Analyze this: Marketers squeezed by internal hurdles, external expectations
A new piece of research from Accenture suggests that marketing executives are increasingly handicapped by internal corporate hurdles, such as inefficient organizational practices, budget constraints and poor integration with other business functions, among others. Some of you might be thinking right now, “I didn’t need Accenture to tell me that.”
Meanwhile, the research also pointed out that customer expectations are applying more external pressure on marketers. It turns out that customers want more value for money, have higher quality expectations and want lower prices. Again, maybe not a news flash.
The study is called “Onward and Up – How Marketers Are Refocusing the Front Office for Growth.” That title, depending on how you read, might suggest there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but if there is, it will be the reflection of your own flashlight. Amid a wobbly economy and a culture of corporate downsizing first, ask questions later, the money that could help mend many internal problems may not be coming back to marketing anytime soon. So, marketing staffs need to use every tool they can find to help them overcome and find their own way to becoming more effective operations.
In some cases, that could mean greater reliance on customer analytics, an area that 65 percent of those surveyed said they need to get better at. In other cases, it could mean more involvement in online communities, which 43 percent of those surveyed said they did not effectively use.
Getting squeezed by the company on one side and your customers on the other may not seem like a problem you created, but it’s your problem to solve.
