8 October 2019IN MY OPINIONBy Amy Scissons, CMO, International, MercerData-driven marketers must look at everything from a data perspective --from the customer experience and how internal teams work to operational inefficiencies and strategizing with C-Suite decision makers. As a marketing leader, when I speak with executives at Mercer, I always start with data. People relate to numbers ­ they understand sales figures, engagement ratios, gains, losses, and when a marketing strategy or investment is, or isn't, paying off. Logical people see data as a source of truth. In my experience, communicating in truths is the most direct pathway to success.By nature, marketers tend to excel at words, language and branding, but it is key for today's Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to embrace data, demand generation and the evolving impact of technological advances on every aspect of business, in every industry. Data allows marketers to, even in times of shrinking budgets, advocate for and justify greater investment in initiatives that--through data--can be clearly connected to increased revenue. This, of course, is not always easy to do. But it is in this space that modern marketers are finding unprecedented opportunities. Data, Marketing and the B2B Sales CycleIn the B2C universe, marketers control the conversation with the buyer and directly influence purchasing decisions and process. However, in the B2B world, the CMO and marketers own the initial phase of the process--identifying who is interested in the products and services and why, and then taking that key information forward. But, they must ultimately rely on the account manager to sell to the client, the end consumer. In B2B dynamics, it is more complex to tie the marketing strategy directly to revenue. Marketers must therefore explain the different ways marketing provides value--often found in these two important benefits: 1. Shortening the sales cycle. Marketing affords a better, deeper understanding of purchasing behaviors, shortening the sales cycle by more quickly identifying where people are in the sales funnel--including those who are further along and closer to fully engaging. 2. Highlighting touchpoints. Identifying the timing and context of engagements created by marketing efforts--from face-to-face meetings to generating online leads through emails, social media or websites--can be a complicated journey and a difficult story to tell. However, data-savvy CMOs are now more empowered than ever to demonstrate how those engagements of all types contribute to revenue and drive sales. 3. Quickly identifying hand-raisers. Social media, in particular, provides a tremendous opportunity for marketers to identify potential customers that are ready to buy, thus bypassing a number of steps in the sales process and expediting the process in introducing the prospect to a client manager. Social media, by its Driving Home Marketing's VALUE THROUGH DATA
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