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CMO Archives - NVISION, A BradyPLUS Company

NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In CMO, Marketing ROI, Digital Marketing, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategy, Accountability, Business Forecast & Trends

Redefining CMOs Roles in 2020

man with chess board - full

The definition of CMO is blurring across the business landscape; the advancement of Martech and the accessibility to data is forcing the traditional CMO to evolve and expand their responsibilities.

Elite CMOs are expected to play a pivotal role as growth drivers in the organization, and this is where the integration of a CMOs role begins. Recently, Forrester Research published an article predicting how the role of a successful CMO will evolve beyond 2020, and here’s how.

growth chart-CMO's mindset1

Own the Customer Experience

As the landscape of marketing steers away from focusing on the legacy strategy in acquiring new customers to creating a direct-to-customer environment by providing hyper-personalization, the expectations of CMOs have also shifted to become an owner of the customer experience across all touchpoints.

To maintain this ownership and thrive even further, CMOs need to capitalize on data science and analytics to provide impeccable customer experiences while, at the same time, being compliant with the regulations that govern the privacy of data.

2020 represents a year of re-imagining CMOs roles to transform into an influencer of the customer experience by creating and positioning the marketing ecosystem.

people shaking hands-partnership

CMO is No Longer Chief Marketing Officer

The CMOs role will no longer be about being Chief Marketing Officer. The role now has more dynamic responsibilities as being a Collaborating Marketing Officer or Contributing Marketing Officer.

Marketing should interconnect everyone throughout the organization. That’s how you build your brand unity, brand voice, and brand image. Without this continuity, you can’t sell, connect, or service your brand. The entire organization must stand behind the consistency and the value of the brand that they represent.

According to the article, “In 2020, one designated C-suite leader will be responsible for all that surrounds the customer, clarifying the role of marketing in a business environment obsessed with growth.” And that role will most likely be filled by the CMO. A connector that amplifies the growth goal and the brand vision with C-suite members and decision-makers, and a contributor to influence both the internal and external brand impact.

CMOs must find ways to collaborate with a multi-layer of influencers to drive impact across the business by connecting different facets of the business.

business woman speaking to associates

2020 Vision Required

Generational gaps are slowly creeping in the marketing world as younger groups of leading management emerge. The perspectives on long-term growth goals and identifying barriers for the growth may differ by generation.

Regardless of these generational gaps on how to interpret strategic goals and success, the role of the CMO must comply with the business growth goal while satisfying all levels of the audience, both internally and externally. Smart CMOs should account for this generational trend by developing a succession plan for long-term growth. One of the prime responsibilities of CMOs is to prepare the next generation of marketers with the forward vision that is better suited for the new marketing landscape.

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2020 will be the year that many CMOs will transform to expand their influences and responsibilities.

The sophisticated customer demands will force CMOs to take ownership of developing a memorable and impactful customer experience, while creating the culture of the brand, to influencing internal decision-makers and developing the next generation CMOs.

It may sound like a big weight to carry, but for CMOs that prioritize the right objectives, it should be a successful 2020 and beyond.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In CMO, Marketing ROI, Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategy

CMO’s Guide: Capitalizing on Emerging Marketing Trends Beyond 2020

man with ipad

The landscape of the marketing industry is in constant motion. These changes present new opportunities for marketers to engage with consumers to drive sales. However, some brands are struggling to keep up with changes in the industry, and are consequently falling behind as the broader retail landscape changes.

According to Charles Golvin, as quoted by Chris Pemberton in his Gartner article, “Shifting consumer behaviors and technology innovation deprive marketers of equilibrium. Recovering that equilibrium will require organizational alacrity, a laser focus on customer needs, and a balanced embrace of automation.”

In order to ensure future success, brands need to find ways to capitalize on the current changes in the industry. So, what can brand marketers do to gain benefits from emerging marketing forces in the coming years?

shop with digital network graphics - retail continuity

Adapt to Consumer Behavioral Changes

Consumers are changing the way they shop. Technology plays a major role in this evolution of the modern shopper. Customers now use voice commands, wherever they are, to get tips and advice from automated voice interfaces as if it were a human. Brand marketers need to ensure that their brand comes up as a suggestion when customers search for a particular product through voice automation.

