As the discipline of marketing continues to evolve, newer trends have set in which have rendered several established practices as either irrelevant or redundant. Thus some fifteen indicators have been identified, the presence of which clearly demonstrates that the said organization needs a rethink in its marketing strategy. Such organizations have little or no idea of inbound marketing, instead still relying on radio spots, TV commercials or billboards. The marketing strategy is not well-documented at such places. Time and again email has proven to be the most effective means at digital marketing, so it mustn’t be ignored. While the company does use social media for its marketing purposes, it does not have a clear social strategy. It is only used to post links for the company blog which itself is not periodically updated. The company social media handled must never be abused to post personal content. SEO is long-term game, so will never click for those seeking instant results. An even more grave issued would be if even on searching the company name on Google, the brand cannot be located on the first few searches. Also, all competitors are outranking the business on Google. Marketers at such organizations do not make optimum use of analytics to detect game-changing business intelligence. They must instead make sure that a scenario does not arise where site visits are aplenty but sales few. The marketing campaign is all mass-oriented and no segmented targeting is being followed. Marketing can never be a hobby which is done, when time permits, rather it must be set as a priority. A common failing for many is that content gets created but the same attracts few readers. Instead, due attention must be paid to what kind of content readers crave from the website that will be relevant to them.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2017/02/04/15-signs-you-need-to-be-better-at-marketing/#57f71b727869

The role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has expanded greatly. Marketing research firm Gartner confirms that an average of 3.2% of every organization’s total budget is allocated to marketing technology. This is only 0.2% less than that allocated to the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) tech budget. Thus sales, customer experience and IT are all interconnected with the CMO’s routines. This arrangement is rather informal but growing as IT’s work is no longer just providing the right physical support for the business, but indeed as a market differentiator. However, the changes will be gradual as, even now rarely do these departments report directly to the CMO. For example, IT is complex so would be a distraction towards marketing activities. Even within customer experience, it is mapping of the various touch-points that has become the primary goal of the CMO. Increasingly, the CMO is responsible for the marketing tech purchase decisions and not longer just a figurehead for the brand. Technology is being used to identify, convert and retain customers. The same Gartner research also pointed out that CMOs who took responsibilities on the revenue side, were inevitably granted higher budgets.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2017/01/09/cmo-role-expands-with-rising-marketing-budgets/#11ec8b5824eb

There could be several reasons why sales leaders fail. One could be a lack of personal vision or even the ability to execute the readymade corporate strategy. A damaging culture may exist within the firm which hinders effective leadership. Some of these sales leaders may also be poor at talent recruitment and the subsequent management of the staff. Not only do such factors hinder growth, they have longer term debilitating effects such as reversing the debatable decisions taken up by the leadership. It takes time to identify the replacement and set correct the sales team. Also, a victim culture pervades such teams so the culture must be rebuilt from scratch. To rectify such broken teams, a fresh vision must be adopted. This vision has to be communicated clearly to the members. The team must also accordingly be rebuilt beginning with a new sales vice president with a greater sense of integrity. Finally the sales support must be streamlined with the rewards system.

Source:https://hbr.org/2017/01/ineffective-sales-leaders-can-cause-lasting-damage?

Customer-centric marketing is a term in vogue within business cycles these days, yet it is followed in the right manner by few. While to some extent marketing was always tailored to the customers, it is now focused on the individual, eliminating the concept of average buyer. It assumes all buyers are different. Earlier, products were mass-produced keeping in mind a particular segment. This meant that many who did not fit into a typical mold were left out. This is now changing as it’s possible to tailor the product for individual users. Five ways have been identified to deliver the perfect customer-centric marketing. First of all the role of sales has to be modified to align more with marketing. Up selling has to be replaced by what customers genuinely require. A simple philosophy of the company has to be woven into the corporate strategy that must be followed throughout the organization. Content is a critical component of marketing and this needs to be personalized. Enormous amounts of data warehousing is now possible and ought to be leveraged to identify customer segment as well as individual insights. Techniques of automation need to be incorporated into the business operations. Since it’s a relatively new concept, flaws will emerge, which must be eradicated and applied again. As the latest S&P Index has shown, the companies that take up customer-centric marketing are the ones really doing well.

Source:http://www.cio.com/article/3158691/customer-relationship-management/is-customer-centric-marketing-the-way-of-the-future.html