What have global marketers learned that your clients should know about? After a very challenging 2020, 65% of large company CMOs will increase marketing budgets this year. A new CMO Council Survey of Members also reveals a continued focus on digital outreach and investment in automation.

The Shift to Digital-Only

Once upon a time, in 2019, only 5% of consumers wanted a digital-​only relationship with their favorite brands. The events of 2020 changed our minds. By the end of 2020, up to 21% of consumers were happy to have a digital-​only relationship with their favorite vendors. This shift in thinking presents huge challenges for businesses that aren’t ready to compete in the digital-​only sphere.

Connecting effectively with customers and target audiences requires investment in technology. The CMO Council survey shows marketers feel confident “in areas like pricing and promotions, media buying and social media voice and creativity.” They’re having trouble with the customer journey aspect of marketing. Knowing when consumers make key decisions is mandatory. And understanding which content impacts those decisions is a crucial part of an effective marketing program. 

To get where they need to be, at least 50% of businesses will make the customer journey, acquisition and conversion an area of strategic focus in 2021. They’ll have to make modifications to their existing practices. In addition, Donovan Neale-​May, executive director of the CMO Council, expects businesses to be, “more focused on digital marketing transformation, creating value from customer data, and upgrading customer engagement and experience.”

Planned Technology and Services Investment

Businesses in the survey remain focused on the bottom line. But only 25% expect to reduce their workforce to bring expenses to the right level. For the most part, large businesses will invest in specific technology and services, whether internally or externally. This step will help them increase efficiency and ROI, in the following areas:

• Analytics, insights and intelligence 53%
• Campaign executions 36%
• Marketing operations 35%
• Customer experience and engagement 32%
• Digital engagement 26%

In addition, 36% of large businesses intend to pay more attention to globalizing and localizing their marketing campaigns. If you’re selling local media, reach out to these organizations to educate them on the unique aspects of their target audiences in your market.

Large Company CMOs Will Increase Marketing

As we face the end of the cookie era, marketers will face increased challenges to target their ideal audiences with their messages. We’ve pointed out recently how difficult this problem will be in 2021. Your clients must reach out with email campaigns to engage their existing customers. They should collect and use unique data, after they earn opt-​ins, to develop personalized promotions. This additional digital engagement will allow them to maintain strong relationships with their customers.

You can bring value to your clients by providing them with local business and audience intelligence. Using the Local Account Report Intelligence and profiles from AudienceSCAN available in AdMall by SalesFuel, you can help your clients plan ahead for market trends. And they can target ideal prospects by using the media formats that are most likely to sway purchase decisions. In the new digital world, small businesses can compete effectively with large operators if they deliver the right value to their customers.