The world of martech is not slowing down. Martech investment has increased in Australia over the past 12 months which is a positive sign that both marketers and the C-suite are starting to grasp the full potential of the technology.
But like any relationship, it isn’t perfect.
There remains a disconnect between marketers and their C-suite, which is hindering organisations’ ability to fully utilise and optimise marketing technology to drive business growth. Better communication and understanding between the two will help close the gap, and marketers looking to earn and keep a seat among CEOs should be looking to invest in skills and tactics to translate their value for business leaders.
Squiz’s annual State of Marketing Technology report is a critical pulse check on how senior marketers are utilising martech and in what ways, as well as exposing the obstacles they face in the process. 2017 showed a feeling of disconnect amongst a substantial amount of senior marketers (78% of those surveyed) and the rest of the boardroom, despite feeling confident in explaining the value of technology investments. The same marketers said they saw almost half (47%) of the C-suite outside of their department using marketing technology in their roles, despite a lack of understanding of martech’s potential impact on revenues.
So what can marketers do?
Instead of looking at this as a problem that’s out of their control, marketers need to step up and take responsibility for communicating the value of martech to the entire business. Stronger and more communicative relationships across the entire C-suite is essential for the marketing team to prove the importance of martech, not as a cost but as an investment. Its growing place in the boardroom will prove redundant without those in charge of the technology convincing and proving to the business the benefits for business growth. Effectively and regularly communicating the long-term ROI of these investments will benefit both marketers and the C-suite in their daily and long-term roles.
With this communication must inherently come an understanding of the broader business goals, in order to align them with marketing’s own goals. Marketers need to be able to translate their activities into ROI relevant to business KPIs, whether it’s related to hiring, sales or overall business growth. The ability to measure numbers against efforts, tell a story about customers that even the most committed account manager would struggle to piece together, and shine a light on where issues exist in other parts of the business and the customer journey, means marketers are more likely to set goals that drive change on a wider scale throughout an organisation.
The priority for senior marketers, therefore, is clear: they need to adjust their mind-sets and change their language to that of the boardroom. CEO’s don’t respond to “impressions” or “brand awareness”. They respond to numbers – leads, sales, number of new clients, etc. Cold, hard revenue numbers and a broader, holistic view of the organisation’s performance beyond their department will be the key for CMOs if they’re to thrive in this environment.
With marketing and the C-suite aligned, more effort can be directed towards achieving broader business goals. Whilst it takes both parties to come to the table, senior marketers need to change their approach to meet that of a holistic business champion armed with hard numbers. If and when they do, the C-suite will have no choice but to sit up and take note.
By Rory McNeil, head of marketing AUNZ Squiz, the digital transformation company