2016
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY
LET’S CREATE
IMPACT
BY EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY Supported by
CONTENT 04 • FOREWORDS
18 • M ARKETERS ARE
30 • M EASURE, MEASURE,
05 • M ARKETING
20 • D ATA IS NOT YET
31 • I NTERVIEW
21 • NEED FOR CONTENT
32 • M EDIA EVOLUTIONS
08 • M ARKETING & SALES
23 • C USTOMER-CENTRICITY
34 • IS BELGIUM
09 • A DOPTING TECHNOLOGY
24 • I MPLEMENTING MARKETING
36 • THE ADBLOCKALYPSE
13 • M ORE BUDGET
26 • HOW CAN MARKETERS CREATE
37 • I NTERVIEW
16 • B IG BUDGETS,
28 • C USTOMER-CENTRICITY:
38 • I NTERVIEW
OF TOMORROW
06 • B ELGIAN MARKETERS
KNOW WHERE TO PLAY
EQUAL PARTNERS IN CRIME
IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK
FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION BIG TEAMS, BIG DREAMS?
STRUGGLING TO WIN IN THE ERA OF MARKETING AUTOMATION
THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ALL MARKETING DECISIONS AT ALL STAGES OF THE FUNNEL
SHOULD BE AT THE HEART OF MARKETING AUTOMATION AUTOMATION IS A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK
IMPACT BY EMBRACING MARKETING AUTOMATION?
WELCOME CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER
MEASURE
KAROLIEN VANHELDEN
AND THE TREND OF AD BLOCKING
CATCHING UP WITH DIGITAL MEDIA? IS HERE
MARNIK D’HOORE
NICOLAS FINET
Layout by Hungry Minds - hungryminds.be
SORTLIST & BLOOVI
THINK BIG, START SMALL, SCALE FAST! Omnipresent bits and bytes, hyperconnected consumers and a constant mental rushhour: in these times of virtual noise we are living through an attention crisis. We even have a lower attention span than a goldfish. Consumers want relevant information when and where they want it… immediately. With the Yearly Marketing Survey, The House of Marketing’s ongoing aim is to show marketers the way and set priorities in this ever-changing marketing landscape with the self-empowered consumer in the centre. In this era of the “now”, we see MarTech and marketing automation as the next big thing. As a result, this 13th edition of the Yearly Marketing Survey, in collaboration with Bloovi and Sortlist, monitors the state of marketing automation in Belgium and how marketers are surviving in an age where ad blocking prevails and the consumer journey consists of hundreds of micro-moments. Apparently marketers know that they need to play the game in the field of marketing technology and automation,
with one objective in mind: conversion. But how they can win is a whole different story. Implementation appears to be tough and specific knowledge about data usage and content strategy is lagging behind. But if marketers aren’t underestimating the potential of marketing automation any more, are they then overestimating the difficulty to start using it? Our passionate consultants actively assist our clients in making the transition to a future-proof customer experience, driven by marketing automation. Our marketing automation service line not only sets out the strategy, but also implements it in a lean start-up way. We always think big, start small and scale fast to guide our clients to the Valhalla of hyperpersonalization. Big thanks to all respondents who took the time to complete our survey. Let’s create impact together! Karolien Vanhelden Marketing Manager The House of Marketing
FOREWORD
WELCOMING WORDS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Collaborating with The House of Marketing on the 13th edition of the Yearly Marketing Survey has been an honour for our company. We truly believe the survey is becoming a benchmark within the marketing community and an important source of inspiration for many marketers. Even though the fundamentals of marketing have not changed, the rise of digital brings new challenges, touchpoints and a constant need for companies to reinvent themselves on a daily basis. Marketing automation might be the answer to one of the toughest challenges: being able to catch and keep customer’s attention in an increasingly distracted world and move closer to a one-to-one approach.
People often tend to react to change with fear. And fear is like a two-sided coin. If we control this feeling, we can use it to our benefit. But on the flipside, if fear controls us, it will paralyze us to accomplish anything. As you go through the results of the survey, you will notice that optimism prevails amongst marketers and that they have chosen to control their future and face all the challenges. What great news! At Sortlist, we work hard every day to offer efficient and up-to-date solutions to today’s marketers. We empower them for the world of tomorrow. We definitely hope the results will help you as a company and inspire you to create a more customer-centric and positive future.
Nicolas Finet I Co-founder Sortlist
It was our pleasure to participate in this survey. More importantly, we learned a great deal from it. What will the future of marketing look like? That’s a question that keeps popping up in people’s minds. Because today, more than ever, marketing has become the main driver for sales, customer retention and the growth of both start-ups and existing organizations. But why? In my mind, the reason is very obvious. With new technologies emerging faster than ever, we are moving into a buyers’ market and we can find ways to better understand our target audience in an automated and even personalized way. As the fastest growing content platform for the digital professional, we believe digital marketing
is still an important part of Bloovi. That’s why we’re proud and excited to support The House of Marketing’s Yearly Marketing Survey. This survey is truly comprehensive - and that’s what makes it so representative and interesting. This survey has been a great inspiration: the future of marketing is one of the three key tracks of the WebTomorrow event. Are you one of the marketers who filled out the survey? We appreciate you took the effort to do so. Thanks for your answers. They help us to know what’s going on in the minds of marketers, enabling to make factbased decisions. And we, marketing believers, appreciate the facts, right?
Marnik D’Hoore I Founder Bloovi
MARKETING OF TOMORROW The Yearly Marketing Survey is the crystal ball for marketers. For the 13th time, The House of Marketing predicts the upcoming marketing trends and inspires marketers to find the right focus in the volatile Belgian marketing world. This year’s edition is organized in collaboration with Bloovi and Sortlist. The explosion of data, combined with the “always on” mentality and the culture of instant gratification, functions as a catalyst for hundreds of micro-moments. Consumers want information when and where they want it… immediately. Only the marketers who can react to the “now”, with personalized messages and taking the context into account, will survive. That is where marketing automation comes into play, which is the main topic of this year’s edition of the survey. How does technology impact the Belgian marketing business today? How to attract the customer’s attention in today’s distracted world? Are Belgian marketers already leveraging marketing automation?
