convinced that such a document is essential. Sure, if you want to quash any creativity or individuality your employees bring to your organisation, a social media policy is great. But, if you’d rather create a culture of motivated brand ambassadors and an interactive online community, then steer clear.

Thanks to the Internet and developments in technology, those born after 1980 have grown up very differently from the generations before them, resulting in a ‘digital generation gap’. As digital natives, Gen Ys engage with each other in ways that older generations struggle to understand. They use smartphones more than any other age group and are much more prolific on social media. So, when it comes to deciding who’s best to run your business’ social media accounts, should this come into consideration?