The Pontiflex Blog

A big hill ahead: CMOs in a post-recession economy

August 16, 2010 at 4:29 pm Jessica Ling Leave a comment

AdWeek just published the results of a new Accenture survey that asked CMOs about challenges in a post-recession economy. The survey found that CMOs are concerned about lasting changes in consumer attitudes toward purchasing. Three in five marketing executives believe that marketing will “fundamentally change in the next five years” because of the economic downturn.

Specifically, customers’ expectations has changed. Marketers must be much more focused on understanding who to target and what kinds of content are most relevant. With higher expectations for product quality, value, price, and customer service, the three most important business issues for CMOs are:

1. Improving customer retention and loyalty

2. Acquiring new customers

3. Increasing sales to current customers

In addition, marketers reported that they lack effectiveness when it comes to customer analytics, innovation, and engagement.

What’s holding them back? Among other reasons like lack of resources, they cite lack of technology or tools and lack of access to key customer data as barriers to success.

This is just one of many examples of why efficient marketing tools for acquiring user data are more important than ever. It doesn’t have to be difficult at all. With sign-up ads, marketers already have the ability to acquire contact information of interested people in a cost-effective manner, engage them via email and social channels, and continue to track satisfaction through CRM programs.

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