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
1) Smart organisations will continue to market throughout the
downturn
2) Marketing activities will be increasingly under the
microscope and marketers will now be held accountable for their
success or failure
3) 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
4) Marketing programmes that don’t show a return quickly are
not going to make it this year
5) Mobile marketing has had a tough 2008….so 2009 will be a
make or break year
6) Marketers will act on a need to get more value from their
existing CRM systems
7) 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
8) Companies will shift focus toward increasing revenue from
current customers
9) 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
10) 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 Alterian
Messenger email platform, and the award winning Alterian Content
Management web 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.
For more information, contact:
Hannah Smith
Ruder Finn London
+44 (0) 207 462 8900
hsmith@ruderfinn.co.uk
Paul Allen
Ruder Finn London
+44 (0) 207 462 8900
hsmith@ruderfinn.co.uk