In In a recent webinar, analysts from market research firm IDC predicted as many as 10 ways in which technology will cross paths with the marketing function in 2013. Compiled by analysts Rich Vancil and Kathleen Schaub, the predictions are based on long-term industry trends along with new themes that may be on the horizon.
The Top 10 Predictions are:
Prediction 1 - The C-suite (CEO, CFO, and COO) will demand that the CMO produce both a strategy and a plan for how market-driven data will significantly contribute to corporate objectives
Prediction 2 - The CMO and the CIO will begin the year as functional peers and end the year as either friends or frenemies, and per the CEO, the CIO will become more actively involved with the CMO in all marketing automation decisions that have cross-functional implications
Prediction 3 - The automation outlay could approach 10 percent of marketing's discretionary budget in 2013, with two-thirds of the total outlay coming from marketing and one-third coming from IT; for "best practice" organizations, this will shift to 50:50 by 2014
Prediction 4 - Even with their new partnership with the CIO, many CMOs will find that their positions are in jeopardy as they failed to produce a robust data analytics functionor even a game plan to get there
Prediction 5 - Starting in 2013, after the CMO realizes that he/she does not have the skill sets in place for data analytics proficiency, 50 percent of new marketing hires will have technical backgrounds
Prediction 6 - Eight out of ten companies will report that most social media initiative growth is taking place outside of marketing
Prediction 7 - By the end of 2013, 5 percent of CMOs will shift to a "mobile first" strategy
Prediction 8 - Content isn't kingit's a wild beast; In 2013, CMOs will be pragmatic, shifting focus less on big platform projects and more on linking access to audience needs
Prediction 9 - The demand for greater insight into the revenue impact of marketing and sales will require that older CRM systems be replaced, creating infrastructure disruption
Prediction 10 - High-tech pipeline conversion metrics will continue to improve; expect a 20 percent improvement in target-to-deal ratios and a 10 percent reduction in time to create a customer, with both due to better automation and analytics-driven process improvement
Add new comment