“
BELGIAN MARKETERS KNOW WHERE TO PLAY Optimism prevails again amongst marketers. Marketing is working more and more closely with sales towards a common objective: conversion. In this positive collaborative mindset the shift has been made toward adopting new technologies. The tools are in place and marketers are finally convinced of the importance of marketing automation. More budget increases are expected and marketing teams are expanding. 2016 looks very promising.
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MARKETING & SALES: EQUAL PARTNERS IN CRIME In the past sales people could go to customers, tell them what they needed and sell their product or service to them. Nowadays, the customer controls the whole buying process. It is all about customer centricity. Marketers put the customer at the centre and try to understand the buyer’s journey. As a consequence, marketers are playing a role that is increasingly equal to sales when it comes to customer acquisition. The results of the survey confirm that marketing also has an increasing influence on sales conversion. More than half of the respondents indicated that marketing leads more and more the
way in not only improving marketing, but also sales efficiency. There is a clear link with sales when we look at the main strategic objectives of the marketing department. Although 75% indicated that they are already performing well in optimizing sales and conversion rates, 55% answered that driving sales or other conversions will remain their main focus in the upcoming year. From this, it is obvious that sales and marketing need to work together to improve lead generation and nurturing and the final process of closing the sales deal.
WHAT WILL BE THE MAIN STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES WITHIN YOUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT NEXT YEAR?
11%
N = 295, UP TO TWO ANSWERS
21%
Increasing loyalty
28%
Promoting specific products & services
3% Other
55% Driving Sales or other conversions
Stimulating advocacy
36% Raising brand awareness
20%
Influencing brand perception
ADOPTING TECHNOLOGY IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK Marketing technology can be an enabler for improving collaboration between sales and marketing in order to make the conversion happen. However some evangelization is still needed. Whilst marketers are convinced of the
improvement in efficiency, only 12% believe that technology can generate more profit. Marketers are still sceptical when it comes to linking technology with profitability.
HOW IS THE USE OF MARKETING TECHNOLOGY IN GENERAL PERCEIVED IN YOUR COMPANY? N=309, UP TO TWO ANSWERS
Marketing technology is an enabler to improve marketing and sales efficiency Marketing technology is a must to stay competitive
Marketing technology is a means to an end
Marketing technology allows to generate more profit The potential of marketing technology is overestimated Marketing technology doesn’t have an added value in my industry Other
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THE TIME WHERE MARKETING WAS A PURE ART IS GONE. TODAY, IT IS EQUAL PARTS SCIENCE AND ART, AND YOU NEED TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT THE SCIENTIFIC PART. IT ALLOWS MARKETING AND SALES TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, MORE SCALABLE, MORE TARGETED AND ULTIMATELY MORE EFFECTIVE.
”
Martine Tempels, Senior Vice President Telenet for Business
“
MARKETING IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF TRANSITION, DRIVEN BY CHANGES NOT ONLY IN SOCIETY AND ITS DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION BUT ALSO IN TECHNOLOGY. WE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCE AN UNPRECEDENTED SPEED OF CHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF MARKETING TECHNOLOGY. COMBINED WITH THE CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS AND THEIR EXPECTATIONS FOR OPTIMIZED AND PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES, MARTECH WILL LEAD TO UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERY MARKETER.
”
Bart Becks, Member of the Advisory Board of The House of Marketing, Founder Angel.me, Partner venturewise.eu
35% see marketing technology as a must for staying competitive, but only 10% of respondents really consider their company as an innovator in technology adoption, mostly in the ICT and retail sector and in professional services. More than half think their organizations are rather one of the early adopters or in the early majority. Laggards can be found in manufacturing and finance.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY WHEN IT COMES TO ADOPTING MARKETING TECHNOLOGY? N=309
4% Laggard
30% Late majority
25% 10% 31% Early adopter
Early majority
A slow adoption of technology might leave marketers frustrated, but apparently tools are available, which is a positive sign. Used most frequently are e-mail tools, web analytics, social media monitoring and CRM software. However shouldn’t the use of CRM be higher? Surely if you send out massive e-mail campaigns, you should always gather the data from the recipients? A/B testing software, data mining and predictive modelling are only used by a minority. So marketers start out with the basic tools and switch to more advanced ones later. However, it is worth noting that 25% of respondents already appear to have a Data Management Platform.
Innovator
WHAT TYPE OF MARKETING TECHNOLOGY DOES YOUR COMPANY CURRENTLY USE? N=306, MULTIPLE ANSWERS
83% E-mail tool
75% Web analytics
67%
Social media monitoring/ engagement tool
62% CRM software
50%
Content management system
37% 32% 30%
Campaign management tool
Business Intelligence
A/B testing software
25% 22% 17%
Data Management Platforms
Data mining tools
Predictive modelling
2%
None of above
MORE BUDGET FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION As with the use of Data Management Platforms, the adoption of marketing automation also appears to be very high. 37% of respondents claim to use marketing automation software. Do marketers know the definition of marketing automation or are they confusing it with e-mail optimization, which is only a small piece of the cake? At The House of Marketing, marketing automation refers to a software ecosystem that enhances experiences to create business impact. For the customer this means personalized messages at the right moment, arriving via the right device and at the right place. In an ideal world customers should only receive brand communications when the context fits. For marketers, the use of marketing automation improves efficiency, enables the understanding of customers and ties marketing activities to business results.
The perceived main benefits of marketing automation according to the respondents are enhanced targeting and personalization (47%), improved lead management & nurturing (43%) and increased efficiency & productivity (38%). Again benefits that are mainly sales-oriented, which confirms the marriage mentioned earlier between marketing and sales. 22% are convinced that marketing automation can lead to a better marketing and sales alignment.
