2013 was the year where CMOs could test drive new campaigns, collaborating with their CIOs to leverage technology and provide better measurement and metrics for these new approaches. In 2014, CMOs will no longer be able to kick the tires and take their campaigns out for a spin. Results need to be proven. Every click will be analyzed, and every dollar will be scrutinized.
Ok, time for a little context. People throw around the CMO word very liberally. Many of our clients are not marketers at the c-suite level – often they are directors of field or industry marketing. While they are supposed to use Eloqua or Marketo or LeadLander or any variety of engagement tools, the further they sit from the corporate marketing function or headquarters the less their campaigns seem to get measured. It is easy to do a webinar or event, report back to corporate that the campaign generated 200 “leads,” and then move onto the next campaign.
For years we have talked about the fact that, because of the nature of most campaigns living in a digital world, any activity is easy to measure, evaluate, and evolve. Unfortunately many clients don’t take that to heart. They work hard to launch a campaign, turning to Bluetext for great creative and execution as well as new ideas, but then they move onto the next one before it is fine tuned. In 2013, we had a number of clients who launched campaigns, looked hard at the metrics, and despite huge kudos from their corporate offices, decided not to just sit back and relax. Instead, they are devoting new resources to evolve the campaigns to address changing market conditions and feedback. On our end, we are ensuring that clients are giving the proper financial and time resources to drive traffic and leads for their campaigns so there is no question about their effectiveness and impact.
I think this is a trend that will continue in 2014. CMOs and, more importantly, field and industry marketing leaders will take the time to analyze and measure their campaigns leveraging new technology. And they will course correct as needed.
Before shaking your head and wondering if this is a blog post that you read 12 or 24 months ago, take a step back and think about how much time and effort you are really putting into measuring your campaigns. Many of the people we work with would be hard pressed to look in the mirror and say that they are leveraging metrics to truly validate their campaigns and spend. Our goal in 2014 is to change that for our clients.