Today, management looks to marketers for innovation to increase profits and gain competitive edge. 10% of marketers say their roles are expanding to lead digital business models as spending and expectations grow for CMOs and their teams. And with a whopping 92% of survey respondents claiming to have P&L responsibilities in the next couple years, it’s not surprising that B2C and B2B companies are investing in Digital Commerce to build better brand experiences overall.
CMO Survey Details
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The (Continuous?) Rise of Digital Commerce
According to the survey, 11% of the digital marketing budget now goes to digital commerce. This is up from 8% last year, making it the highest growing marketing technology investment area. Some key takeaways:
B2C and B2B dedicate nearly the same share of their budgets to digital commerce as initiatives to build more direct bridges to their end customers
B2B ecommerce isnt new at all – in Jack Welch’s best-selling biography he outlines it as one his big successes at GE over a decade ago – but the idea of integrating ecommerce with sales, reducing the need for business buyers to reach a rep over the phone, means investing in more effective CRM systems, streamlining payment methods, and making sure that users still get the same price and customized experience as a phone conversation.
Comfort and Satisfaction
In his 2016 forecast, James Gagliardi talks about an increase in competition between platforms while at the same time recognizing that the customer will gravitate toward her preferred experience, whether through a proprietary store or through Amazon. This poses a considerable challenge to B2B companies as they tend to be the last ones to invest in proprietary digital channels.
Conciliating account-level data with digital analytics presents the biggest opportunity to B2B companies that struggle to leverage their own estores, but clever vendors can now integrate robust shopping carts within the normal Salesforce CRM flow to personalize offerings, coupons, and shipping based on specific customers or segments. It goes beyond making sure your store is mobile responsive to delivering true value to the shopping experience.