E-MAIL OPTIMIZATION
MARKETING AUTOMATION
“
ACCORDING TO THE MARKETO BENCHMARK ON REVENUE PERFORMANCE, COMPANIES CAN EXPECT THREE CORE BENEFITS AS A RESULT OF USING MARKETING AUTOMATION: MORE PIPELINE, MORE PRODUCTIVE SALES REPRESENTATIVES AND HIGHER REVENUE. (…) MARKETING AUTOMATION ALLOWS MARKETING DEPARTMENTS TO MAKE THEIR CAMPAIGNS MORE ACCURATE AND TO EMPOWER THEIR SALES TEAM WITH BETTER LEADS, AND ACHIEVE GREATER ROI.
”“
Robert Gavin, Sr. Partner Director- EMEA Business Development Marketo
WITHIN CARTAMUNDI, MARKETING AUTOMATION IS JUST SCRATCHING THE SURFACE FOR NOW. WE’RE LOOKING AT THE VALUE AND BENEFITS AND ARE LAUNCHING OUR FIRST INITIATIVES IN THIS AREA. THE MAIN GOAL IS TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN BETTER AND TO INCREASE OUR RESPONSIVENESS. IT SHOULD ENABLE US TO DO MORE WITH THE SAME BUDGET. Chris Van Doorslaer, CEO Cartamundi
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WHAT ARE THE MAIN BENEFITS/TOP REASONS TO IMPLEMENT MARKETING AUTOMATION? N=230, UP TO THREE ANSWERS Enhanced targeting and personalization
47%
Improving lead management and nurturing
43%
Increasing efficiency and productivity
38%
Improving customer experience
28%
Return on Marketing Investment
22%
Improving marketing & sales alignment
22%
Improving customer intelligence
21%
Reducing workload for the marketing team
20% 15%
Speed & agility in adapting the marketing strategy Reducing human errors in campaigns
3%
I don’t see any benefit of implementing marketing automation
3%
HubSpot (29%), Selligent (26%) and Salesforce (20%) are the most cited marketing automation softwares by marketers using this technology. For the moment about one-third of these adopters spends less than 10% of their
budget on marketing automation, although about half of total respondents are planning to increase this budget in 2016. This already gives a positive outlook and shows the increasing importance of and confidence in marketing automation.
WHAT BUDGET IN TERMS OF TOTAL MARKETING BUDGET DO YOU SPEND ON MARKETING AUTOMATION ?
TO WHICH LEVEL WILL THE BUDGET FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION EVOLVE IN 2016 IN TERMS OF TOTAL MARKETING BUDGET?
N=85, IF USING MA SOFTWARE ALREADY
N=85, IF USING MA SOFTWARE ALREADY
13%
10-15%
5%
15-20%
11% >20%
18% Don’t know
20%
54%
5-10%
18% 0-5%
34% Don’t know
Increase
25%
Stable
3%
Decrease
BIG BUDGETS, BIG TEAMS, BIG DREAMS? Marketing is getting more in the lead, tools are available, first steps are taken in marketing automation, etc. Boosted by all these positive trends, marketers are extremely confident. The Marketing Confidence Index (MCI) reflects marketers’ expectations with regard to
marketing budgets and marketing team size. This barometer has never been so high since the measurement began in 2005 and has risen substantially (from 5 to 20). Have marketers become naïve and over-optimistic or is there a genuine increase in confidence?
MARKETING CONFIDENCE INDEX VERSUS CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX N=347
20 13
15
15 12 5
4
2 1
-1
-2
-3
0,2 1
-6
-5
-3
-3
-4 -12 -15
-17 -20
-24 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 MCI
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
CCI (SOURCE: NATIONAL BANK OF BELGIUM, DECEMBER 2015)
MCI
CCI (Source: National Bank of Belgium, December 2015)
2016
Whatever the answer, marketers continue surfing on the positive mood of last year, given the fact that economy is picking up. And apparently they have also experienced an extension of the marketing team, something that has been unprecedented in the history of the Yearly Marketing Survey and a trend that will continue in 2016. Were there really a lot of vacancies last year? Were they filled by people on the payroll or by external consultants? Was it easy to find the right profiles? We would like to go along with this optimism, but our survey has often revealed in the past that marketers are always balancing between the two extremes. So is it reality or are marketers living in a dream state? If we look at consumers, they are becoming more positive as well, although
the Consumer Confidence Index still leaves a significant gap with our Marketing Confidence Index: -3 versus +20. The same developments can be seen when we look at the UK, where GfK also notes more positive consumer confidence. The Bellwether report in the UK also predicts that marketing spend will grow in 2016: 24.6% of marketers are planning to increase their total budgets in 2016. Given the fact that consumers are also convinced about the growing economy and we can see similar trends in the UK, the over-excitement of marketers might not be just a matter of perception. If so, then there is additional good news: a major increase in marketing budgets is coming marketers’ way in 2016. Will they spend it on marketing automation?
EVOLUTION IN MARKETING BUDGET N=347 24%
23% 20%
18%
17%
8% 5% -1% 10%
-3% 0%
-11%
-8%
-3% 8%
-2% -8%
-9% -13%
-23% 2005
2006
2007
2008
-23% 2009
2010
ACTUAL CHANGE IN BUDGET
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
EXPECTED CHANGE IN BUDGET
EVOLUTION IN MARKETING TEAM SIZE 16%
N=347 11% 8%
8%
5%
4%
0% 7%
2005
3%
1%
2006
2007
3% -5%
-6%
2008
2009
ACTUAL CHANGE IN TEAM SIZE
0% 0%
6%
-1% 2%
0%
17%
-3%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
EXPECTED CHANGE IN TEAM SIZE
2015
2016
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MARKETERS ARE STRUGGLING TO WIN IN THE ERA OF MARKETING AUTOMATION Marketers understand they need to start playing in the field of technology and marketing automation. The budgets are available and they want to grow the size of the team. A mind shift has taken place, but implementation problems and specific knowledge about data and content are still important hurdles. Even gaining a good view on the customer, something that is vital when talking about marketing automation, remains a challenge. Normally the most important thing is not the triumph, but the fight. But do marketers know how to fight when there is a possibility of winning in the end? Marketing automation can’t exist without the proper use of data, strong content strategy, a customer-centric approach and effective implementation.
