Agenda Overview for Multichannel Marketing, 2013

Transcription

1 G Agenda Overview for Multichannel Marketing, 2013 Published: 3 January 2013 Analyst(s): Jennifer S. Beck, Adam Sarner Consumers are in the driver's seat, with high expectations for multichannel marketing. Gartner's 2013 research will show you how to craft a strategy for multichannel marketing and what practical steps you can take to succeed. Analysis Figure 1. Multichannel Marketing Agenda Overview Source: Gartner (January 2013) Something big has changed in marketing. It's not all the cool technologies people use these days. It's your buyers. They have more power than ever before. They are window-shopping and comparison-shopping before you even get a chance to sell to them, and they enjoy telling the world what they like and don't like about you. They expect more, too. Simply getting a message from you

2 won't move them to buy. They expect you to provide a compelling experience for them. And they want personalization, a service attitude and to have their expectations slightly exceeded. They want you to approach them based on their preferences and permissions. For all these reasons, traditional, channel-specific campaigns won't keep you competitive. You have to orchestrate marketing across channels to give customers the service and consistency they expect (see Figure 1). Gartner's 2013 research will help digital marketers like you develop a multichannel strategy to meet customers where they are today. Multichannel marketing represents a coordinated program across digital and traditional media to acquire and retain customers, extend the brand, condition the market and engage communities. Technology and digital techniques are changing the ways marketers design and manage multichannel marketing. The companies that come out on top will find out what motivates buyers, anticipate future customer needs and wants, and create a compelling online experience for customers, and they will do it better than their competitors. Successful digital marketers know how to quickly choreograph multichannel and multimedia programs. They must also assess the various sources of information they gather about prospects and customers to continuously improve the technologies and the creative aspects of their programs. Multichannel marketers can seize the opportunities offered by new technologies and the digital age if they: Identify the long-term strategy for their customer programs (for example, moving down-market with offers or acquiring new logo accounts) Decide which channels will best reach target audiences and what experience will engage them, engender loyalty and create more earned channels Develop new skills and structures for managing multichannel programs, including organizational design, business analytics and measurement processes aligned to business goals, not just marketing metrics Execute the programs through the proper evaluation and deployment of technologies Our 2013 research will help digital marketers address these challenges. Key Issues Multichannel Marketing Strategies: What are the most critical considerations for designing and executing successful multichannel marketing campaigns? What combination of digital techniques and channels is the most effective in acquiring and retaining customers? What are the selection criteria for choosing technology and service providers to help develop and manage a multichannel strategy? Multichannel Brand Strategies: Page 2 of 7 Gartner, Inc. G

3 How do I manage my brand through multiple digital channels? How do I develop and manage paid, earned and owned channels? Multichannel Marketing Program Disciplines: How do I build programs and select technologies that maximize my investments across both digital and traditional marketing channels? What models, tools and skills are essential to effectively manage and measure a multichannel marketing program? Multichannel Marketing Strategies What are the most critical considerations for designing and executing successful multichannel marketing campaigns? What combination of digital techniques and channels is the most effective in acquiring and retaining customers? What are the selection criteria for choosing technology and service providers to help develop and manage a multichannel strategy? Has the CMO moved you from traditional channels (TV, in-store, direct mail ) to oversee a multichannel marketing initiative? That's a common story. Like any marketing campaign, multichannel marketing starts with segmenting the audience: Who are you trying to reach? What do they want? What channels do they use? Multichannel doesn't mean simply consistent messaging across channels; it means combining channels in a way that enhances the customer's experience of your brand. The right combination of channels depends on your audience and its needs. The particular combination of channels you aim at will drive your choice of technology the leading providers or the latest technologies won't necessarily suit your particular needs. Planned Research Our 2013 research will offer both strategic and practical advice. We'll issue a strategic road map and Predicts documents to guide your own planning process. We'll offer some examples from leading companies that have succeeded with multichannel marketing, and our Best Practice reports will boil out the lessons that you can apply to your own situation, including cost optimization. We'll talk about segmenting your audience and who likes which channels. Our Magic Quadrants will help you find the right technology and service providers. Multichannel Brand Strategies How do I manage my brand through multiple digital channels? How do I develop and manage paid, earned and owned channels? Gartner, Inc. G Page 3 of 7

