’Twas the night before Christmas when all through the cubicles, not an employee was stirring—except for marketing. During the month of December, you will find offices filled with marketers working day and night to finish up last-minute projects and reports.
During these last few weeks, many marketers feel they barely have time to catch their breath, let alone come up with a list of innovative marketing goals for 2015. If you’re pressed for time, below are three easily digestible ideas, supported by leading industry research, to get you started:
To Unlock ROI, You Must Track It
Tracking ROI has become more challenging for marketers over the years. According to Content Marketing Institute (CMI)’s annual “B2B Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America” report, only 21 percent of marketers polled said they are successful at tracking this important metric. That’s too bad because the omission can negatively impact a company’s bottom line. In fact, marketers who measure ROI are 12 times more likely to generate a greater year-over-year return, according to HubSpot’s “State of Inbound 2014” report.
If you need to do a better job proving the ROI of your marketing strategy, first identify a way to track the effectiveness of the vehicles you are leveraging. You might want to consider investing in a marketing automation platform that boasts robust reporting and metrics capabilities, so you can confidently track and report on program performance.
Marketing Success Begins With Data
Up to 25 percent of marketers surveyed by HubSpot indicated that data helps align a number of their top marketing priorities, including: increasing number of contacts/leads, converting contacts/leads to customers, reaching the most relevant audience, increasing revenue derived from existing customers, proving the ROI of marketing activities, and reducing the cost of contacts/customer acquisition. Research from analytics firm Teradata also confirms the importance of a data-driven marketing model; 40 percent of respondents said their key strategic decisions are made based on data and experimentation.
“Only a customer-centric strategy that combines technology and data can deliver sustainable opportunities for businesses to drive top-line growth through continuously more personalized data-driven marketing strategies,” Teradata President of Marketing Applications Darryl McDonald said in the report.
So, perhaps your marketing goal for 2015 will involve a greater focus on leveraging customer data, which will require a certain degree of business intelligence and analytics.
Outsource Your Marketing Strategy to Supplement Specific Needs
More B2B marketers say they are challenged with finding trained marketing professionals this year than last, according to the aforementioned report from CMI. If you’re unsure of how you will accomplish your marketing goals in-house, you might want to consider partnering with a creative marketing agency.
HubSpot’s research shows the benefits of seeking outside help. In fact, 50 percent of creative agencies have been proven to be more effective than in-house marketing departments at driving leads through a number of marketing channels, enabling companies to better measure and improve ROI and expand their marketing strategies into other lines of business. These strategic vendors boast trained marketing professionals with the stratagem and skill to bring your marketing goals to fruition.
Hopefully these three ideas can get your wheels turning—and fast—before your company rings in the New Year. If you’re looking to learn more about these ideas or how to outsource your 2015 marketing strategy, connect with our expert team of editors to keep the conversation going!
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