”
DATA IS NOT YET THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ALL MARKETING DECISIONS Marketing automation begins with data. Unfortunately, marketers are not using data to its full potential at the moment. Only one-third of respondents feel that data really drives every decision taken by the marketing team. The highest maturity is seen with the use of first-party data to target customers, but still only for half of marketers. Using third-party data is already a step too far.
Data can be overwhelming. The fact that data is not always organized and managed centrally within the organization (56%) creates additional complexity. Always start by focusing on the right data (your own CRM data) before filling the gaps by supplementing them with data from other parties. Once that has been done, marketers can start thinking about lead-scoring and making predictions.
Conducting lead-scoring based on data to identify where prospects are in the buying cycle and predictive analysis of future consumer behaviour are the least mature, with most marketers having only taken their first steps or not at all. It shows that marketers aren’t yet ready for more advanced activities, but even for basic data usage it seems to be fifty-fifty.
So, marketers have the tools and they also intend to master marketing automation; but first, the right usage of data to achieve perfect targeting needs to be put in place before the game of marketing automation can be played.
INDICATE THE LEVEL OF MATURITY OF STATEMENTS ABOUT DATA N=238 50%
50%
55%
45%
68% 69% 72% 74% 75% 80% 81%
LOW MATURITY (NOT AT ALL + ONLY TAKEN THE FIRST STEPS) HIGH MATURITY (VERY GOOD ON TRACK + BEST IN CLASS)
We use first-party data (CRM data like e-mail addresses...) to target customers Data is centrally organized and managed in the organization
32%
Data drives almost every decision that our marketing team makes
31%
We have a clear view on the Return on Investment of our marketing activities
28%
We use third-party data to target prospects and customers
26%
We re-target customers & prospects based on behaviour data and inferred interests
25%
The targeting happens automatically based on the profile and behaviour data of the audience
20%
We do lead-scoring based on data to identify where prospects are in the buying cycle
19%
Data is used to do predictive analysis of future consumer behaviour
NEED FOR CONTENT AT ALL STAGES OF THE FUNNEL Strong content is also a must-have when it comes to successful marketing automation. Unfortunately, Belgian marketers still have a low maturity with regard to content. This again demonstrates that they are not exploiting the full potential of marketing automation. Only 41% of respondents have a clear content strategy regarding their clients and prospects. But even if there is a strategy, you’ll still need the content as such. If it isn’t available, you can’t even start talking about automating the publishing process. Strategy isn’t everything. Nowadays, it’s more about execution and tactics. The starting point is having clear insights into the complete customer decision journey. Almost 60% of respondents don’t even have these insights or have only just taken the first steps. It is important that content creators adapt content to the different phases of the sales funnel. From awareness, to evaluation and on to purchase. Having different content related to the different stages of the customer decision journey is already an obstacle for 67% of marketers.
Top of the funnel In addition to insights into the whole journey, marketers need to define the content personas to whom they want to deliver specific content. Content persona definition is again a challenge for the majority of respondents. Most marketers are still at segmentation stage, based mostly on demographics, and have not yet defined personas based on behavioural data. One interesting fact is that to be at the forefront of marketing you need to have already passed the persona stage and be entering the era of individuals based on contextual data: focus on the individual level of persons. At the awareness stage what type of prospects do we want to engage with via whitepapers, “how to” blogs, etc.?
Middle of the funnel
Content at this evaluation stage will move from the top-of-funnel engaging information towards information around products, services and solutions (product demo videos, webinars, case studies, testimonials, etc.). Only 39% of respondents are very good on track to publishing content that helps prospects figure out the best solution for their needs.
Bottom of the funnel
At this purchase stage, content should help overcome any final doubts the customer may have about making a decision. This is not high-level content any more, but free trials, coupons, consultations, etc. In general, Belgian marketers score better on offering promotions to give the final push to prospects who are ready to buy (41% are very good on track), but running automated upsell and cross-sell e-mail campaigns is much more of a challenge (only 20% are very good on track).
To bring relevant content to each stage not only good (digital) copywriting skills, but also a lot of creativity are required as marketers have to tell a consistent story across different formats (e-mail, video, etc.) and devices. Data, content creation and marketing automation are clearly linked to the sales funnel. Hence the increasing collaboration between marketing and sales. However, marketers are still
lacking success in enabling other departments to use the right content at the right time (74% not at all or have only taken the first steps). But real contextual content, based on time, place and device and using technology and data management to build contextual marketing, in general remains rather impossible at the moment in the Belgian market. However, contextual intelligence will become gold dust for marketers in the near future.
INDICATE THE LEVEL OF MATURITY OF STATEMENTS ABOUT CONTENT N=266
59% 59% 59% 61% 66% 67% 74% 76% 80% LOW MATURITY (NOT AT ALL + ONLY TAKEN FIRST STEPS) HIGH MATURITY (VERY GOOD ON TRACK + BEST IN CLASS)
41%
We have a clear content strategy towards our clients and prospects
41%
We have promotions to give the last push to prospects that are ready to buy
41%
We have clear insights into the complete customer decision journey
39%
We have content that helps prospects figure out the best solution for their needs
34%
We have defined content personas to whom we deliver specific content
33%
We have different content related to the different stages in the customer journey
26%
We enable other departments to use the right content at the right time
24%
We have contextual content based on time, place and device
20%
We run automated upsell and cross-sell e-mail campaigns
CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY SHOULD BE AT THE HEART OF MARKETING AUTOMATION To be successful in the era of now, marketers need to focus on individuals. But they still struggle in gaining a single view on the customer. Aspects such as customer engagement and customer experience optimization are perceived to perform well. Only 54% of respondents indicate that they are
performing well on having a single view on the customer. How is this possible if 25% of respondents claim to be using a Data Management Platform? You can never win with marketing automation if you don’t know your customer.
