According to a recent report, by 2021 chief marketing officers (CMOs) will spend nearly $119 billion on search marketing, display advertising, online video and email marketing. In order to build successful marketing programs with the ideal amount of budget, CMOs must prove ROI.
Recently, we had a chance to attend a TAG Marketing CMO Roundtable and hear from four local Atlanta companies sharing insights into their marketing programs. They discussed what works, what doesn’t work, lessons learned and tools they’re using to measure success. The CMO Roundtable shared three key messages:
Align marketing goals with the CEO’s goals. When asked to explain how to show success of marketing programs, Ellen Dalton, CMO for Medecision, shared revenue growth and engagement numbers were important to her CEO. Secureworks’ CMO, Alex Gobbi, stated share of voice and brand awareness was a major focus. Having a clearly defined value proposition in the space is key. Gobbi also challenged attendees to make sure other CMOs’ goals align with those of the C-suite. A recent report shows CMOs have the highest rate of turnover in the C-suite, so it’s imperative all decision makers should be aligned.
Find what works for your organization. There are a number of tools available to help deliver value, but different tools work for different organizations based on their marketing goals and objectives. The CMOs shared four types of measurement tools a marketing team should consider:
- Social media content management
- Market trends and competitor content aggregator to gather real-time insight on content and trends
- A content library that integrates with the company’s CMS and email system to help marketing and sales teams stay up-to-date with their organizations’ content
- A third-party win/loss tool that helps sales teams understand the key drivers of a win or loss
Showing hard numbers is key. To increase marketing budgets, it’s necessary to prove campaigns are working and deals are closing. It’s all about the leads, says Nicole Wojno, CMO for UserIQ. Increased traffic, leads and closed deals drive revenue for the company and puts more money back into her marketing budget. Advice from Wojno: if something’s not working, pivot. Joe Breen, former SVP of Sales for Secureworks, added there must be a level of trust and credibility between sales and marketing. The two groups must work together to produce solid outcomes.
A big thank you to the panelists for great lessons learned.
