I received an email this morning
from the CMO Council on its "Marketing Outlook for
2011." While the research study made more sense to report in Q1, it's
worthwhile to use as a check-up as we edge into August 2011.
The Study reports that marketing
budgets are on the rise, with 26% reporting an increase of 1 to 5% over
last year. As law firm marketers begin their 2012 budget planning,
this is good information to have in your back pocket. (Note that this was a
study of 750+ members of the CMO Council, not law firms. Participants
were drawn from each major region of the world and were representative of most
vertical industry sectors and company sizes. The Council website includes
a PDF with more information.)
So, marketers, how are you doing
with your 2011 strategic marketing goals? You have five short months left
in 2011 to make measureable progress.
The survey found that the key senior
management mandate to marketers is to drive top-line growth (46% of the
respondents) and market share (45%) while better defining the brand
and value proposition (31%). Law firm executive committees want the same
thing.
Other senior management mandates
were:
- Improve customer insight and retention (25% of the responses)
- Lower costs and improve efficiencies (22%)
- Maintain high quality sales pipeline (20%)
- Access new markets and audiences (17%)
- Increase accountability and measurement (15)
I am surprised that increasing
accountability and measurement came in at a paltry 15%. This would
be higher on the list of most law firm leaders I know.
The study also discusses the
importance of "redefining the customer experience." A large
part of this is creating websites that are more engaging, personalized and
differentiated. This is where the ..."art of marketing and the
science of analytics, measurement and process" can be married.
"Marketers need to better understand the impact marketing and technology
integration can have in making customer experiences more gratifying and
satisfying, thereby improving loyalty, retention and repeat purchase."
Another paragraph is worth including
in its entirety:
"Marketing admits they lack
high levels of competency in extracting valuable insight and predictive
analytics from the mass of customer data that continues to multiply inside and
outside their enterprises. Yet, as we continue to engage with customers in
instant, online social channels, gathering data from every impression, every
search, every transaction, status update, or tweet can develop a more complete
profile or the customer and must be integrated with off line data sources.
Marketing has the opportunity to leverage this rich data repository to more
fully understand, target, and serve customers in ways that improve response, drive
repeat purchase, up-sell and cross-sell products, and inspire loyalty and
attachment. Marketers must respond to the paradigm shift from BtoC to CtoB with
reviews and reassessments of their marketing mix and allocation of spend. This
includes greater use of localized marketing tools, adaptive merchandising
systems, interactive self-serve technologies, mass-personalized messaging
solutions, social media channels, mobile relationship marketing platforms, and
corporate social responsibility programs (e.g. sustainability)."
Revisit your goals for 2011 - make
sure they are achievable and relevant as you work toward the end of this
calendar year. And consider using this list as your starting point for
2012.
Read more insight at the Law Firm 4.0 Blog.
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