4 You're in charge of developing branding that works in both offline and online channels. Yet digital marketing keeps changing fast. How do current and emerging trends fit with traditional offline channels? Can you blend social media with TV? Mobile with print? Should you? It's not just your channels, either. You have to figure out a media strategy in an environment where you don't control the conversation any longer social media give clients great power. Don't do it by guesswork or trial and error. Use analytics to understand the responses you get through the various channels and media and how they influence one another. You can then make informed decisions for optimizing the mix. Planned Research Our 2013 research will offer best practices for combining traditional and digital channels, and paid, earned and owned media. We'll publish Impact Appraisals and Predicts to describe how emerging trends will affect you (for example, the convergence of sales and marketing channels). Survey Analysis reports will give you more details about what your peers are doing with multichannel marketing. Multichannel Marketing Program Disciplines How do I build programs and select technologies that maximize my investments across both digital and traditional marketing channels? What models, tools and skills are essential to effectively manage and measure a multichannel marketing program? The CMO wants his people to prove that marketing investments directly boost revenue, customer retention and satisfaction. So you need detailed information to understand how and where to invest in multichannel marketing, and you want to be able to tie revenue to investments in specific channels. To do that, you have to develop a marketing model that supports the company's goals across channels. Such a model will differ from those of traditional marketing in two respects: Multichannel initiatives will often last for more than a quarter they could even be multiyear efforts, so traditional quarter-by-quarter budgeting will hinder your success. You need to invest to build your organization's capabilities over time. Multichannel marketing poses the extra challenge of attributing revenue to each channel. Someone may buy on your website, but you also need to know what happened before the sale in social media, mobile or some other channel. Take those away and maybe the sale never happens. Planned Research Our 2013 research will describe some marketing models you can adapt for your multichannel initiatives. We'll explore the technology landscape in digital marketing and which technologies you should investigate for multichannel marketing (for instance, in Hype Cycles and Impact Appraisals). We'll show you mistakes to avoid. We'll also give you some toolkits to help measure ROI in multichannel marketing initiatives. Page 4 of 7 Gartner, Inc. G

5 Related Priorities Key Initiatives address significant business opportunities and threats, and typically have defined objectives, substantial financial implications, and high organizational visibility. They are normally implemented by a designated team with clear roles and responsibilities, as well as defined performance objectives. Table 1. Related Priorities for Multichannel Marketing Key Initiative Digital Marketing Essentials Emerging Marketing Trends Data-Driven Marketing Mobile Marketing Monetizing Digital Marketing Through Commerce Social Marketing Focus CMOs oversee traditional marketing activities, as well as digital marketing, and may also lead or influence strategic planning, product development, corporate communications and sales. Emerging marketing trends, such as big data, social media, augmented reality and context-aware computing, create new opportunities to acquire and retain customers, fueling growth and taking market share. Data-driven marketing refers to acquiring, analyzing and applying all information about customer and consumer wants, needs and motivations. Mobile marketing involves using information about people's context (location, identity, relationships and intentions) to tailor information and products that will increase customer engagement and sales. E-commerce uses the Internet, mobile networks and commerce infrastructure to execute transactions with consumers or businesses and to support marketing and other activities around these transactions. Social marketing is a strategy that uses social media to listen to and engage customers and cultivate brand advocates. It can shorten product development cycles, boost innovation and increase conversion rates. Source: Gartner (January 2013) Suggested Next Steps Think of marketing as a nonstop process with a rolling quarterly plan, not a set of independent activities and programs. Measure the combination of activities to show how they support business objectives, not the individual activities. Show plans with choices and results at different levels of investment, so leadership understands exactly what it is paying for or choosing not to fund. Develop customized analytics models internally for multichannel projects that differentiate the business. Your competitors can access commercially available models, too. Link common datasets with internal datasets that nobody else has access to. Gartner, Inc. G Page 5 of 7

6 Recommended Reading Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. "Use This Framework for Multichannel Campaign Management" "Use Our Marketing Investment Model to Increase Your Impact on the Business" "Don't Get Trapped by Six Marketing Myths" "Take Three Steps to Exploit Online Buyer Information" Agenda Manager Profile Jennifer Beck serves digital marketing leaders, specializing in multichannel marketing across digital and offline channels. She offers advice to CMOs and CEOs on how to competitively position their companies, create and manage their brands, enter the digital arena, and maximize marketing and sales investments. Ms. Beck has also developed a series of models and planning tools to help companies develop corporate identity and branding initiatives, growth blueprints, partner strategies, go-to-market programs, and more effective sales models. She keynotes Gartner conferences and presents at various industry venues. Page 6 of 7 Gartner, Inc. G

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