Along with using voice commands, consumers respond enormously to video content. Brands should recognize this emerging preference and focus on producing creative, engaging video content to capture the attention of potential customers. By discovering how to use new consumption formats to reach your target consumers, you can increase the effectiveness of your marketing presence and drive sales for your brand.

marketing meeting

Partner With Experts

As we already know, many brands collect personal data from shoppers. But the simple act of gathering information doesn’t lead to results by itself. Brand marketers need to figure out how to properly analyze and utilize the data that they have.

Brands need to ensure that they employ analytical talent with the expertise necessary to extract valuable insights from large amounts of data. As Pemberton explains, “Based on the Gartner Marketing Analytics survey, nearly half of marketing leaders surveyed said some of their most expensive and experienced analysts and data scientists spend their time preparing data to be analyzed rather than analyzing the data.” The problem is that many data analysts are simply “missing the mark” when it comes to effectively utilizing personal information to market towards a target audience.

When brand marketers know how to put consumer data into action, they are able to focus on personalizing the customer experience, which results in higher profits and increased conversion rates. An effective way to capture the attention of customers is through personalized, creative marketing materials that can engage customers with call-to-action.

AI-machine learning

Marketing with Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence is an important technology that has strongly impacted the marketing industry. The increased use of sophisticated technology for marketing may pose challenges for brand marketers, especially those who are convinced that legacy marketing tactics are the only effective way to reach customers. What brands need to realize is that an effective, balanced combination of physical marketing tactics and digital marketing methods is required for brands to remain profitable in the current age.

Brand marketers can capitalize on the emergence of new automation devices by delivering personalized communications to consumers. Pemberton explains, “Vendors promise their AI solutions will yield increases in marketer efficiency and deliver optimal communications to prospects and customers at the moment of maximum influence.”

As automation methods continue to dominate the marketing industry, marketing teams will experience a disruption in the way they perform. But, when brand marketers see technological advances as new opportunities, as opposed to problems, they can invent and implement innovative methods to improve marketing outcomes and customer experiences.

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The changing terrain of marketing in the coming years doesn’t mean that you will struggle. Instead, brand marketers should see these market challenges as opportunities to redefine their business by thinking of new, creative ways to engage with customers and drive sales.

Adapting to customers’ behavioral changes related to shopping, hiring experts who know how to effectively analyze data to improve marketing tactics, and capitalizing on the use of machines for marketing are important steps you can take as a brand marketer in order to flourish in today’s challenging market. By understanding these useful actions, brands are more likely to remain profitable and ensure a prosperous future for their business.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In CMO, Marketing ROI, Marketing Trends, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategy, Business Forecast & Trends

Next Generation CMOs: Transformation Leaders

butterfly out of cocoon

The marketing industry is constantly evolving. These changes bring new opportunities and roles for CMOs and the brands they represent, alike. Brand marketers today are stepping away from legacy marketing tactics and inventing new, exciting campaigns to reach customers.

According to Deloitte’s Jen Veenstra in her article, “If CMO roles as we’ve defined them have required proficiency not only in marketing but across multiple business functions, the job has expanded even further in complexity to include sustainable growth, highly personalized customer experiences, and advanced marketing innovation.”

In order to ensure success, CMOs need to embrace and step into key strategic roles. By doing so, you will increase opportunities to enhance brand awareness, driving revenue for your business, and expanding your own professional repertoire.

man on a toy car in flame - growth

Growth Driver

It is vital that CMOs drive growth for their brand. When they fail to establish and implement initiatives for improvement centered on growth, the brand suffers.

Most CMOs measure growth using revenue. However, this seems like a daunting task to accurately attribute, and many marketers experience disconnect when trying to drive growth through revenue.

But CMOs must put in the effort to become comfortable using revenue as a metric for growth by adopting the new role as enterprise business growth leader.

