High-performing marketers are more likely to lead CX, partner with IT and automate marketing attribution – among other important details
Salesforce recently published its seventh annual State of Marketing report – based on a survey of 8,227 marketers around the world. Since the company wields a good bit of influence in marketing circles, I carved out some time to read – and write about – the report.
Among the high-level findings:
- 66% of respondents “expect revenue growth over the next 12 to 18 months.
- 90% “say their digital engagement strategy has changed since the pandemic began.”
- 75% say “the pandemic has permanently” changed “how they collaborate” at work.
- 40% expect “the number of data sources they use” to grow over the next year.
- 70% “of CMOs align their KPIs with their CEO’s.”
There was also an interesting nugget about value:
- 77% “of marketers feel their work provides greater value now than it did a year ago.”
The sense of greater appreciation is definitely a thing. It can be seen in adjacent business functions as detailed in two separate surveys of creative teams and of public relations. Businesses need these professionals more than ever in uncertain times.
This is all interesting, but what really stood out for me the most – aside from the observation that 25% of marketers do not use email as a marketing channel – was the segmentation of answers into three categories: high performers, moderate performers and underperformers.
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High-Performing Marketers Do the Details Differently
Salesforce determined these groups in the following manner:
- High-performers – those respondents who are “completely satisfied with their overall marketing performance and the outcomes of their marketing investment.” This group represents 14% of the survey sample (N = ~1,152).
- Moderate-performers – those who are “moderately or less satisfied with their overall marketing performance and the outcomes of their marketing investment.” This group represents 72% of the survey sample (N = ~5,923).
- Underperformers – “all other marketers” – or those in the middle. This group represents 15% of the sample (N= ~1,234).
Here’s what they do differently:
1. More likely to lead customer experience (CX). 86% of high performers say their “organization leads customer experience initiatives across the business” [vs. 81% of moderates and 72% of underperformers].
2. More sensitive to customer expectations. 92% of high performers say “customer expectations are changing our digital strategies” [vs. 85% of moderates and 74% of underperformers].
3. Adapt to innovation more easily. Just 31% of high performers say they “struggle to innovate our marketing technology, tactics, and strategies [vs. 33% of moderates and 48% of underperformers].
4. More likely to personalize messages. 83% of high performers “personalize messages based on ecommerce actions” [vs. 80% of moderates and 75% of underperformers].
5. More likely to partner with IT. 80% of high performers “make technology purchasing decisions with IT [vs. 77% of moderates and 70% of underperformers]. (Psst! Remember this Gartner prediction?)
6. More sensitive to customers with support tickets. 69% of high performers “suppress marketing to customers with open service cases [vs. 64% of moderates and 58% of underperformers].
7. More likely to use data to drive CX. 47% of high performers “are completely satisfied in their ability to create more relevant experiences with customer data” [vs. 35% of moderates and 8% of underperformers].
8. More likely to measure results as they happen. 71% of high performers “say they can measure campaign performance in real-time” [vs. 67% of moderates and 55% of underperformers].
9. More likely to automate marketing attribution. 67% of high performers “say their measurement and attribution is automated [vs. 65% of moderates and 61% of underperformers].
Subtle Details Matter to High-Performing Marketers
If you’ve noticed, the percentage difference between high performers and moderate performers is modest – but that’s the point. Anyone can slide by as a moderate performer in marketing. The high performers give their profession just a little bit more effort. It’s a subtle difference but perhaps an important one.
It’s rarely one little thing that, in isolation, makes or breaks marketing. Instead doing all the little things, the right way, and consistently over time adds up to a big difference.
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This post by Salesforce summarizes the survey findings and the full report can be downloaded here. The company definitely automates it’s marketing attribution.
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Image credits: Unsplash and respective Salesforce report