HOW WELL DO YOU PERFORM IN... EXCLUSIVE DON’T KNOW; N=235 UP TO 265
25% 25% 27% 31% 37% 46%
(VERY) BAD
(VERY) GOOD
75%
Customer engagement
75%
Sales and conversion optimization
73%
Customer experience optimization
69%
Demand generation
63%
Short go-to-market
54%
Having a single view on the customer
IMPLEMENTING MARKETING AUTOMATION IS A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK Some businesses choose not to implement marketing automation for a variety of reasons. Our respondents cite a lack of budget as the most significant factor preventing their companies from investing in this kind of platform. This is a strange conclusion, given the optimistic outlook of Belgian marketers regarding significant budget increases in 2016. But if we delve more deeply, we believe that in these organizations the available budget will probably not be invested in marketing automation. This is due to an ineffective company culture (28%) and the perceived lack of added value for the company (21%).
WHICH BARRIERS DO YOU ENCOUNTER? N=54, IF USING MA SOFTWARE ALREADY AND ENCOUNTERING BARRIERS, MULTIPLE ANSWERS
N=78, NOT HAVING OR PLANNING TO HAVE MA SOFTWARE, MULTIPLE ANSWERS
38%
54%
Difficulty of implementation
43%
Legacy IT systems & processes
43%
Disparate data sources
24% 22%
39%
No alignment between different departments
14%
35%
14%
33%
Ineffective company culture
28% 50%
30%
Lack of budget Tool fragmentation
28%
Resistance to change
28%
No existing data model
15% 18%
20%
No management buy-in
No added value for your company
Strategy is one thing, but tactics and good execution are everything – as we observed previously with the content strategy. In fact execution is strategy in itself, because how great can your strategy really be if you can’t implement it? Remember that the last domino also has to fall.
WHICH BARRIERS PREVENT YOUR ORGANIZATION FROM IMPLEMENTING MARKETING AUTOMATION?
Lack of specific knowledge within your existing teams
No trust in technology
Those companies that do have a marketing automation platform are unable to use its full potential. The difficulty of implementation (43%), fuelled by the legacy of IT systems (43%) and disparate data sources (39%) is an important barrier.
21%
9% 2% (not applicable)
The difficulty of implementation is closely linked to the lack of specific knowledge within existing teams (54%). The Marketing Confidence Index revealed that in 2015 the marketing team size increased spectacularly. But apparently even this
17% 4% 21%
expansion (and the expected growth of team size in 2016) doesn’t cover yet the right profiles and knowledge within the team. This shows that in Belgium it is difficult to find the right people who have an in-depth knowledge about marketing automation.
“
I SEE THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION. FIRSTLY, START SMALL TO GET THE HANG OF IT. SECONDLY, ALIGN AND COMBINE THE DIFFERENT DATA STREAMS WITHIN YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEYS. AND FINALLY, KEEP A CLEAR MAP OF YOUR DIFFERENT AUTOMATION SCENARIOS TO PREVENT CONFLICTUAL OUTCOMES OR SPAMMY BEHAVIOUR.
”
Sébastien Lenaerts, Head of Digital BNP Paribas Cardif
“
ALWAYS INVOLVE IMMEDIATELY THE MARKETING TEAM WHEN SELECTING A MARKETING AUTOMATION TOOL. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TOOL WITH THE MOST FEATURES, BUT ABOUT THE MOST USER-FRIENDLY PLATFORM. ONCE IMPLEMENTED, COACHING AND SHARING BEST PRACTICES ARE NEEDED TO USE THE TOOL TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL.
”
Bart De Bodt, Digital Marketing Manager Electrabel
“
HOW CAN MARKETERS CREATE IMPACT BY EMBRACING MARKETING AUTOMATION? Marketers are already playing in the field of technology and marketing automation. How they can win and achieve success is much more difficult. We have already learned that the right usage of data and a strong content strategy are indispensable. But what are the other key success factors for creating impact by embracing marketing automation? At The House of Marketing, in addition to data and content, we see the following key success factors: relentless focus on the customer; the right capabilities and cultural mindset; and focus on measuring results – all tackled in a lean start-up way.
”
CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY: WELCOME CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER Of course it takes more than technology and marketing automation to make hyper-personalization effective. The most important remains the consumer and the human aspect. In contrast to purely inside-out technology-driven companies, The House of Marketing always starts with a customer-focused
marketing strategy. Technology is only an enabler for adding value to the customer experience, taking behavioural data, context and intent into account. We believe that, with the organization of a company focused around the customer, the functions of the Chief Digital Officer
and the Chief Marketing Officer will merge into the Chief Customer Officer. This new role is the customer-facing executive who is ultimately accountable for customers and who drives customer strategy. It goes without saying that marketing automation and customer strategy are inextricably linked.
FOCUS ON THE RIGHT COMPETENCIES Announcing the possible new role of the Chief Customer Officer leads us immediately to the necessary change not only of the organization but also of the people. But on which competencies should we focus most when talking about marketing automation for creating
impact? The three most important skills for managing marketing automation are, according to respondents, datacrunching, customer-orientation and storytelling. You don’t need to be the most technically savvy person to practise marketing automation. Only
WHEN MANAGING MARKETING AUTOMATION, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COMPETENCIES DO YOU THINK ARE RELEVANT AND CRUCIAL? N=225, MULTIPLE ANSWERS
17% indicate that business sense is relevant and crucial for marketing automation – a rather surprising figure considering the link with sales and conversion.
17%
39%
Business acumen
60% Storytelling
85% Data Crunching & Data Scientist
35% Agility
52% Performanceoriented
50%
Project management
47%
Creativity
Technically savvy
84%
Customer-oriented
30% Change
management
WHERE SHOULD THE MARKETING AUTOMATION RESPONSIBILITY BE LYING? N=222
45%
17% CRM manager
Marketing manager
19%
A dedicated function as Marketing Automation manager
11% Digital manager
0% 1% 2% IT manager
Customer services External partner manager
It is reassuring to know that the three most relevant and crucial competencies required for marketing automation are exactly the elements we identified when talking about how to win in this era of marketing automation. Customercentricity is one of the key success factors and storytelling is linked to a good content strategy. Since the volume of data is growing exponentially, analytical skills are a must. Not necessarily data-crunchers, but people who can think in a critical way
and collect and structure the insights extracted from the data. Being able to connect the dots is a crucial business skill that many organizations neglect. So although marketing automation is something very specific, the emphasis shouldn’t be on narrow skills that soon will be out of date. The marketing world and technology are changing so fast that we should focus on skills that never go out of style, on the real marketing fundamentals.
