Strategic programs defining marketing departments [#ChartoftheDay]

With the ever changing digital landscape, where do our CMO's see the future of their marketing departments?

The economist recently published their report The path to 2020: Marketers seize the customer experience, which is based on a global survey of 499 CMOs and senior marketing executives, plus in-depth interviews with leading CMOs to research which technologies and customer trends are likely to change marketing organisations.

The research eluded to some interesting trends, the first of which is that it takes into account that all CMO's have some form of strategy and a goal they are trying to achieve. At Smart Insights, we're big advocates of having a strategy in place to help you reach your goals. If you want to do a little further reading on developing your own strategy, have a read of this post.

Of the 499 who responded to survey, there were two clear preferred strategies for 2016, which were focusing on customer loyalty and relationships, also targeting customer acquisition.

The ability to personalise your customers experience, something which until very recently was a clunky initiative to implement, has been the driving force behind the popularity of these. They believe that a personalised, efficient and consistent customer experience will translate into customer loyalty and brand value.

Whilst, the personalised experience help companies can lead to finding the people you want for the market you’re trying to reach.

Four of the strategies highlighted in the survey, indicate a growth over the next 5 years. The one that looks set to rival the most popular two, is to begin pioneering new and emerging technologies to engage our audience.

It is currently set 10 points below the top two choices, however fast forward to 2020 and that gap has shortened to just two points. This suggests marketers are expecting to be interacting directly with their customers through technology and personalisation, rather than indirectly with their customers through media and advertising.

• Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit - The Path to 2020
• Data Set: 499 chief marketing officers (CMOs) and senior marketing executives worldwide
• Date: April 2016