To blaze trails in the Age of the Customer, marketers need to know what's top-of-mind for their peers and understand what practices set top teams apart from the rest. Join this session to arm yourself with the results from the fourth annual "State of Marketing" research study, based on a global survey of 3,500 marketing leaders. You'll learn about key trends that are changing the face of marketing, such as the evolution of customer journey strategies, the growth and influence of various channels, how teams are leveraging emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, and more.
4. Customers Expect a New Level of Engagement
Benchmarks are consistency, personalization, and proactivity
Percentage who expect companies to
provide a consistent experience
across every channel
88%
75%
Percentage who are likely to switch
from a brand that treats them like
a number instead of an individual
72%
66%
“State of the Connected Customer,” Salesforce Research, October 2016
Percentage who are likely to
switch from a brand that
doesn’t anticipate their needs
64%
50%
ConsumersBusiness Buyers
5. The Marketing Playbook has Transformed
Customer journey strategies fuel customer experience imperatives
68% of marketing leaders say
their company is increasingly
competing on the basis of
customer experience.
67% of marketing leaders
say creating a connected customer
journey is critical to their overall
marketing strategy success.
6. Key Research Findings
Marketing
Embraces the
AI Revolution
Shifting Priorities Spark
Organizational Change
Marketing
Tech Makes
Waves
Marketers Move to
Evolve Journeys, but
Data Woes Linger
7. Insufficient internal
resources
Budgetary constraints Budgetary constraints
Insufficient internal
resources
Budgetary constraints
Marketers Struggle to Unite Customer Data
A single view to drive cohesive journeys remains elusive
1
2
3
High Performers Moderate Performers Underperformers
Top Challenges Marketing Leaders Face in Creating a Connected Customer Experience
across the Customer Lifecycle by Performance Level
Creating a shared, single
view of the customer
Difficulty leveraging data
from different sources
Difficulty leveraging data
from different sources
Difficulty leveraging data
from different sources
8. Channel Proliferation Ups the Ante
Customers expect seamless experiences on new and expanding channels
Actual Channel Growth 2015—2017
Video advertising
SMS/text messaging
Mobile apps
Native advertising /
sponsored content
Advertising on
social platforms
B2B*
Video advertising
Email marketing
Mobile apps
SMS/text messaging
Native advertising /
sponsored content
B2C
Average Number of Channels Used
High performers 11
Moderate performers 9
Underperformers 6
9. A New Standard for Customer Journeys Emerges
Top marketers coordinate messages across channels
High performers 43% 47% 11%
Moderate performers
Underperformers
Volume of Channel Coordination by Performance Level
Moderate coordinationHeavy coordination Minimal coordination
3% 58% 38%
16% 69% 15%
* Heavy coordination is defined as coordination across 10–11 of the channels defined.
Moderate coordination is defined as coordination across 4–9 of the channels defined.
Minimal coordination is defined as coordination across 0–3 of the channels defined.
10. Key Research Findings
Marketing
Embraces the
AI Revolution
Marketers Move to
Evolve Journeys, but
Data Woes Linger
Marketing
Tech Makes
Waves
Shifting Priorities Spark
Organizational Change
11. Top Marketers Rethink Organizational Structures
Roles increasingly map to customer journeys, not channels
89%
62% 37%
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.4x
more likely to say they’re aligning
marketing roles to a customer journey
strategy vs. traditional roles (e.g., by
marketing channel/function)
59% of marketing leaders say that
traditional marketing roles limit their
ability to engage customers.