2%
Sales manager
According to 45% of respondents, the marketing manager should have the responsibility for marketing automation. Clearly, marketing automation isn’t considered as part of the job of an IT manager. Only 19% say this should be a dedicated function that reports to the Chief Marketing Officer. Or should we say to the Chief Customer Officer?
MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE Marketing automation is about testing and learning. You can only learn if you evaluate your performance and measure if your objectives were reached. The respondents consider lead-to-sale conversion rate (44%), cost per lead (23%) and revenue per customer (21%) as the most useful metrics for measuring the success and impact of marketing automation. It is important to put impact evaluation back on the agenda.
WHAT ARE THE MOST USEFUL METRICS FOR MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF MARKETING AUTOMATION? - TOP 5 N=228 Lead-to-sale conversion rate
44% 23%
Cost per lead Revenue per costumer
21%
Number of marketing qualified leads
18%
Percentage of closed sales opportunities directly impacted by marketing
18%
THINK BIG, START SMALL, SCALE FAST Measurement is part of our pragmatic roadmap to marketing automation impact. Marketers often overestimate the difficulty of implementing marketing automation. We believe in tackling marketing automation in a lean way.
1. Design: Clearly define your objectives and data and content strategy, based on the customer journey
1
2
Design
Act
5
3. Engage: Get the whole team on board and focus on quick wins to drive results and increase buy-in
Perfect
3
Engage
4
Measure
2. Act: Select the necessary channels and content that matters
4. Measure: Evaluate performance 5. Perfect: Test and improve With this pragmatic roadmap we always advise our clients to think big, start small and scale fast. Testing, learning and adjusting lead very quickly to first successes. Marketers who embrace technology and marketing automation are better prepared to meet the demands of the self-empowered consumer and to create real impact.
The House of Marketing is the proud organizer of the Yearly Marketing Survey. How does the marketing consulting company itself view the results of this 13th edition? An interview with Marketing Manager Karolien Vanhelden
BRIDGING THE KNOWING-DOING GAP WHAT ARE FOR YOU THE KEY TAKEAWAYS OF THIS EDITION OF THE YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY? Karolien Vanhelden: Marketers this year are showing extreme confidence in their budgets and team size. So it is easy for me to surf with them on the crest of the wave generated by their positive feelings! In our Marketing Zoom 2014 study, cooperation between marketing and sales was the key area of improvement. So I am now very happy to see that marketers are increasingly playing an equal role to sales and that marketing has a leading role in sales conversion. However, I was surprised to see that the adoption of marketing automation by Belgian marketers is already quite high. And I just wonder if marketers are really aware of the wide range of possibilities and do not associate marketing automation with e-mail optimization only. In any way, implementation clearly remains a hurdle.
IF MARKETERS STRUGGLE WITH IMPLEMENTATION, HOW SHOULD MARKETING AUTOMATION THEN BE TACKLED? Karolien V.: A lean start-up approach and the human aspect immediately come to mind. The House of Marketing believes in tackling marketing automation in a lean way. Taking a pragmatic roadmap, we always advise our clients to think big, start small and scale fast. Testing, learning and adjusting very quickly lead to first successes. But the most important is the human aspect. Unlike purely inside-out technology driven companies, The House of Marketing always starts with a customer-focused marketing approach. Customers want to be inspired, which requires much more than just technology alone.
SO, WHAT ARE MARKETERS THEN LOSING SIGHT OF AT THE MOMENT? Karolien V.: Building further on my previous answer, having a single view on the customer and taking into account the context in which the customer operates are essential for the success of marketing automation. That is why we always talk about the importance of creating a Chief Customer Officer role within organizations. Last year we already highlighted that marketers were struggling with the ‘how’ versus the ‘what’. Very slowly but surely marketers are now designing a customer strategy, a data strategy and a content strategy. However, given the fast-evolving world, success lies more and more in the execution. It remains important to outline your strategy – not a 5-year plan – but marketers waste too much time to detailing the strategy and then come to realize that it cannot be implemented.
WHAT STEPS WILL THE HOUSE OF MARKETING TAKE IN RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY RESULTS? Karolien V.: We will start with letting our clients discover the wide spectrum of marketing automation. We want to show them that marketing automation not only improves efficiency, but can also generate more profit. For this purpose we are developing a maturity assessment and a ROI calculator. We also partnered up with several technology specialists to be a neutral trusted advisor. Finally, we will apply our philosophy of bridging the knowing-doing gap. Because in addition to helping our clients with the general set-up of marketing automation, we handle implementation as well. This enables us to show marketers that they can create impact by embracing technology!
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MEDIA EVOLUTIONS AND THE TREND OF AD BLOCKING Compared with other countries, we always had the impression in the past that Belgium was lagging behind when it came to the adoption of digital media. However this year the positive upward trend continues. Mobile advertising is inevitable and it’s not only established social media platforms such as Facebook, but also new ones like Snapchat that are claiming more and more of their share in the media budgets. Marketers also expect to invest more in online video advertising. All of this, of course, has an impact on the more traditional media. If online advertising is becoming increasingly important, then isn’t ad blocking also more and more of a threat to marketers’ advertising strategies? Probably it is. But apparently the magic formula is still to be found in more relevant and personalized advertising and native advertising.
