I was lucky to have an opportunity to attend a private dinner last week in California with about 25 CMOs of B2B technology and financial services companies.
Their mood about the current business environment was guarded but leaning towards optimism. I got the sense that they believed that they had turned the corner on the recession and that they’re waiting for consumer to catch up. Maybe because these CMOs are in the business of seeing the future, most of my conversations with them were about how they are positioning their companies to take advantage of the business and consumer upswing ahead. It seemed they had factored in that the recession is already near the bottom for most businesses and that there was nowhere to go but up.
As we discussed current marketing strategies, there was great interest in custom content delivered through a variety of digital platforms. I shared Imagination’s experiences with other companies in providing rich-media content, social media marketing and online community management services. The CMOs agreed that the key to retaining and growing their customers lies in providing custom content that can help them understand options, share experiences and find solutions.
They recognized that custom content–some still call it custom publishing–needs to be delivered in the channel that best fits the target audience. Delivery can be through digital text, audio, video or media such as blogs, social networking sites or virtual participation events. Marketing budgets clearly are lower, but most of the cutting has been done in traditional media vehicles such as print, broadcast and direct mail advertising. Marketing dollars have been shifted to custom content strategies where the message and delivery is customized, controlled and exclusive.
Finally, in order to get approval, the custom media program must have the ability to generate detailed metrics that show participation, engagement and ability to generate revenues.