High performers
Moderate performers
Underperformers
12. I understand how marketing’s
efforts impact individual
accounts/customers
Marketing consistently provides
sales with quality leads
Marketing and sales are
empowered to collaborate
Marketing and sales share
common goals and metrics
Marketing understands what
sales needs to succeed
Sales and Marketing Alignment Drives Success
In their shift to trusted advisors, sales depends on marketing more than ever
Percentage of Marketing Leaders That Strongly Agree or Agree with the
Following Statements about Their Relationships with Sales
92%
70%
45%
90%
70%
41%
91%
69%
45%
91%
69%
42%
89%
68%
45%
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.0x
more likely
2.2x
more likely
2.0x
more likely
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.1x
more likely
2.0x
more likely
Moderate performersHigh performers Underperformers
13. Marketing and service collaborate
on a regular basis
Marketing alerts service to
special promotions and offers
Marketing and service share
common goals and metrics
Service collaborates with
marketing to manage & respond
to social inquiries & issues
Marketing is suppressed when
a customer has an open
service case
Collaboration With Service Closes The Lifecycle Journey
Cross-selling and customer satisfaction hinge on a new dynamic
Percentage of Marketing Leaders Who Strongly Agree or Agree with the
Following Statements about Their Relationships with Service
90%
66%
42%
87%
67%
39%
89%
64%
39%
88%
64%
37%
81%
55%
33%
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.1x
more likely
2.2x
more likely
2.3x
more likely
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.4x
more likely
2.5x
more likely
Moderate performersHigh performers Underperformers
14. Shifting Priorities Spark
Organizational Change
Key Research Findings
Marketing
Embraces the
AI Revolution
Marketers Move to
Evolve Journeys, but
Data Woes Linger
Marketing
Tech Makes
Waves
15. Marketing Tech Evolves for a New Era
Marketers are turning to new solutions to connect with discerning customers
Percentage of Marketing Leaders Who Use or Plan to Use the Following
Tools or Technology over the Next Two Years
Anticipated
YoY Growth
+53%
Artificial intelligence (AI) 51% 27%
+34%
Internet of Things
(IoT)/connected devices 66% 23%
+31%
Marketing automation platform 67% 21%
+31%
Social listening tools 67% 20%
Anticipated
YoY Growth
+30%
Customer identity and access
management (CIAM) 68% 20%
+30%
Mobile campaign management 68% 20%
+30%
Lead nurturing and scoring tools 66% 20%
+28%
Data management
platform (DMP) 70% 19%
Plan to useCurrently use
16. CRM system
Data targeting and
segmentation
Social publishing tools
Marketing analytics /
measurement tools
High Performers Turn to Sophisticated Data Management
New capabilities boost 1-to-1 engagement
1
2
3
High Performers Moderate Performers Underperformers
Most Essential Tools and Technologies to Create 1-to-1 Marketing
Across Every Touchpoint
Data management platform
CRM system
Marketing analytics /
measurement tools
Marketing analytics /
measurement tools
Guided selling
(e.g., opportunity ranking by potential
value, sales activity effectiveness)
17. Marketing
Tech Makes
Waves
Shifting Priorities Spark
Organizational Change
Key Research Findings
Marketers Move to
Evolve Journeys, but
Data Woes Linger
Marketing
Embraces the
AI Revolution
18. AI Yields a New Era of Predictive Personalization
Early adopters find a new mainstay of their arsenal
72%
50%
32%
High Performers vs.
Underperformers
2.2x
more likely to say they’re currently
using artificial intelligence (AI)
57% of marketers using AI
say it’s absolutely or very essential
to creating 1-to-1 marketing across
every touchpoint.
High performers
Moderate performers
Underperformers
19. AI Yields a New Era of Predictive Personalization
Early adopters find a new mainstay of their arsenal
Areas Where Marketing Leaders Expect AI Will Have a Substantial or Transformational
Impact on Their Business over the Next Five Years
Sentiment analysis 56%
Lead scoring
Customer segmentation /
lookalike audience modeling
Campaign analytics
57%
58%
59%
Digital asset management 59%
Predictive journey
Dynamic landing pages
and websites
Hyperpersonalization of content
60%
61%
61%
20. How Can Your Team Join the High Performers?
What High Performers Do Differently
Drive
connected
customer
journeys with
data
Revamp
organizational
structures and
workflows
Keep their tech
stacks fresh
Stay on the
cutting edge with
AI
TALK TRACK:
If you’ve followed this series for a while, you know that this is our fourth annual study in which we survey global marketers.
Our research objectives are to find out:
What trends are changing the role of marketing?
What are marketers’ biggest challenges?
Which marketing channels and tactics are growing in importance?
What do high-performing marketers do differently?
DESIGN NOTES:
Source for chart (left): p.2 of report
Source for chart (right): p.3 of report
TALK TRACK:
Who we surveyed:
Global study – covers respondents in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
Marketing leaders – must have seniority of manager or above (including directors, VPs, SVPs, and CMOs).
Methodology:
We use double blind third-party sampling, which means respondents didn’t know Salesforce was asking these questions, and the respondents weren’t necessarily Salesforce customers (we wouldn’t know) – this is a true study of the broader market.
How we analyze data:
We analyze data relative to performance of respondents’ marketing teams, defined as their level of satisfaction with the outcomes from their marketing investments. High performers are “extremely satisfied”, while underperformers are “slightly or not at all satisfied”.