”
IS BELGIUM CATCHING UP WITH DIGITAL MEDIA? At the beginning of this year, Unilever’s CMO Keith Weed revealed that nearly a quarter of Unilever’s global ad budget would be invested in digital media. This percentage rises to as much as almost 50% in digitally advanced markets such as the US and China. If this top advertiser believes digital advertising works and demonstrates a return, then digital is just not a little sidekick, but something that should be embraced by marketers. Our Belgian respondents confirm this: there has been a shift towards adopting digital media. So, is Belgium finally catching up with digital? In any event, the top 4 paid media remain exactly the
same as last year’s survey, with slightly higher confidence in spending more in the upcoming year. Advertising through more established social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, is still ranked highest in terms of where marketers expect to invest more in 2016. And like last year, mobile advertising would appear to be indispensable in the future, followed immediately by Search Engine Advertising and online video advertising. In an age of information overload, it is important to provide content that is easy to digest. Online video seems to be the future of content marketing.
Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. Online video advertising might also be a solution for ad blocking. Linked to the importance of visual content is the observation that new media such as Pinterest, Snapchat or Instagram will also gain ground in 2016. Marketers definitely expect to invest more in these media. Video advertising has overtaken bannering and text advertising and it is probably going to be even bigger due to high mobile internet penetration. In fact, respondents point out that bannering does not work as well as it did before. Unlike other digital media, there is a slight drop in online bannering.
HOW WILL INVESTMENTS IN PAID MEDIA EVOLVE? NET DIFFERENCE (% INCREASE - % DECREASE) 2016 – N=173 Online advertising through social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter)
76% 75% 72% 68% 69% 67% 69% 61%
Mobile Online advertising (Search Engine Advertising) Online video advertising Online advertising via personalized media platforms (Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat)
67% 47% 57%
Online advertising (display/bannering)
-2% 4% -3% 0% -8% -15%
Television Radio Outdoor
-27% -13% -32% -9% -34% -16% -46% -32%
Magazines Door-to-door Newspaper Cinema 2015
2016
General marketing budgets will increase, as the Marketing Confidence Index indicates. However it seems to be that digital in particular will benefit from this increase. More traditional media are further in decline. If we look at movements in expected investments in traditional media over the last four editions of the Yearly Marketing Survey, the biggest victims are magazines, door-to-door, newspapers and cinema. Traditionally, TV and radio have fluctuated more over the years. While there was a short reawakening for TV and radio, we see this year that marketers are also forecasting that they will spend less in these media compared with last year. But aren’t TV and radio still important for reaching mass audiences? Don’t we always talk about integrated media? Don’t they still complement online media as they did before? Only time will tell.
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IT’S A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION THAT DIGITAL INVESTMENTS ARE INCREASING IN BELGIUM, BOTH FOR GLOBAL AND LOCAL PLAYERS. FINDING THE RIGHT, VIABLE AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL IN THIS TRANSFORMING ECONOMY IS NOT AN EASY RIDE FOR SOME MEDIA. BUT THE POSITIVE IMPULSE OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND E-COMMERCE PLAYERS HAS BEEN HEAVILY BENEFICIAL FOR OTHER MEDIA. LOOK, FOR INSTANCE, AT HOW TV GROWTH IN BELGIUM IN 2015 HAS ALSO BEEN DRIVEN BY E-COMMERCE PLAYERS’ INVESTMENTS.
”
Sylvie Irzi, COO Mediabrands & Managing Director Initiative
“
WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST 24 MONTHS IS DEFINITELY AN INCREASE IN INTEREST FOR MARKETING AUTOMATION AND INBOUND MARKETING SERVICES IN THE BENELUX AREA. (…) AT HUBSPOT, OUR CUSTOMERS, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO’S DISCOVERED THE EFFECTS OF INBOUND MARKETING WILL SAY THAT PAID ADVERTISING (I.E. PRINT ADS, TV, BILLBOARDS) IS A POOR INVESTMENT. Ville Lahtinen, Senior Channel Account Manager, HubSpot
THE ‘ADBLOCKALYPSE’ IS HERE Technology isn’t always used to marketers’ advantage. How can they get their message across if ad blockers help consumers on a large scale to avoid communication? But in fact, advertising has been blocked by consumers for years, only in different ways. On television, consumers just have to switch to another channel. In print, it is just a matter of turning the page. But with free ad blocking or filtering software it actually
becomes possible to remove advertising content from websites. The convenience and ease that consumers experience to get around digital advertising is making marketers nervous. And this nervousness has become even more prominent in recent months. A recent report by Pagefair and Adobe mapped out the impact: in Belgium, 12% of internet users already use ad blocking software.
The respondents to the Yearly Marketing Survey confirm this nervousness: 1 out of 3 marketers see ad blocking software as a threat to their current advertising strategy. The media industry (71%) in particular is struggling with the ‘adblockalypse’. This is only logical since their core business model is based on advertising revenues.
21% IS AD BLOCKING A THREAT TO YOUR CURRENT ADVERTISING STRATEGY?
32%
N=208
47% YES
NO - IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY
In response to the issue, media publishers are reacting in different ways. For example, visitors to the German news website Bild.de now have two options: they can turn off the ad blocking software or pay 2.99 euros per month to remove most ads. Visitors who do not want to pay, can no longer visit the website. In Belgium, De Tijd and Tweakers ask their visitors in a polite way to turn off the software as this affects their business model.
NO - NO IMPACT
In any case, the question remains if these solutions will remain sustainable over a longer timeframe. According to respondents, this will not be the case. With marketing automation marketers are entering an era of hypercontextualization and hyperpersonalization. The same thing applies to advertising. The best answers to the ad blocking trend appear to be more relevant and personalized advertising (57%), a better online experience (55%) and the use of native advertising (44%).
This native advertising is specifically about interactive content and less about sponsored posts. Although Bild.de believes they have to continue with their current approach, with the share of people using ad blockers on desktops declining by two-thirds since it introduced the new model, Belgian marketers are not convinced about the success of stopping users of ad blocking from viewing content (only 6%), paywalls (only 6%) and micro payments for content (only 5%).
