Aberdeen Research recently pointed out that the average CMO stays on the job a little under 2 years. During their tenure, some CMOs become success stories. Others, less so. What makes the difference? 92297_sales_figuresAberdeen analysts say the rise in data driven marketing strategies as opposed to ‘winging it’ accounts for the success of best-in-class operators.

Many senior marketing professionals already use data as they develop their plans but most want improvements as survey results indicate:

  • Heavily rely on data: 26%
  • Use data for marketing decisions but want improvement: 52%
  • Not using data but plan to: 18%
  • Don’t see the need for data driven marketing: 4%

It’s no secret that the recession has increased the difficulty of acquiring new customers. But collecting and analyzing data on existing customers has allowed many marketers to use traditional acquisition tactics to increase revenues. The best organizations are using data for this purpose as follows:

  • Improve cross-selling and up-selling: 35%
  • Identify new or emerging customer segments: 29%
  • Segment/target customers with more accuracy: 27%

Another effective use of data is to track customer purchases and reference them directly in personalized emails when pitching new products. This is a favorite strategy of best-in-class marketers who also track the return on investment for these campaigns. These marketers are also far more likely to maintain centralized control of customer data and to put systems in place to regularly clean the data. They also use email marketing and web analytics and automate these processes.

Best-in-class marketers are far more likely than average to:

  • Segment and target
  • Profile customers
  • Measure ROMI
  • Engage in marketing planning
  • Calculate profitability

The most successful CMOs are the ones who can effectively manage data to achieve the ultimate goal of increased sales. According to Aberdeen, this means centralizing and regularly reviewing information, and funding the planning and forecasting process.

[Source: Data Driven Marketing, Aberdeen Group, October 2009.]