The most comprehensive marketing report of 2014 is here. ExactTarget surveyed over 2,600 marketers to identify the major challenges, areas of potential growth, and channel-by-channel strategies that marketers must know in 2014. That research is now available in our 2014 State of Marketing report.
Here is what I found interesting:
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Show results for increased investments: Almost half (47 percent) of respondents said their top priority this year was driving increased conversion rates, followed closely by increasing and improving brand awareness (46 percent) and collecting, measuring and using behaviour-based data (29 percent).
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Increase focus on existing customers: When compared to the IBM State of Marketing 2013, this year’s report shows a much higher concern with engaging existing customers rather than continuously stoking the acquisition fires.
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Mine data: The biggest area of opportunity and will be a focus of increased investment (nominated by 61 percent of respondents). This echoes comments from Scott Dorsey that the Internet of Customers is creating this massive opportunity to connect with customers in new ways using the data that becomes available. Sony Playstation is a great example of a customer at the front of this.
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Automate: A majority (60 percent) say that headcount and resources are still stretched. Marketers are looking to technology to help them do more with their budgets. In October last year online retailer Hautelook shared their ability to execute 200 campaigns a month with a staff of two.
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Innovate: Email marketing (58 percent), Social media marketing and Content management (both on 57 percent) remain hot areas.
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Go mobile: The report continues to show missed opportunity and headroom for growth despite clear understood value in mobile. Only 30 percent of marketers have discovered location based marketing. In Australia the situation may be more pronounced. For example, the 2013 Sensis eBusiness Report showed only 17 percent of businesses had mobile optimised websites despite over half of activity coming from mobile devices.
A version of this post was first published on the Salesforce.com/au blog and was written by Derek Laney, director of product marketing management at Salesforce.com. It is part of the Future of Work series sponsored by Salesforce.com.