CHOOSE THE 3 BEST ANSWERS TO THE AD BLOCKING TREND N=207 More relevant and personalized advertising Better online user experience
57% 55%
Native advertising: interactive content
44% 40%
Less intrusive advertising Native advertising: sponsored posts
22% 11%
Better privacy rules Investing in advertising on other channels
9%
Blocking users of ad blocking to visit content on websites
6%
Paywalls on websites
6%
None of these answers
5%
Micro payments for content
5%
These results confirm that marketers need to rethink their advertising strategy for this year and the near future and that media companies will have to review their business model. It is clear that customers need to be put centre-stage by offering them relevant, personalized content. We have seen that marketers will be investing more in online than traditional media compared with last year. But given the trend of ad blocking and as already stated, will online be enough to reach the more critical mass? Probably not. Marketers aiming to reach a mass audience have to assess the impact of ad blockers on their customers.
Bloovi is proud to be a part of the Yearly Marketing Survey. In this interview, founder Marnik D’Hoore shares his thoughts and findings.
MARKETING HAS BECOME A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME WHAT ARE FOR YOU THE KEY TAKEAWAYS OF THIS EDITION OF THE YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY? Marnik D’Hoore: These results make me feel very optimistic about the future of marketing. First of all, new technologies are being adopted far faster than ever before. Think about the marketing tools that were only just being acknowledged two years ago. Such as ‘marketing automation’, which is not just a buzzword any more. Customer data is finally being managed and used appropriately. Second, customer-centricity is growing. I’m happy to see that marketers are starting to realize the importance of building longterm relationships, by putting customers first throughout the customer journey. And last but not least: companies are making smart investments to stay ahead of their competition. Such as attracting new talent and how they are increasing their ad spend.
DO YOU THINK THE RESULTS WILL IMPACT YOUR INDUSTRY? IF SO, IN WHAT WAY? Marnik D.: Ad blockers are the first thing that comes to mind. This phenomenon has become very popular over the past couple of years. There’s nothing unusual about that. Ad blockers are a problem many advertisers and media companies are facing. But here’s the thing: they’re not actually a problem. The company is, at least it is if it’s holding on to an outdated business model. It demonstrates a lack of creativity.
HOW WILL TECHNOLOGY AND MARKETING AUTOMATION IMPACT OUR LIVES, BOTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY? Marnik D.: I’ve been active in the Internet business since 1998. So I think it’s safe to say I’ve seen many evolutions take place over that time. I’ve seen marketing from all sides and angles, like the way direct marketing became democratized and eventually replaced by e-mail marketing. Or the way Google changed the advertising landscape with its AdWords approach. I’ve also seen the rise of social communication sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And all of a sudden, companies and their sales and marketing departments were no longer in the driver’s seat. Marketing has become a whole new ball game. Throughout this evolution, numerous marketing tools have been introduced, enabling marketers to gather data from users and customers and to make communication more measurable. I believe this evolution is good news for marketers, companies and consumers, who will finally get the chance to enjoy personalized targeting. Advertising will be a lot less annoying to the reader. And with automated ads, marketers can target specific users at the right time and at the right place. If we manage to do all of this in a sustainable manner, I can guarantee you it will not only warm the cockles of my marketing heart, but also the cockles of my human heart.
This year The House of Marketing partnered up with Sortlist to conduct the Yearly Marketing Survey. Sortlist reinvents the way companies find their agencies. Co-founder Nicolas Finet reflects on the results of the survey.
TODAY IT IS ABOUT HUMAN-TO-HUMAN WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2016? Nicolas Finet: 2016 promises to be an interesting year for marketing. Most marketers are convinced now of the importance of marketing automation. In addition to that, budgets seem to be available. These are very encouraging signs for improving future client relationships and the development of business. It will be interesting to see if this consciousness actually results in actions. While in the past Belgium has lagged behind compared with other countries, I am convinced that we have the talent and ambition needed to pave the way of tomorrow’s marketing by using marketing automation. Finally, I share the opinion that companies should move towards a more human approach.
ACCORDING TO YOU, WHAT IMPACT WILL TECHNOLOGY AND MARKETING AUTOMATION HAVE ON BUSINESS IN THE COMING YEARS? Nicolas F.: In general I think technology erases borders: on the one hand, there are boundaries in terms of geographical position, on the other there are boundaries between business and customers.
Increasingly heading towards automated solutions, we can even better understand our customers and work in a more human and personal way. It is not about B2B or B2C any more. Instead we are now heading towards H2H: human-to-human. Technology and marketing automation, supported by data, allow us to return to the fundamentals of the customer relationship. What an opportunity! Next to that, access to technological innovation has become a “commodity”. Technology is accessible both to large companies and young entrepreneurs. Competition can come from anywhere nowadays and it is about speed and flexibility. Tomorrow’s leaders will of course master these innovations but will most of all be champions in execution and creativity.
DO ANY OF THE RESULTS HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS? Nicolas F.: Of course, every day we help a dozen companies by linking them with the best marketing agencies. Seeing such optimism is great and the results strengthen us in our belief of delivering personalized, human-to-human services, as a matchmaker between marketers and agencies.
THE HOUSE OF MARKETING Park Lane Building C • Culliganlaan 2 • 1831 Diegem www.thehouseofmarketing.be • info@thom.eu • +32 (0)2 704 91 61
Supported by
BLOOVI Kortrijksesteenweg 88 • 9830 Sint-Martens-Latem www.bloovi.be • info@bloovi.be • +32 (0)9 278 22 60
SORTLIST Avenue des Volontaires 19 • 1160 Brussels www.sortlist.com • hello@sortlist.com • +32 (0)485 41 27 53
STRATEGIC MARKETING CONSULTING & MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION
TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TOWARDS A FUTURE-PROOF AND OMNICHANNEL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, DRIVEN BY MARKETING AUTOMATION
For a personalized company presentation of the results, please contact karolien.vanhelden@thom.eu The House of Marketing Park Lane Building C I Culliganlaan 2 I 1831 Diegem I +32 (0)2 704 91 61 I info@thom.eu www.thehouseofmarketing.be