21st Century Public Relations

Intermediate/ Digest...

Recruiting firm Spencer Stuart surveyed more than 160 senior marketing leaders and found that while the majority, 70%, of those surveyed believe that creativity is just as important as analytical ability, far fewer respondents, 19%, feel their teams strike the right balance.

Finding talent with a proper blend of the creative and analytical is a challenge, say the CMOs, especially amid fierce competition for the scarce experts with both skills. Compounding the challenge is the fact that there is no single go-to source for talent, according to survey respondents. The vast majority (91%) of respondents look externally for talent with affinities for both the creative and analytical.

Competitors within the sector were viewed as viable sources of talent for 22% of respondents; 16% look to the technology industry; and another 16% tap historically creative sectors such as advertising and media. More than one-third (37%) said that they find talent from “other” sources, including strategy consulting firms and startups to analytics companies and other sectors (e.g., consumer products, retail, financial services).

The laundry list of desired skills for marketing leaders continues to grow: analytical orientation, creativity, strategic mindset, digital expertise, general management, innovation, customer insight, financial acumen, change leadership, global perspective and talent development. The majority (86%) of respondents believe it will be possible to find this full gamut of skills within one person in the future.

Boards are placing more scrutiny on digital initiatives, and many marketing leaders reported that their boards have heightened expectations for demonstrated ROI.

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You don’t need a team of data scientists and analysts to get started with managing your ongoing flow of marketing data. Here are some ways to better leverage existing marketing data, measure marketing contribution and speak the language of data to your sales, finance and executive teams:

1-Ask your sales and executive team what data is most important to them, why it’s important and how often they want to review results.
2-Establish substantive and measurable goals based on what your sales and executive team is focused on.
3-Take a balanced approach between creative development and data analysis. Lead with marketing data with your executive team – not the creative execution.
4-Look closely at how sales and finance report updates and results to senior management and be consistent with their data driven approach. Don’t just share the good news – a lot can be learned from failure.
5-Be consistent. Establish a regular reporting system (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly) and be sure to use the same format so that your key stakeholders get accustomed to the framework you are providing.
6-Best case scenario is to integrate your marketing data directly into the sales workflow and deliver key information such as lead details, account-based insights and project intelligence.

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► Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html  (your privacy is protected).