Connect Magazine - Bennett Graphics

Undersharing
The prevalence and sheer volume of Big Data
allow most companies to see the very essence
of their customer bases and their activity. But
unless more people in the organization have
access to customer feedback and analysis,
the data simply is rendered useless. You must
have a process in place to analyze and act
upon it.
“Our independent research has found that
most companies are more effective at capturing
and sharing customer feedback than they
are at analyzing, integrating, and acting on
it,” MatritzCX’s Cottle says. “Many companies
put their departments in silos (product
development, sales, call center, IT, marketing,
etc.) that fail to communicate with each other.
Strategy means nothing unless it can be con-
sistently implemented across the enterprise.”
Stuck in the Short Term
Marketers are under increased pressure to de-
liver results and prove their value. Therefore,
it’s natural to gravitate toward direct-oriented,
late-funnel channels that are most tangibly
measured versus early-funnel/brand channels
and/or emerging channels whose impact on
business results historically have been more
challenging to quantify.
“Marketers often become hyper-focused
on short-term results, leading to a lack of new
innovation, new channels and consumer dialogue,”
OptiMine’s Voda says. “For example,
focusing on the most measureable “last click”
will drive more budget to channels like search,
only to lead to a major dead end in terms of
future growth and market development.”
The Original Plan
Too many marketers hold on to the concept of
the annual marketing plan, which is quickly
becoming a relic in a “real-time” world where
the landscape changes overnight. While it’s
important to outline goals, objectives and
strategies for the upcoming year, marketers
are wrong if they don’t allow – or even plan
– for change. They must have a test-driven
mindset and set aside a portion of their budgets
to test new approaches and tweak strategies
regularly as the year progresses.
“Getting locked in and pursuing the same
strategy, despite evidence to the contrary, is
wrong,” says Rob Gelphman, VP of marketing
and member relations for the Multimedia
over Coax Alliance (MoCA). “It can be difficult
to justify change and take on risk when everything
is seemingly going well, but marketers
have to continuously scan the horizon for
storm clouds. Though a sunny day, rain may
be in the forecast.”
Broad Targets
Many companies fail to define the target customer(s) narrowly enough. Too often, the target is
defined much too broadly. Serious problems with marketing effectiveness begin with a broad
target, because it becomes increasingly difficult to define the needs of the target customer. This
impacts the type of content developed to reach this target. Messages become less refined and,
thus, less effective.
“This stems from an overly broad target,” says Ron Hess, professor of marketing at William &
Mary. “A broad target creates difficulties in specifically defining the needs of these customers. The best
positioning statements clearly identify three to four reasons that a company’s offerings are different
from the competition. These reasons must be relevant/important to the target customer.”
Bennett Graphics – connect • January/February 2015
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