DESIGN NOTES:
Please highlight/bold/change color of the following text in the bar charts:
“provide a consistent experience across every channel”
”switch from a brand that treats them like a number”
“switch from a brand that doesn’t anticipate their needs”
DESIGN NOTES:
Please highlight/bold/change color of the following text:
“increasingly competing on the basis of customer experience.”
“creating a connected customer journey” “critical to their overall marketing strategy success.”
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart: p.8 of report
TALK TRACK:
We established that marketers today are striving to create connected customer journeys to win on this new battlefield. But what holds them back?
It’s interesting to point out that for the underperformers and moderate performers in our survey, budget is the No.1 challenge. In other words, they haven’t made these strategies as much of a priority as the high performers, who cite budget constraints as less of an issue.
For all three groups, however, creating that elusive shared, single view of the customer – and marrying all the data that’s needed in order to achieve it – is a primary road block.
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart (right): p.10 of report
Format table on left in more visually appealing manner
On the right, please highlight/bold/change color of the following text (in both B2B and B2C columns) (Note – We’re highlighting the channels that are experiencing big growth for both B2B and B2C. If there’s an interesting way to link these besides (or in addition to) bolding/highlighting, we’re all for it.):
“Video advertising”
”SMS/text messaging”
“Mobile apps”
“Native advertising/sponsored content”
TALK TRACK:
For many companies, customer data is housed in a host of different systems of record and systems of engagement, which makes uniting that data to drive cohesive journeys difficult in the first place.
Compounding this is the fact that there are so many new digital channels through which customers can – and expect – to engage with companies. In fact, respondents to our survey say that today, they dedicate 34% of their marketing budgets to channels they didn’t know about five years ago. All those channels create even more data.
More channels -> more data-> more opportunity/more challenge
High-performers are especially challenged by this – they know they have to be on any channel their customer wants, so they’re, on average, active on nearly double the number of channels as underperformers.
This is a particular challenge for B2B brands, who are now realizing that their customers’ consumer behaviors are creeping into their business buying behavior – and are racing to catch up on channels they never dreamed of, like SMS/text and social platforms.
Industry: Media & Communications
Segment: EBU
BSkyB
BSkyB Uses SMS Surveys to Become a Customer Company
BSkyB, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, is the largest pay-tv provider in the UK with entertainment products and services across sports, movies, entertainment arts, and news through numerous traditional and digital channels.
BSkyB has implemented a Net Promoter Score Program that currently surveys about 100,000 customers a day with over 3 million pieces of feedback a year to help capture and act upon customer feedback.
Challenge
Phone surveys, online surveys, and email surveys had very low response rates for BSkyB.
BSkyB needed a way to retrieve better response rates and higher quality feedback through their Net Promoter Score Program.
BSkyB ties employee bonuses to feedback from their Net Promoter Score, so it is vital to retrieve very large amounts of quality feedback from customers.
Solution
Using MobileConnect services, BSkyB is able to send personalized SMS messages allowing customers to provide feedback right through their mobile phones.
BSkyB uses Marketing Cloud to link this data to the rest of their customer data in order to understand the impact the feedback has on their business and balance customer needs with company needs.
In the future, they have aspirations to use Marketing Cloud to also retrieve feedback on television content in real-time as customers are consuming the content.
Daragh Kelly noted, “Marketing Cloud has a window into the world of mobile that we simply don’t have.”
Results
Because of the real-time nature of their SMS surveys, BSkyB is able to retrieve massive volumes of high quality feedback much quicker than any other tactic they have used. Since launching the SMS Net Promoter Score Program, BskyB has seen:
Up to a 40% response rate on the SMS program
An increase of 30% in the response rates compared to other channels
Over 100,000 customer surveys a day with over 3 million pieces of feedback a year
Pull-Out Quote
“Marketing Cloud gives us a way to access the future in a much quicker, cheaper, and efficient way than we could ever manage on our own.” – Daragh Kelly, Insight Innovation Director, BskyB
DESIGN NOTES:
Sources for chart: pg.14 of report
TALK TRACK:
Your customers are channel-agnostic. They expect contextual experiences, they don’t like repetition, and they expect to move across media seamlessly. So how do roles like “Email Marketing Manager” and “Social Media Manager” fit in to this dynamic?
In fact, the majority of marketers we spoke with say that such traditional marketing roles limit their ability to engage with today’s customers, and most are actually restructuring their roles to align with a customer journey strategy. Most, that is, except for the underperforming marketers, whose high performing counterparts are nearly two-and-a-half times as likely to be making such moves.
