The fall has a crispness many find intoxicating. Evening air cools. Kids return to school. Football kicks off.
For marketers, September initiates planning season. Yes…it is time to start thinking, assessing, evaluating and budgeting for 2018.
Here are the four things I have heard from your counterparts as it relates to priorities:
- Get Personal: Broad-based communications activities fail to address the unique requirements of a sales prospect. Through marketing automation and CRM platforms, messaging and offers can be customized and tailored.
- Think Lifetime Value: Research consistently reveals it is easier (and more profitable) to grow an existing relationship than attempt to win a new customer. Account based marketing is hot, yet it is often directed towards new logos. A number of forward-thinking companies plan to invest more in increasing share of wallet with current accounts.
- It Is In the Data: Marketers plan to watch everything — traffic on the corporate site, Email opens, content downloads, social shares and event attendance. By collecting and studying data, an organization can focus its resources on prospects with a higher propensity to buy.
- Love the Brand: A number of marketers plan to set aside budget for advertising, public relations and traditional brand building activities. People do business with companies they know and trust. It is still true today!