At the end of the day, one of the critical responsibilities that a CMO has is to have an end-to-end view of the customer, acknowledging trends, and making strategic recommendations to outsmart the competition to grow business. It is, ultimately, the bottom line for C-Suite decision-makers.

Customer Champion

Embracing customer data and intelligence are important ways for brands to deliver better customer experiences. You can gain valuable insights by collecting and tracking both emotional and transactional preferences from consumers across all channels.

CMOs can then use this data to become the “voice” for their shoppers. And, consequently, CMOs will more effectively engage with their target group of consumers and provide a personalized buying experience.

When brands know what consumers want and what their expectations are, they can implement marketing approaches that personally “speak” to customers.

businessman holding tablet

Storyteller

Riveting, intriguing stories engage consumers’ interest. So, CMOs should ensure that they effectively assume the role of storyteller. By creating and sharing an entertaining narrative about your brand and value, shoppers will be more drawn to what you have to say, and more attracted to your products. Marketers can reshape their brand’s image through the stories they tell consumers.

As Veenstra explains, “It’s still up to marketers to safeguard and disseminate the news about their companies’ brands and invite consumers to participate in the narrative. Chief storytellers have been defined by their part in promoting brand relevance and consistency, and it appears they aren’t straying far away from this role.” Growth-oriented CMOs see storytelling as a thriving and exciting opportunity to connect with customers.

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CMOs no longer have only one role to follow. Brand marketers who want to remain profitable and relevant in today’s ever-changing market must wear different “hats,” hence, the future roles of CMO are likely to become even more complex. By adopting the enterprise-wide mindset to align with the shared goals, and to become a brand’s voice for consumers, CMOs will become the major player behind their company’s success.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In CMO, Marketing ROI, Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Marketing Performance Measurement, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategy, Accountability

Top Ways ABM Is Creating Opportunities for CMOs

Think of traditional marketing as fishing with a net – designed to reach as broad and wide as possible to snare any potential deals of all sizes. This works well if your goal is not to miss any opportunities but ultimately leads to significant waste.

Then there is ABM or account-based marketing. Compared to traditional marketing, ABM is like spearfishing – targeting only the ideal accounts that are most likely to close and/or generate the most revenue. That’s why, according to a recent report by ITSMA, 87 percent of companies state that ABM delivers a higher ROI than traditional marketing.

So, why should CMOs care about ABM in 2019? Jon Miller of Engagio explains some of the best reasons.

professional meeting - ABM

Better Alignment With Sales

One of the most common frustrations CMOs face is a lack of alignment with sales teams. With different goals, KPIs, and responsibilities, marketing teams often find themselves pursuing one thing while sales is actively pursuing another.

The result? Your prospects receive mixed messages and inconsistent marketing materials. That weakens your brand. But with ABM, marketing and sales are more fully aligned. With a small selection of specific, hand-picked accounts, CMOs can produce marketing materials that are more personalized, targeted, and branded just for those accounts. Marketing and sales are now working in tandem, sharing the same goal of landing those identified accounts.

And that means better ROI for CMOs. In fact, according to SiriusDecisions, sales and marketing alignment can drive up to 36 percent more business growth and 27 percent faster profit growth.

Stronger Brand Recognition

Related to the “waste” associated with traditional marketing methods mentioned above, even the strength of your brand can get lost in the shuffle. For every mass email blast that reaches an audience it wasn’t intended for, your brand is seen as inaccurate, irrelevant, or – worst of all – pitching a message that you did not intend for that customer to hear.

“ABM allows [CMOs] to establish and cultivate trust with your customers, thereby building a strong brand over time,” Miller explains. “If you take the time to utilize the core tenants of ABM, and send a personal and relevant message to a targeted audience,” you are able to portray your brand as an authority, a trusted advisor, and an approachable resource. That specificity and intentionality strengthen your brand.

brand idea poster - onsite services

Marketing Guides the Customer Journey

ABM is a “land and expand” type of strategy. It involves identifying and targeting accounts that are not only ideal new customers but that present likely upselling and cross-selling opportunities as well. “ABM guides intelligent account expansion at existing customer accounts,” Miller says. “In ABM, all customer-facing teams work in harmony to ensure a buyer’s experience is positive, consistent, and in context with the rest of the account.”

