According to digital marketing experts, only one in five organizations is good at digital marketing. Lack of innovation is challenged and the dearth of value-added thinking that organizations need to address and optimize their digital operations remains a high priority.
The average marketing budget will increase by 6.3% in 2013, according to Aberdeen Business Review (August 2012). So where will marketing spend this budget in 2013? In most cases, this can be a difficult question. However, the most likely answer is that marketing will spend on whatever works. Best-in-class organizations are setting the pace to establish consistent and measurable lead management processes, establish marketing and sales alignment, and systematically track marketing revenue performance. The need of the hour is to expand the use of marketing automation systems. Revenue Performance Management capabilities, such as a process for defining marketing ROI, cost of customer acquisition, and closed-loop reporting that gives marketers the ability to streamline lead management processes, are expanding. adopting quickly. More and more companies have begun to integrate social media with their demand generation and customer acquisition programs, the trend is for businesses to use social media as a signal for lead scoring and content personalization.
As content marketing capabilities continue to mature, companies need to become more strategic in their content marketing implementation. They need to align content with the buyer’s journey and measure its impact. Today’s dynamic marketing environments ensure that marketers must have far greater control over content. As digital marketers try to understand how to transition to modern content marketing, the data gained from granular metrics is invaluable in a transition that meets the demand generation requirements of the business.
To overcome the challenges in managing the overall digital experience, marketers need to think of their own digital channels as part of a unified marketing system, comprised of multiple top-tier digital platforms for web content management, marketing automation, CRM, etc. . All platforms and technology must communicate with each other as part of an integrated digital solution.
How to take advantage of an integrated digital solution:
The closed-loop engagement cycle is the model used to gain customer understanding:
´ Use analytics and forms to capture behavior and profile
´ Analyze the customer context
´ Packaging content to align with customer context
Use the buying cycle to understand how, when, and what to engage prospects with at each step of the buying process:
´ Understand your customer’s mindset through the buying cycle journey
´ Determine the target groups within your audience
´ Understand and align messages with the segment and its objections
´ Implement multi-channel platforms
Leverage digital platforms for multi-channel engagement that aligns with customer expectations and drives acquisition:
´ Take advantage of the three key digital platforms (CMS, marketing automation and CRM)
´ Integration of the three platforms to obtain a common vision of the customer in all channels
´ Both web CMS and marketing automation allow marketers to define rules that govern what content is displayed in a context
´ Automate the engagement cycle
´ Nurture leads through the buying cycle to the point where they are sales-ready
´ Deliver leads that are ready to interact with the sales team
Also, since the dynamics of digital marketing are constantly evolving, your digital solution must be based on user feedback and data analysis to adjust your message to the ever-changing demands of each segment of your target audience.