5 CMOs on the marketing approaches they will - and won't take from 2018 into 2019

As leaders move into a new calendar year, there's always the opportunity to take a close look at what is and isn’t working in their go-to-market strategies, and how things could improve. And given the rapid pace of change in the industry, it's vital leaders take stock regularly and adapt and pivot to meet ever-changing customer needs.

To find out more, CMO caught up with the CMOs and business leaders of JCurve, Datorama, Orchard, The Leading Edge, and AppNexus and asked: What’s one marketing approach you will be taking from 2018 into 2019, and what one approach you will not be using?

Kate Massey

CMO, JCurve Solutions

One approach we will be using in 2019 is focusing even deeper on driving new business through repeatable success. Where we have proven success in verticals, we will be leveraging this through working with clients to bring their customer success stories to life. We’ve seen some great wins from being more focussed during 2018, and we plan to accelerate this even faster in 2019.

Another approach that has ensured high team engagement and delivering outcomes in 2018 is ensuring we have very clear goals and the team are fully aligned behind what we are trying to achieve as a business, as a team and as individuals, that contribute towards the bigger goals.  This helps us set priorities and work on what will have the biggest business impact. 

One approach we won’t be using in 2019 is broad reach targeting. Our solutions can often cross over and suit a wide range of industries and businesses of all sizes. 

We’ve found when we try and spread out coverage too wide we have a lot more wastage in our marketing spend, deals take longer to close and implementation times can take longer compared to when we leverage our core competencies.

We will continue to expand into new territories, verticals and solutions whilst using the proven approach we have established to help us grow faster.

Lee Naylor
Managing partner, The Leading Edge (TLE)

I’ll be casting a wary eye over anything that claims machine learning and the latest in algorithms as the answer to every marketing issue known to man.

We’ve had both good and bad experiences in 2018 working with companies that make great claims about their technology. Much of the data going in is not fit for purpose and therefore what is coming out isn’t helpful or ends up delivering less than what was claimed.

What I will be doing more of in 2019 is ensuring our clients are augmenting and combining the right data in ways that adds value to their business.

Leah Pope

CMO, Datorama 

Good question. Actually, our approach over the last year through 2019 has been consistent, but we continually add new elements and refine our targeting and alignment across programs.

So for instance, this year we'll be continuing to drive marketing and sales alignment at a global level across digital, events, content, nurturing, and enablement while scaling these and getting more targeted based on consistent customer feedback.

Tactically, we look forward to expanding account-based marketing this year, as we've seen a lot of success in 2018.

Andrew Antoniou
Managing partner, Orchard

This year will no doubt see us continue to roll out our human-centred design (HCD) approach across a broader stream of clients as they become more comfortable working in a more dynamic manner.

It’s hard to predict what is in store for 2019, however we are anticipating a slow-down of the traditional waterfall approach and a shift towards more agile marketing strategies based on the growth of HCD. 

Paolo Modolo

JAPAC marketing lead, AppNexus

In our case, it’s less of a question of what we won’t be doing and more about how do we improve on the successes from last year. In 2019, there is no doubt that we will continue to focus on customer marketing by shining a light on our partners, sharing their success stories and creating genuine advocacy.

Optimising how we measure the success of our marketing investments will also be a recurring theme throughout the year.

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