
Stay Informed to Stay Competitive

Kedran Whitten, CMO, Computer Services Inc, Kedran Whitten is CSI’s chief marketing officer, a role in which she leads brand development, marketing strategy and public relations initiative... More >>
Marketers have countless communication platforms at their disposal, so to ensure you’re using the correct channels, you always start with your marketing strategy. By defining clear goals for any campaign, you can uncover which platforms will be the most effective for your efforts. For example, when we rebranded CSI in 2012, our strategy was to canvas the financial services market with messaging related to the new brand. Our strategy included online, offline and social components to ensure our messaging saturated the market; however, we often implement much more targeted campaigns that consist of fewer touch points and very specific messaging.
"From content and design to web presence and overall strategy, you need individuals who are experts in those specific areas bringing their perspective to the broader picture"
Organize your efforts around your strategy
Today’s campaigns rely on a blend of content, creative and personal connection. In my experience, modern programs require involvement from across (and sometimes beyond) the organization (sales, operations, account management) to be truly successful. For instance, our campaigns are multi-faceted and often include thought leadership in the form or a blog or white paper, which requires the input of our product experts and thought leaders, as well as include webinars where we invite customers or early adopters to share their experiences with webinar attendees. Additionally, our digital campaigns include the web team (links and analytics), the creative team (landing pages and ads), the content team (downloaded content and editing), and the marketing strategy team (placement and analysis). Today’s campaigns extend beyond the reach of the marketing team, so you have to organize your efforts around your strategy—before you begin, you have to determine the intended outcome, what elements to include, what teams will be involved and how all the pieces will fit into place cohesively.
Three points to focus when developing marketing programs
To stay competitive, you have to stay informed on the latest industry trends, and that’s why it’s so important to have a team that’s well versed on modern marketing. Consumer behavior is shifting rapidly, and as marketers, our responsibility is not only to understand those shifts, but also to help our companies navigate the changes. And that’s where “team” comes into play -- from content and design to web presence and overall strategy, you need individuals who are experts in those specific areas bringing their perspective to the broader picture. Having a cohesive team of individual who bring unique skill sets and talents to the table are a must for today’s marketing teams. So, when it comes to advice for developing a marketing program, I would say this: (1) hire the right people, (2) don’t be married to tradition, and (3) measure often by relying on a blend of analytics and intuition. If you focus on those three areas, you’ll find your campaigns are creative, fun to execute, and above all, highly effective.
Featured Vendors
EDITOR'S PICK
Essential Technology Elements Necessary To Enable...
By Leni Kaufman, VP & CIO, Newport News Shipbuilding
Comparative Data Among Physician Peers
By George Evans, CIO, Singing River Health System
Monitoring Technologies Without Human Intervention
By John Kamin, EVP and CIO, Old National Bancorp
Unlocking the Value of Connected Cars
By Elliot Garbus, VP-IoT Solutions Group & GM-Automotive...
Digital Innovation Giving Rise to New Capabilities
By Gregory Morrison, SVP & CIO, Cox Enterprises
Staying Connected to Organizational Priorities is Vital...
By Alberto Ruocco, CIO, American Electric Power
Comprehensible Distribution of Training and Information...
By Sam Lamonica, CIO & VP Information Systems, Rosendin...
The Current Focus is On Comprehensive Solutions
By Sergey Cherkasov, CIO, PhosAgro
Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on the Supply Chain
By Pascal Becotte, MD-Global Supply Chain Practice for the...
Technology's Impact on Field Services
By Stephen Caulfield, Executive Director, Global Field...
Carmax, the Automobile Business with IT at the Core
By Shamim Mohammad, SVP & CIO, CarMax
The CIO's role in rethinking the scope of EPM for...
By Ronald Seymore, Managing Director, Enterprise Performance...
Driving Insurance Agent Productivity with Mobile and Big...
By Brad Bodell, SVP and CIO, CNO Financial Group, Inc.
Transformative Impact On The IT Landscape
By Jim Whitehurst, CEO, Red Hat
Get Ready for an IT Renaissance: Brought to You by Big...
By Clark Golestani, EVP and CIO, Merck
Four Initiatives Driving ECM Innovation
By Scott Craig, Vice President of Product Marketing, Lexmark...
Technology to Leverage and Enable
By Dave Kipe, SVP, Global Operations, Scholastic Inc.
By Meerah Rajavel, CIO, Forcepoint
AI is the New UI-AI + UX + DesignOps
By Amit Bahree, Executive, Global Technology and Innovation,...
Evolving Role of the CIO - Enabling Business Execution...
By Greg Tacchetti, CIO, State Auto Insurance
Read Also
Slow is the New Down-Does your Ecommerce Site Stack Up?
Why Increased Spending on MarTech is not Necessarily a Good Thing
The State of Marketing Technology Solutions
How Tech is Changing Just About Everything in Marketing
Driving Marketing Effectiveness through Collaborative Technologies
Future-Proofing Customer Engagement Infrastructure