The bottom line? You’re going to see a lot more Lifecycle Marketing Managers and Customer Engagement Managers in marketing departments, particularly at companies that are thriving.
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart: p.19 of report
TALK TRACK:
As the expectations of customers become more sophisticated, so too are marketers’ toolboxes. This year, marketers told us they are heavily invested in some pretty advanced technology, and still more told us they’re planning to do so over the next two years. In fact, we’re seeing double-digit projected growth in all of the technologies you see here, led by none other than artificial intelligence (AI).
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart: p.21 of report
TALK TRACK:
While underperformers know the importance of good data management for driving 1-1 marketing across touchpoints, they may not appreciate just how far data management technology has come. These struggling marketers place their biggest bet on data targeting and segmentation (which, by definition, groups customers together rather than treating them as individuals).
High-performing marketers, on the other hand, are bullish on Data Management Platforms when it comes to 1-to-1 marketing.
Of course, it’s worth noting that CRM is seen as a top technology for 1-to-1 marketing by high and moderate performers, alike, while it’s not on the radar for underperformers.
Industry: Retail
Segment: GB
MEDIA OPTIMIZATION. Start with suppressing the long tail – over-delivery is rife in the industry. We’ve seen that 20% of media is being delivered more than 30 times per month
There is also a minimum number of impressions required to drive a conversion (unless your creative is awesome, it’s unlikely viewers will convert on the first impression. Krux helps determine the sweet spot of impression delivery (5-10 impressions per month for food), or this number can be provided by marketing mix models. Krux can segment and push with priority a “short tail” segment, with a priority flag, or at a higher bid price. If you can see incremental conversions with each additional conversions, you can determine how much to pa for each additional impression. E.g. if we’re usually buying at $5, but know that conversions happen at the 4th impressions, we may pay $10 for the group at the 3rd impression because we know the next impression is valuable in driving conversion.
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart: p.23 of report
TALK TRACK:
Overall, 51% of marketers are using AI. While this may sound like a lot, customer-facing applications of AI – like product recommendation engines and dynamic content – have their roots in marketing use cases.
DESIGN NOTES:
- Source for chart: p.24 of report
- Chart should be reformatted so that the bars are all one color and organized in descending order according to percentage.
Industry: Retail
Segment: GB
Products or Features: Marketing Cloud (Email Studio, Personalization Builder)
Date Story Created: June 2015
Company Overview: For more than 30 years, Room & Board has focused on the simple idea that good design should be beautiful, affordable and long-lasting. The company works closely with American artisans to offer modern furniture and accessories — even custom pieces — that fit the needs of modern life.
Business Challenge: In the highly competitive home furnishings industry, Room & Board sought to further differentiate its customer experience by making its e-commerce site interactions more like its in-store experience. The marketing and merchandising team controlled all the content, product placements, and recommendations on the Web and in e-mail communications, but sought a more sophisticated and automated means to provide recommendations to online customers.
Salesforce Solution: After reviewing various solutions available in the marketplace, Room & Board selected Salesforce Marketing Cloud because of its Predictive Intelligence capabilities. The team worked with Salesforce professional services for a period of approximately 3 months to build out the product recommendations algorithms, import both online and offline sales and marketing data, and launch the new analytics-driven Web site.
Deploying Salesforce Marketing Cloud Predictive Intelligence enabled Room & Board to better align its online customer experience with its in-store experience while using the intelligence of the software to automate the predictive selling process. Key benefits of the project include:
Improved customer experience. A more engaging Web site experience that is tailored to customers’ needs and preferences is better aligned with Room & Board’s overall company strategy and drives a higher-quality buying experience.
Increased staff productivity. Staff are no longer responsible for manual creation of the promotions and offers generated by the predictive intelligence application, freeing up their time for other tasks.
Increased sales. Customers are more likely to purchase additional products when they are offered suggestions, driving greater profits. In fact, the direct conversion from customers who engage with predictive content is 150 percent higher than those who do not, and the average order value is 16 percent higher.
Results:
ROI: 2900%
Payback: 2 months
Average Annual Benefit: $2,721,669
Increased average order value by 16%
The direct conversion from customers who engage with predictive content and then click to buy within the predictive content module is 150 percent higher than the site average.
Vision: “Salesforce allows us to create more of that one-to-one relationship we have in the stores.” – Kimberly Ruthenbeck, Director of Web Customer experience
Additional Resources:
Website Story: https://sfdc.co/RoomBoardStoryFilm: http://bit.ly/2oP6R2Z ROI Study: https://sfdc.co/RoomBoardROIStudy