CMOs Shift Investments Toward the Customer Journey, According to The CMO Club and IBM Study

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 26, 2015) - Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) and top marketing executives are shifting budgets toward customer retention and advocacy, according to research from The CMO Club. Conducted in collaboration with IBM (NYSE: IBM), the study also shows that CMOs are increasing their budgets and allocating a greater portion of these investments across the entire customer journey rather than individual channels.

The study titled, "Marketing is a (Buyer) Journey, Not a Destination," features feedback from 100 leading CMO Club members which includes CMOs and heads of marketing, all with budgets of $1 million and above. The study also features the perspectives on the findings of eight marketing executives from companies including Wells Fargo, Bally, Ticketmaster, Valspar, CNO Financial, medCPU and Goddard School.

According to a study from Foundation Capital, technology spend by CMOs will increase 10x in 10 years, growing from $12 billion to $120 billion. With this latest study, marketers are showing that with budgets on the rise, how they plan to allocate this money is changing.

This shift comes at a time when consumers have begun engaging businesses from multiple channels; they are researching products on their mobile device, purchasing from their tablet and then picking up in the store. As this customer journey becomes more common, CMOs can no longer afford to dedicate a majority of their budget to customer acquisition and allocate market spend by channel. According to this survey, marketers have recognized the need and are beginning to shift priorities toward retention and loyalty and driving customer advocacy across each interaction point, beginning with discovery.

Key findings from the study include:

• 57 percent of CMOs expect their marketing budgets to increase over the next 2-3 years
• Marketers are aligning spending across every stage of the buyer journey with social and digital channels emerging as top areas of investment
• 53 percent of respondents stated that the main reason for spreading their budgets across the entire customer journey is the need to generate higher revenue

"The brand/customer dynamic is no longer built on insolated interactions. It's an ongoing relationship that must span all touch points in the customer's journey," said Deepak Advani, General Manager, IBM Commerce. The shifting dynamic and the changing role of the CMO also illuminates a tremendous opportunity for CMOs to further expand their influence, cut through organizational silos, and make an impact beyond just marketing by owning the overall customer experience.

Additional study findings include:

• Marketers stated that content generation is their biggest expenditure, accounting for 13 percent of their budgets. This focus demonstrates the vital role content plays in engaging today's consumer in an ongoing dialogue.
• While there is strong momentum toward digital marketing capabilities, traditional marketing channels still play a role in the marketing mix. According to the study, traditional marketing still accounts for 52 percent of their budgets.

Chris Campbell, CMO of CNO Financial, notes that, "It is a migration; not all (of your tactics) should be digital. TV, radio, (and) print all still matter, but digital is rising at a rapid rate."

"We're excited about what this study reveals. Marketing dollars are in a seismic shift from channel to journey with feedback metrics that allow for rapid experimentation across campaigns and tactics," said Pete Krainik, CEO and Founder of The CMO Club. "The domino effect of this change ripples through marketing campaigns, customer service, agency offerings, marketing approaches, marketing investments and metrics. It is one of the first and most compelling data points that showcase the change in marketing behavior mapping to the changing role and power of the consumer."

To download this report visit: http://thecmoclub.com/resource/marketing-is-a-buyer-journey-not-a-destination-a-cmo-solution-guide-via-the-cmo-club-in-partnership-with-ibm/

About The CMO Club
The CMO Club is the world's most engaged and inspired community of Senior Marketing Executives who help each other solve their biggest challenges, within a candid, trusted, and sharing environment. Collaboration fueled by inspiring events and within the members-only Digital Solutions Clubhouse raises the standard for what is required to be a successful Chief Marketing Officer. With more than 850 members, The CMO Club is the go-to center for today's Senior Marketer for peer-based personal and career success support. For more details, please visit www.thecmoclub.com.

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