This week B2B Marketing reported that CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) cited a lack of investment and resources as the biggest challenge to implementing an omni-channel marketing strategy, according to this article.
TL:DR
64% of respondents blamed budget while 61% blamed analytical resources for not addressing omni-channel marketing, 34% ARE in early stages of implementation.
Firstly, what does ‘Omni-channel marketing’ actually mean?
Omni-channel marketing is a newish trend that recognises the role of changes within consumer lifestyles. It has been a while since consumers would walk in to a showroom, look at products, take a brochure, walk to the next showroom to compare prices and then go back to a store a period of time later to make a purchase. It is understood that consumers shop virtually, sometimes on a mobile device, sometimes desktop, sometimes using both during the same purchase process. And this may well accompany their visit to a store to validate their decision; either way, the time to purchase has decreased.
The retail purchase experience is multi-channel. This means that it is essential to influence consumers with a multi-channel strategy – for B2Cs this means digital and in store and for B2Bs this requires an effective marketing strategy that provides for a seamless experience from both online and offline channels – to include (among a wider arsenal) search engine marketing (with mobile and desktop optimised experiences) and quality in-person tools as used at expos.
Secondly, what does this article mean to my B2B?
The feedback used within the article suggests that budgets and access to resources (although it is not clear as to whether this means people or technologies) are limitations. This can lead to the following assumptions:
Business leaders are not prepared to give money to a concept that is still not either fully understood nor fully valued and, therefore, not fully utilised.
Senior Marketers are not sufficiently skilled in multiple disciplines, preferring to capitalise on existing strengths.
The value of Marketing data is still questioned.
If any of these assumptions holds true, there are implications for a business seeking growth. Firstly, if the use of Marketing data is limited to, for example, identifying the Return On Investment (ROI) from Pay Per Click campaigns, there is a phenomenal quantity of value that is being missed. What this in turn means is that business leaders can not be expected to invest further in analytics tools in order to extract further insight. Which obviously limits the ability to acquire access to new technologies. Which… if you are still with me on this… precludes Marketing data from uses such as input into Big Data or other business growth initiatives… which is a bad thing.
For me, Marketing starts with understanding the customer’s requirements, moves to providing the stimuli to get their attention and it continues through many points of the engagement with the business. Marketers should embrace their status as customer evangelist and seek to capture insight to build the most complete view of who their customer is. Then can they be more effective in their purpose and then can they be in a position to fight for much needed budgets!
I welcome your discussion and comments below.
Paul Cranston is Marketing Services Director for Headway Marketing Ltd, and consults on B2B marketing strategy and solutions.