CMOs are acutely aware that the digital transformation is already underway, and many companies are playing catch-up in an effort to survive. Nearly a third of companies lack the expertise needed to execute on digital initiatives; the same percentage view digital transformation as an expense, not an investment.
But surviving isn’t the same as thriving, and CMOs who proactively want to lead their companies further into the digital era have to anticipate what will happen next. Brian Solis, a principal analyst at Altimeter Group, said, “We’re seeing companies of all shapes and sizes that believe because they are investing in technology that they are advanced or mature. But digital transformation is just as much about change management as it is about technology.”
Here are three changes CMOs need to embrace to see their brands do more than survive.
1. Viewers are cutting the cord, and advertisers must follow.
In the first quarter of 2018, Hulu and others in the OTT arena were out of inventory, which signals that the cord-cutting trend is building, creating an opening for others in the space. Pluto TV, a high-growth OTT company, has gone from 500 users to millions and continues to grow. My initial perception was that cord cutting was isolated to younger generations, some of which had never grown up with a cable or satellite dependency.
When I chatted with Ilya Pozin, Pluto TV’s co-founder, he explained, “It’s not necessarily a generational trend; it’s across all generations. The industry has become more fragmented, meaning advertisers and marketing leaders will have to look at new outlets to get in front of their audiences.” In fact, in 2017, Baby Boomers were cutting the cord nearly as often as Gen Xers were.
CMOs and other marketing leaders have to gain awareness of the fragmentation happening in their own industries, noting when consumers move toward different platforms that make it easier for them to consume the content they want. Marketing executives also have to understand that there’s a difference between flocking to a platform and being surrounded by seven ads for competitors.
Chasing viewers doesn’t mean a brand is the first one to the party; brands may find themselves in a better position to form a strong partnership with a growing platform than to throw money at an already popular outlet. Joining five competitors on a platform doesn’t mean you’ve anticipated the future — it means you’ve joined the fray. Pozin said, “The value in an advertising relationship isn’t just in the platform, but it’s also in how you can form a strong partnership to not just be another drop in the bucket.”
2. Most brands should now maintain its own community and media company.
“Every business should build a content contributor network around their brand because their business — whether they know it or not — is also a media company,” says Scott Gerber, the CEO of The Community Company.
Nearly half of B2C brands outsource their content development to journalists and other content developers, people who are experts in their craft but not necessarily experts in the brands’ industries. For this reason, these platforms must seek consistent external sources of content — not just because marketers want diversified sources of content, but also because CMOs are creating a community around their brands that include people who are influential or connected to their space. Publications have organically done this in recent years due to limited resources on the editorial side, but for brands, it offers an opportunity to highlight a targeted relationship, partnership, or influencer marketing tool.
Brands like HubSpot have done this successfully; the company developed a community of experts around its blog and brand. In the past, communities like these were hard to form because there were far fewer experts willing to write for a brand-sponsored outlet. With the rise of thought leadership budgets, this mindset has changed; now, brands have the influence to source partners within their industries, surrounding themselves with experts and forming communities.
Some marketing executives encounter barriers when attempting to set up communities in this vein, which has led to the rise of organizations like Gerber’s The Community Company, which offers a turnkey process to build a content contributor network around a brand. Gerber says many brands overlook opportunities to incorporate experts; they could, for example, gain insights from their chief product officer on the direction the market is going for a future prediction piece or talk to a longtime customer to highlight tips from a power user.
The key, Gerber says, is engagement: “By creating a content contributor network, you’re empowering the user — and accrediting them — and leading that conversation together.” A decade ago, this kind of partnership wouldn’t have been possible, but with the right editorial procedures and processes in place, marketing teams can extract content from the right industry experts to create both a media property and a community. Gerber points out, too, that this content can be shared with audiences via blogs, social media, and targeted native content ad buys.
3. Branding is moving toward a customer focus.
We live in an era when unhappy customers can instantaneously share their displeasure with millions of people — and do. Consumers’ increasing power, combined with the rise of influencers and social selling, indicates that what used to be transactional is now personal.
Marketing Sherpa found customer satisfaction increases “dramatically” when companies put customers’ needs ahead of their own business goals. Nearly 60% of the “highly satisfied” customers surveyed indicated that they felt those companies put their needs ahead of the companies’ — and nearly 92% of those satisfied customers said their dollars would follow their feelings.
TaxSlayer is one company in agreement. Its movement toward “turning taxpayers into tax slayers” not only empowers its customers, but it also connects them to TaxSlayer’s brand by appointing them as ambassadors. TaxSlayer’s new campaign shows a variety of customers wearing the slayer helmet, tying the brand’s legacy logo to its desire to make customers’ lives better.
Chris Moloney, TaxSlayer’s CMO, said, “Our strategy is to truly put customers at the center of our business. Our new brand reinforces this notion by placing the helmet at the core of our visual identity: Think of us as armor against the stress of tax season.”
The digital transformation is ongoing, and brands can’t simply tread digital water and expect to stay ahead of their competitors. By embracing these three trends, CMOs can push their companies to meet consumers where they are — and ensure their companies are thriving, not just surviving.
