Marketing in 2021: Helping is the new Selling

I had the privilege of speaking at a Frost & Sullivan webinar focusing on sharing best practices and the future of marketing. I was joined by several dynamic individuals at the forefront of marketing in companies including - Jyllene Miller EVP Marketing and Emerging Business, Concentrix, Stacey Fontenot, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Cvent, - Yasutaka Mizutani (Mizu), VP, Global CMO, Colt Technology Services, Mark Wilson, CMO, BlackBerry, Gary Robbins, Sr. Partner, Brand and Demand Solutions, Frost & Sullivan and ably moderated by Adam Kahn, Global Senior Director Digital Strategy & Marketing Operations, Frost & Sullivan. The surprising news was that despite our expertise spanning multiple industries with different goals and priorities, we shared a common number of observations when it came to marketing strategy, and the future of the role.

Hybrid Events

From listening to my fellow marketers, it was clear we agreed that a gradual return to in-person events is on the cards, but until we reach that stage, hybrid events will take their place in the new normal. Hybrid events are certainly not new by any means, but with the speed and scale at which people are upskilling themselves , the need to look for venues that not only offer this flexibility but, in turn have the ability to bring in audiences from different parts of the market and offer both a local and global offering will be key.

 Incentivizing Participation

Some great discussion arose around the methods in which marketers are incentivizing participation in their virtual events. These ranged from the ability to complete professional certifications to using technology to capture ‘honesty intent’ across multiple platforms to analyze and drive higher conversion rates. A key take away was to learn by example from other industries. The sports and entertainment media industry has seen major innovations in the way they engage and delight their customers that can be applied to marketing.

Retaining Budgets

When it comes to navigating budget retention in the new normal, I raised the point that we as marketers should think like an investor. You need to have a short-term gain and a long-term gain. From a short-term gain, you’re looking to help the business close deals and in the long term you’ve got to think about your brand. As part of the Tata Group, we share a long-held tradition of not just supporting our clients, but our people and communities. TCS has several long-running marathon partnerships, in which we are helping not just our clients, but the community as well. Helping is the new selling and that is a conversation you can have with the business from both a short-term and long-term perspective.

The rise of ABM (Account-based Marketing)

The current state of the world and the various lockdowns across countries have presented significant challenges to sales teams across industries. With this lack of ability to prospect, we are going to see a heightened demand for more digital integration and greater contribution from marketing. Ultimately what sales are looking to create is a shared journey, with marketing driving new opportunities for them virtually, with ABM being one avenue through which to push this.

Collaboration is King

Ultimately, marketing will see a greater need for collaboration than ever before, from sales working more closely with marketing, leveraging your partner universe to drive visibility and more data visualisation in a unified view. The pandemic has become a great equaliser, and with everyone working in the same space, so the need to innovate has never been more prescient.

It was a pleasure attending the event and I would like to thank @Frost&Sullivan for the brilliant opportunity. If you would like to find out more about this panel, you can view the entire discussion on-demand by visiting the link below:

https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1348982&tp_key=c0b9a868c6