Marketers Urged To Market Smarter In 2009
Alterian’s 2009 predictions reveal that marketing must get more
accountable to survive the downturn
Bristol, UK – 20th November 2008 – Alterian
(LSE: ALN), a leading international integrated marketing platform
provider, has encouraged marketers to remain focused through the
economic downturn and continue to market and promote products and
services during 2009. That is the key prediction from
Alterian’s annual forecast, ‘Marketing: the Year Ahead’, with
marketers urged to deliver programmes in a smarter way that
delivers demonstrable return on investment. The forecast was
compiled by Alterian after observing trends and patterns throughout
2008 and from feedback from company executives’ interactions with
customers as to what they felt the key marketing trends for 2009
would be.
Whilst there is predictable pressure to cut marketing budgets
during a downturn, Alterian CEO David Eldridge said it should be a
question of making your budget work harder for you. “In
previous downturns the firms that have continued to market and sell
themselves have generally prospered, so businesses should bear this
in mind and get every last drop of value from their budgets. 2009
will be a pressurised year for marketers, with every dollar, pound
or euro needing to be accounted for. This will mean a renewed focus
for marketing departments, and programmes that aren’t working or
delivering will be cut.”
Making more effective use of the channels available was the
other key Alterian prediction, specifically company websites.
Alterian felt that currently many organisations were failing to
maximise the potential this channel offers and need to better
understand that their website can be a critical lead generation and
customer engagement channel.
David Eldridge continued: “Companies are only paying
lip service to the idea of ‘interacting not interrupting’ and are
yet to optimise engagement on the web based on what they know about
the visitors. In fact many organisations still treat the website as
a stand alone channel, so they are not being engaging or relevant.
The technology is available for companies to genuinely engage with
their customers and deliver them real value and with the economy
the way it is, surely this is something every firm should be
considering?”
The top ten predictions fell under a broad theme of focusing
more on existing customers, being more innovative with your
marketing and using technology to make your marketing more
effective and accountable. The full list is below:
Marketing: the Year Ahead - Ten Predictions for 2009
- Smart organisations will continue to
market throughout the downturn
- Marketing activities will be
increasingly under the microscope and marketers will now be held
accountable for their success or failure
- Marketers will turn to their website as
the single most important and flexible lead generation and customer
engagement channel. The sooner they understand this, the
better
- Marketing programmes that don’t show a
return quickly are not going to make it this year
- Mobile marketing has had a tough
2008….so 2009 will be a make or break year
- Marketers will act on a need to get more
value from their existing CRM systems
- It's not about just creating content for
the people it's about getting content to the people - meaning multi
channel, social networks and consistent marketing
- Companies will shift focus toward
increasing revenue from current customers
- Digital media and social networks will
continue to provide cost effective delivery channels for customer
messaging, but will be most effective when integrated with other
marketing channels and analytically led
- With tight budgets it will increasingly
fall to marketers rather than IT staff to drive marketing
technology, this will change the buying process for such systems
and favour suppliers that have marketer friendly
software
About Alterian
Alterian (LSE: ALN) empowers marketers with an integrated marketing
software platform combining database, online and operational
marketing applications on a shared data infrastructure. The
Alterian Integrated Marketing Platform makes it practical and cost
effective for marketers to use actionable insight to execute an
integrated marketing strategy across online and offline
channels.
It is the unique integration of analytics, content and execution
through Alterian’s industry leading tools, such as the Dynamic
Messenger email platform, and the award winning Morello and
Immediacy Web Content Management solutions, which enables marketers
to drive a seamless, multi-channel customer experience.
Alterian’s analytically-led software is delivered to
approximately 1,000 marketing departments, across 26 countries, and
an international network of more than 100 business partners,
including marketing services providers, agencies and systems
integrators. Its partners, such as Accenture, Acxiom, Allant Group,
Cap Gemini, Carlson Marketing, Experian, Epsilon, InfoUSA,
LogicaCMG, Merkle, Ogilvy One and Euro RSCG Worldwide, deliver
Alterian software alongside their own domain and services expertise
to help market leaders such as Princess Cruises, General Motors,
Zurich, Astra Zeneca, HSBC, Limited Too, AEGON, Avis, Worldwide
Wrestling Entertainment, Dell, Amnesty International and Vodafone
integrate marketing processes and drive competitive advantage. For
more information about Alterian, products within the Alterian
Integrated Marketing Platform or our Partner Network, please visit
www.alterian.com