The sole strategic priority for 2019 is brand/reputation management/differentiation, although thought leadership arguably is as much about strategy as relationship building.
So, while there is definitely a shift from marketing activities that are predominantly transactional to ones that are more outcomes- and relationship-based, what we are not seeing–yet–are marketing organizations prioritizing the areas that will enable the function to contribute to strategic growth, such as:
- Customer and market insight
- Opportunity identification
- New offering development
- Customer success
- Customer experience management
- Partner-alliance development
The conclusion? Marketing’s immediate priorities do not reflect its aspirations. Operational excellence and relationships are important, but marketing must also go further to provide the customer and market insight and thought leadership to launch new solutions and business models, and lead the company in delivering an outstanding, well-orchestrated, end-to-end customer experience.
Perhaps next year’s priorities will reflect marketing’s ambitions.
But in the meantime, learn more about marketers top priorities and other key highlights in ITSMA’s 2019 Services Marketing Budget Allocations and Trends study.