In the latest edition of TheCustomer Quick-Take: Paying attention to the coming Org Chart shifts, Delivering self-serve tech shopping, Hype Cycle predictions, Getting to a more efficient data practice, and the real reason you’re not more productive at work.
So good. So quick.
CMO STRATEGIES
The CMO-CIO Relationship
Quick-Take: Only 23% of companies have “very effective” CMO-CIO working relationships, and 60% of CMOs in “very effective” relationships with IT have a multi-year strategic plan for MarTech, compared to 29% of CMOs in “effective” relationships
The X-Factor of Good Customer Experience
Quick-Take: Gartner’s 2021 report envisions that “by 2025, consumers’ omnichannel behavior will drive 60% of B2C brands toward a functional, rather than channel-based organizational structure.” Taking it a step further, they also foresee in the next couple of years that “25% of organizations will amalgamate marketing, sales and CX into a single function.”
MARKETING STRATEGIES
Marketing’s Tech-tonic Shift
Quick-Take: 90% have changed their digital engagement strategy since before the pandemic, 48% completely so. In addition, 45% have thoroughly changed their workflows and processes, 45% their organizational priorities, 45% their data management strategy, 44% their marketing channel mix and 44% their content strategy. And large percentages have somewhat changed these activities.
MARKETING ETHICS
Operationalizing AI Ethics
Quick-Take: There is no single right way to operationalize AI ethics given the varying values of companies across dozens of industries. Regardless of the approach a company takes, the best measure of its effectiveness is simple: does it make it more trustworthy?
TECHNOLOGY
The Future of B2B Software Sales
Quick-Take: Over 45 percent of B2B technology buyers today are 25-34 years old, making them the single largest demographic in this space. This demographic does not like being told what to do or given timelines on how to do it. They expect results quickly. This group also values independence in the decision-making process. This drive for self-service shows: 57 percent of the purchase decision is complete before a customer even calls the supplier.
Here’s What’s In and Headed Out
Quick-Take: Artificial intelligence’s impact on generating code, augmenting design and innovation is all 5- to 10-years away. Composable is going to be a key buzzword for applications and networks. Industry clouds are just beginning on the hype cycle with a plateau reached in 5- to 10-years. That take is interesting given industry clouds are everywhere from multiple vendors.
DATA & PRIVACY
Betting on Data
Quick-Take: More than half of the data being collected by companies is often not used at all, suggesting that the time of everyone involved in the collection has been wasted to produce nothing but operational delay and the associated losses. The data that has been collected, on the other hand, is often only used by a designated data science team that is too overworked to go through everything that is available.
The Definition of “Business” under the CCPA
Quick-Take: In a first-of-its-kind ruling interpreting the CCPA, a federal judge concluded that a business was subject to the CCPA because the complaint allegations satisfied the “for profit” requirement of this California privacy law.
DESIGN
The Real Reason You’re Not More Productive
Quick-Take: Hogan compares enterprise software to using a dull chef’s knife—possible for anything, but lousy for everything. And he believes it’s necessary to push back on the complexity. “You can do a lot in Excel, but should you use Excel for all of those things?” says Hogan. These workflow issues only get more complex when people hop from one piece of software to the next.
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