What are the world’s top marketers thinking as they enter 2018? Salesforce.com decided to ask them. Every year, the company surveys marketers around the world about the state of the marketplace, how the channel mix is changing, and how they are feeling about their marketing practices.
In the report, “The Fourth Annual State of Marketing,” respondents are divided into three categories: top performers (those who are “highly satisfied” with their marketing outcomes), underperformers (those who are “slightly” or “highly unsatisfied” with their marketing outcomes), and moderate performers (everyone in the middle).
Here are some of the characteristics of top performers compared to underperformers. Which category would you put yourself in?
Customer journey alignment: Top performers are 2.4x more likely to align marketing roles to a customer journey strategy than underperformers.
Data integration: Top performers are 4.2x more likely to be satisfied with their ability to leverage customer data to create more relevant experiences.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Top performers are 3.1x more likely to use artificial intelligence in their customer-facing tools, data analysis, and other marketing functions.
Channel coordination: Top performers are 12.8x more likely to heavily coordinate marketing efforts across channels.
This is a very different marketing world than we were living in even a decade ago. This is a world driven by data and centered around the customer. Are you ready for the opportunities and challenges this offers? If not, pick our brains! We’re here to help.
Source: “Fourth Annual State of Marketing” (Salesforce.com, 2017)