How CMOs can drive growth through digital innovation

The coronavirus crisis is having a wide-ranging impact on marketing. More people are spending more of their time and money online. Marketing technology is being rapidly and widely embraced. Plans are in a constant state of flux. The common theme? Digital performance is now more important than ever. But as digital ad spend produces diminishing ROI, and as Customer Acquisition Costs (CACs) rise, it’s vital that CMOs refocus their strategy in the right areas. With this in mind, here are the three areas where CMOs can improve to drive brand and revenue growth.

Content created in partnership with DeepCrawl.

Drive long-term ROI and brand awareness with SEO

CMOs need to understand that organic search should be a critical component of every successful marketing strategy, especially as it becomes clear how SEO impacts not just search visibility, but revenue and conversions, too.

The latest KPI report from Wolfgang Digital, for example, finds that paid and organic search generates “65% of website traffic and a stonking 67% of website revenue on a last-click basis.”

Meanwhile, Episerver’s B2C ecommerce benchmark from last year puts organic search (2.8%) second only to paid search (2.9%) and ahead of email, social, and display when it comes to conversion rates. And unlike paid search, SEO will convert customers months and years into the future with lower long-term costs.

But as brands across almost every sector and industry fight to have their product pages and content appear high up in Google search results, and as more people consume content and buy products online, CMOs do need to ensure that they apply the right level of focus to SEO within their marketing strategy.

Create better user experiences for your customers

It goes without saying that creating quality user experiences for customers is a key competitive differentiator for brands today.

In an age where retaining online customers is essential for every CMO, the impact of bad user experiences can be catastrophic.

According to Koderlabs, 52% of users don’t revisit a website because of poor aesthetics. That’s an awful lot of lost customers and revenue, and that’s without factoring in issues like slow-loading, non-mobile-optimized sites.

On the other hand, it also happens to be a big opportunity for potential growth. If you place more strategic focus on improving on-site user experiences, you could almost double your potential customer base, assuming Koderlabs data is correct. And that’s without factoring in the positive impact great UX has on search traffic.

Indeed, Google now regularly suggests creating great user experiences can help product pages and content appear higher in search results. And as we know, the higher you are in search results, the greater your brand’s traffic, conversions, and sales will be.

Want to understand how and why user experience should be at the heart of your marketing strategy?

Hear from experts like Brian Solis, Best-Selling Author of ‘X Marks the Spot: Where Experience Meets Design’ at DeepCrawl Live 2020

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Become a customer-centric organization

Today, the customer is in the driving seat. Even the world’s most established brands now find themselves under intense pressure from fast-moving challengers. To respond, CMOs need to ensure they put the customer at the heart of their organization.

As marketers, we already know that customer-centricity is important. Indeed, in Econsultancy’s ‘Effective Leadership in the Digital Age’ report published late last year, they asked what the most important characteristic is to establish a truly “digital-native” culture. 58% of leaders reported the best way is to be customer-centric — higher than every other response.

Yet, according to the CMO Council, only 14% of marketers believe that customer-centricity is a hallmark of their companies today. So it’s clear, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

There are, however, three fundamental steps to creating a customer-centric organization.

First, you need to not just say that you put the customer first, but actually believe and enact a strategy that’s built around your customer. Second, you need to build meaningful relationships with your customers. Third, you need to focus on what the customer wants and needs.

This is but a simple overview, however, and to achieve true customer-centricity, every part of your business — from processes and policies to company culture — needs to be built around providing optimal customer experiences.

Hear from Nancy Rademaker, Expert in Customer Centricity, Digital Transformation, Technology & Culture at DeepCrawl Live 2020

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Learn more about how digital innovation can help CMOs drive growth at DeepCrawl Live 2020

2020 has brought challenges to search and marketing leaders. But it’s also created significant opportunities to accelerate digital innovation.

Join the world’s best marketing and search experts at our online event on 18th November 2020 as they help you understand the new landscape, optimize your website for ROI, and reimagine your approach to customer experience.

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