How can you drive marketing innovation in a time of low job security and static budgets?

At the beginning of every year I look forward to reading the predictions of key trends in digital marketing. In 2016 I have a very strong sense of déjà vu so I took a look back at the 2015 edition of an excellent annual survey issued by eConsultancy and Adobe, which highlighted these key themes:

1. Marketers will embrace experimentation in 2015
2. Customer experience is in the ascendancy
3. Driving a CX friendly culture
4. Marketing gets personal and personalisation goes omnichannel
5. Geo targeting signposts a new era in mobile
6. Marketers join up the channels
7. Data driven marketing from catch phrase to treasure trove
8. Continue to grapple with ROI measurement

This is a great list which essentially breaks down key elements that comprise digital transformation. Only 7% of organisations actually have embraced digital transformation (source: CapGemini Consulting). And that's because every item on this list has two things in common; they are very expensive to implement and they are all as important as each other.  No doubt the only thing that will change on this list for 2016 is the priority.

When you have quarterly spend and sales targets to achieve, often marketers have to resort to doing what has worked in the past.  Because:

1. It is quicker and cheaper to implement.
2. If it doesn’t work it just doesn’t. 
3. If you try something new and it doesn’t work, it’s your fault.

So, intellectually your colleagues may know that personalisation can  deliver a 16% uplift in sales (source: econsultancy). However nothing happens because no one wants to take a first step, they want to see that the gamble has paid off (as long as its not them doing the gambling).

They need a case study.

Take that first small step to creating a case study

How can you address the big themes of personalisation, joining up channels and customer experience, if you don't know who your audicnce is, or what they want from your brand or service?

The first small step on your journey is to create actionable audience profiles by:

1. Augmenting your demographic and transactional data by mapping their motivations and barriers to interacting with your brand.
2. Applying behaviour change principles to identify the correct channels, tone and content that will help you design more persuasive experiences.

When you go through this process you will find that:

• Quick wins and case study opportunities become immediately apparent
•  It is easier to identify and isolate test groups
• You now have a framework in place than you can easily apply to the rest of your customer journeys and data

Our newly launched website takes you through our audience insight and behaviour change process in a bit more detail.  

Its the end of January (already!) and I hope that by the summer the business will be falling over itself to take the next step, because your case study will have proved you right.