Thank you for your interest and participation in our Route 1 to 1: Marketer's Survey. 

The results are in, and the data is compelling.  Take a look at the responses and trends below, and then consider how your business is tracking next to your peers. 

Are you doing what it takes to stand out on the Web?  Is your strategy pushing your business toward growth?  With all the opportunity that exists online, we've all got room for improvement.  Reside helps our clients focus their strategy toward measurable results.  Our promise is to help your business grow, using the Web. 

If you see opportunities within your business for improved Web performance, we'd love to talk with you.  Reach us to schedule a no-obligation meeting.  We look forward to learning more about you and your business.

Route 1 to 1: Marketer's Survey - RESULTS
NOTE: See additional commentary below data

1. Is Your Business Primarily: B2B (56%)  B2C (41%) Franchise/Distribution (3%)

2.  Of the following, please check the marketing focuses that represent top priorities for your business in 2008-09 (check all that apply): Engage Prospects (59%) Maximize Marketing ROI (48%) Drive Higher Sales (70%) Increase Return-On-Customer (26%) Build Brand Loyalty (48%)

3.  Which of the following audiences will be of most importance to your marketing strategy in the coming 12 months?  (check all that apply) Prospects (62%) Active Customers (70%) Inactive Customers (26%) Partners (11%) Vendors (0%) Media (15%) Social Influencers (11%) Investors/Potential Investors (4%)

4.  Which, if any, of the following initiatives are currently underway within your organization, or are scheduled to begin in the next 12 months? (check all that apply) Email Communications (89%) CRM (Customer Relationship Management) (56%) Public Web Site (70%) Intranet and/or Portal Site (30%) Custom Application Development (19%) E-Commerce (44%) SaaS Application Development (4%) Other (4%)

5.  How would you rank the Web in terms of importance and value to your organization's marketing and growth strategy? Not important or central to our marketing strategy (0%) Somewhat important, but of less value than our other forms of marketing (19%) Equally valuable as traditional marketing elements (23%) More important than other forms of marketing/communications (20%) Central to our overall business and growth strategy (38%)

Commentary:
A cross-examination of the above data gives us a bit more insight into the trends and opportunities within this audience.

The average respondent indicates 2.5 marketing focuses for '08-'09, with the most common combination being "Drive Higher Sales" and "Engage Prospects".  However, for same-company respondees (representing 33% of the overall mix of participants), there seems to be a great discrepancy in identified focus.  A full 50% of these participants had a zero match to their colleagues when identifying their focuses for the year.  Of the remaining, those who matched their colleages' identified focuses did so only half the time (49%).  Could there be room in the marketing department for clarity of focus and business objectives?

Prospects and Active Clients have the hands-down concentration of this survey group.  With all the discussion about the consumer-driven Web, it is a bit surprising to find that "Social Influencers" do not garner more attention in the range of a 12-month strategy.  In fact, this audience group ranks near to last on the radar, losing out only to “Investors” and “Vendors” (poor vendors get no love!).  The question is: If most of our attention goes to prospects and active clients, can we be sure that they will provide enough positive social influence to fill that gap? 

Email initiatives rule at an email event.  No surprise that 89% of attendees to an email-related event would have an active initiative going in this area.

On average, survey participants are juggling three simultaneous initiatives.  Of those with four or more initiatives this year, 64% are identified as B2B companies.  Of that same group with 4+ initiatives, 100% are engaged in email communications, and 82% are leveraging e-commerce.  Of those same companies, the respondents were fairly equally divided in identifying the importance or value of the Web on a scale from “somewhat important” to “central” to their strategy.  Apparently, number of initiatives has no correlation to their relevance and value. 

And on the topic of importance to the business, we were a bit surprised to find that at a digital communications event, only 38% of respondents felt that the Web is “Central” to their business and growth strategy.  Thankfully, no one said that it has no importance, but it appears that there is still a wide spectrum of “buy in” to the value of the Web, relative to other forms of marketing/communications. 

A full 19% identify that the Web provides “less value” than other forms of marketing for their business (of these, 60% are B2C companies), while a close 20% believe that the Web is “more important” to their business than alternate marketing elements.  What did encourage us was that the greatest number of respondents indicated that the Web is “Central” to their business strategy (interesting to note that 70% of these respondents are B2B). 

For the rest of you who aren’t yet feeling that strong “value vibe” from the Web, we’d love to meet with you.  After all, helping your business grow, using the Web is our brand promise.  Contact us to start the conversation.

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