This means that ABM uniquely puts CMOs in charge of creating the customer’s journey since CMOs are the best-qualified people in most organizations to safely steward the brand’s identity and value propositions across multiple channels.

“It is about providing a holistic view of each account, coordinating interactions across departments for every stage of the customer experience, and measuring results with an account-centric lens,” Miller continues. “The right person to own the coordination and orchestration of the relationships is [the CMO] because they have the technology and skills to do so.” ABM presents savvy CMOs with an opportunity to apply their strategic expertise to real-world account-based campaigns.

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Account-based marketing, or ABM, is changing how marketers generate leads for the better. With this new focused, granular outlook, ABM presents CMOs with several exciting opportunities to improve both the public perception of their brands and the operational effectiveness of their marketing departments. And that can lead to better ROI, more qualified leads, and stronger revenue forecasts.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Print Marketing, Direct Mail

2019 Top Marketing Trends: The Holy Matrimony of Digital and Print Marketing

print-holy matrimony

As forward-looking brands begin to build their marketing plans for 2019 and beyond, a few key trends have already started to emerge and will be important areas of focus for CMOs and marketing teams in the coming year. That’s according to John Hall of Forbes, who explains that more than ever, effective management of marketing operations resources – and its benefits – will be the way savvy brands set themselves apart in 2019.

Digital Advertisements Are Losing Effectiveness

Call it digital fatigue or an inevitable result of technology, but online advertisements – which used to be the hottest new things in marketing – are beginning to reach their saturation point. In fact, according to Business Insider, 30 percent of all internet users are expected to be using some form of online ad blocker by the end of 2019. Explains Hall, “[This] means that traditional digital ads now won’t even reach 30 percent of possible target audience members.” To get around this and reach that untapped audience, CMOs will need to get more creative with their marketing materials.

Creative Marketing Materials Can Set Your Brand Apart

As we mentioned above, no one is saying digital is dead. But to maintain (and grow) its effectiveness, ROI, and conversion rates, CMOs must find creative new ways to keep it fresh. And one of the best ways to do that is by linking it to your print and physical marketing activities. “People have been saying for a long time that print is dead,” Hall explains, “but I recently came across a company that used software to obtain physical addresses for clients and started sending them print newsletters. I also found that this campaign was extremely successful.”

Another compelling new trend using print marketing to add increased value to digital marketing is using postcards and direct mailers with URL links to digital assets. Sending direct mailers with URLs to digital assets is a clever – and creative – way to make your marketing rise above the digital noise, spam folders, and ad blockers.

man shaking hands partnership

Strategic Partnerships Correct Many Internal Roadblocks

Many otherwise savvy brands balk at the idea of using an external partner to manage any aspect of their marketing operations. But understanding the strategic benefits of these partnerships can add real value and help internal marketing teams hit their quotas. “There’s too much red tape with other departments,” Hall says as he describes the attitude of many internal teams. But bringing in outside management of certain activities can “fuel other parts of the company, resulting in better talent, lower costs, and improved relationships with investors.”

And indeed, that is the real added value of strategic marketing partnerships in 2019. With more and more “X as a service” industries opening up, more and more areas for highly specialized expertise have emerged. And by leveraging this expertise in specific areas – like print management or marketing supply chains – your brand can actually do more and enjoy a greater ROI than would be possible without the partnership.

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As 2019 draws near, new marketing trends are on the horizon for CMOs everywhere. By keeping these tips in mind – not relying solely on digital, using print marketing to add value to your digital efforts, and leveraging trusted partnerships – your brand can succeed and stand out from the crowd in the new year.

 

[This] Business Insider, Mar 23, 2017. “30% of all Internet users will ad block by 2018.”

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

LEARN MORE