Editorial
What do marketers really want? According to a Marketo survey earlier this year, marketers said in 2017 they'd focus on the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, predictive analytics and virtual reality as top technologies. Twelve months later, in this season of giving, we've decided to catch up with marketers to see what's on their holiday wish list for the coming year.
Gregory Golinski, Digital Marketing Executive, yourparkingspace
The gift I really want for Christmas is to never see "not provided" again when I click on "channels" and "organic search" in Google Analytics. And an SNES Classic Mini would be great.
Natalia Luneva, Founder, Practice Secret
Dear Santa: this Christmas I want Facebook to approve the ads I’m running for my clients faster. I primarily work with healthcare clients, so approving ads can take a few days and as many as 30-plus takes, which is very frustrating and time consuming. While you are at it perhaps you could also improve conversion on my funnels by 1 percent on every step. I would really appreciate it.
Wayne St. Amand, CMO, Visual IQ
This Christmas season, I wish to see all of us marketers implement a more authentic and genuine approach to our communications, something we all strive for but don't always achieve. Today’s era of consumer empowerment is forcing us to rethink our communication strategies to deliver highly relevant and authentic experiences across every channel and device. If consumers don’t perceive that relevance and authenticity, they’ll simply take their business elsewhere. Adhering to a people-based approach to marketing should help us grant this wish for authenticity. Also on my Christmas list? A Peloton!
Lizzi Hart, Marketing Executive, Graduate Recruitment Bureau
For Christmas, I would definitely like cleaner data to help us speed up data-driven actionable insights and to provide solid reasoning behind the decisions we make. I would also like a USB-powered mug warmer/coaster to keep my tea and coffee warm. When I get stuck in a task I’m really interested in, be it designing a meme or strategizing a new campaign, I always seem to let my drink go cold. It's very annoying and counter-productive.
In addition, I wish that everyone was as committed to organization and documentation as I was. Trying to navigate someone else’s folders can be a nightmare!
Finally, I would like infinite time and resources (and enthusiasm) to be able to thoroughly analyze and tinker every aspect of our marketing. I am a self-professed perfectionist, so I have had to learn the hard way to let things go.
Alex Birkett, Growth Marketing Manager, HubSpot
Fewer decisions based on gut-feel and ego, and more decisions based on experimentation and data. Data that, by the way, also includes qualitative insights such as customer feedback. In general, my hope is that marketers get out of the "brainstorm -> strategize -> execute" mindset, and more into the "collect data -> analyze -> hypothesize -> experiment -> repeat" mindset.
Daniel K. Lobring, Vice President, Marketing Communications, rEvolution
I think one resolution that resonates with our marketing team (and our clients) is to take more risks. More often than not the campaigns, creative, stunts, etc., that you remember are the ones that stood out from the pack, but also resonated authentically with their audiences. That’s what we strive to do.
Bonnie Crater, CEO, Full Circle Insights
For the holidays, I’d love to see an end to The Great Data Divide, otherwise known as the miscommunication between sales and marketing teams due to a lack of consistency in data. On the top of my wishlist is a commitment between sales and marketing departments to integrate, collaborate and share data!
Integrating your marketing team with your CRM shifts its focus from solely generating leads to nurturing the entire purchasing journey, involving more people and typically progressing much further along the continuum before sales gets involved. That means marketing needs to connect its metrics to the sales teams’ and build revenue projections into its planning process, linking budgets with goals.
Wes Marsh, Director, Digital Marketing, Solodev
All I want for Christmas is accurate cross-channel attribution. No, it’s not a sexy or cool or trendy wish. It’s the marketing equivalent of asking for socks for Christmas, but it's a practical present that would make my life so much easier. Oh, and I want an unlimited supply of strong, black coffee.
Tammy Duggan-Herd, PhD, Marketing Manager, Campaign Creators
All I want for Christmas is my sales team to follow up with sales qualified leads. As marketers we work so hard to generate and nurture our leads so that they are ready for a sales conversation, so there is nothing worse than seeing them fall through the cracks or left to rot in our CRM. In response to this happening a few times this year, and to prevent me from pulling out any more of my hair, we have enlisted the help of our marketing automation system. Our sales team now gets hit with an SMS every time a lead is dubbed sales qualified, even if it's two in the morning.
Now here's to hoping they don't just set their phones to "do not disturb” in 2018.
Joshua Feinberg, Chief Thought Leader, Vice President, Co-Founder, SP Home Run
Here's what I want under the Menorah for Chanukah this year: Small-business CEOs that understand that digital transformation and disruption is here and now, and to be ready to compete in a digital-first world. It's crazy that going into 2018, we're still having **that** conversation: to convince small business owners that they need the basics: a website that's kept current, that looks good on smartphones, that focuses on what matters most to their most important customers, educates, builds trust and generates leads that align with their sales teams' needs.
Whether it's digital ignorance or arrogance, the typical small-business CEO still invests in digital as if their most important customers were all over 90, use a flip-phone, read printed encyclopedias, depend on paper phone books, book hotel reservations with travel agents, and get their movies from video rental stores on VHS. (Personal line: I want to **start** drinking coffee because it fits in with my low carb/low sugar fitness plan.)
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Diana Byrne, Vice President, Marketing, Boxever
I want marketers to prepare for an AI reality check. The growth of this technology is indisputable, and marketers should aim to strip away the bells and whistles to get the basic functions of the technology correct, such as personalization and customer centricity. If AI is done right, it will result in brands who truly understand their customer’s needs, wants and desires, therefore providing a better experience. In 2018, it’s time for all marketers to seize the moment and embrace this smart technology.
Julia Paradis, Marketing Manager, Kitewheel
(Editor's note: For our final wishlist, Julia Paradis made a literal list. Julia had some concerns about being on Santa's good side, but after this terrific note for Santa, we trust, Julia, you're on the nice list. Only marketers who send multiple, non-targeted emails make the naughty list!):
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