Does the C-suite see the value of marketing technology?

Jason Stewart, VP of Demand Generation at ANNUITAS, wrote an intriguing article discussing whether the CIO or the CMO should own marketing technology.

Marketers, he noted, are collecting staggering amounts of information from a host of technologies-marketing automation, CRM, web analytics, and the list goes on and on. But a study by ITSMA found that “only 30% of companies responding believe they are receiving value from marketing technology investments.”

Part of the problem is changed behavior of B2B buyers. “While we know more about what our prospects are clicking on, downloading, and sharing, we are still at a loss as to understanding who they are,” Stewart wrote.  Prospects research and evaluate products “in stealth mode, biding their time before (maybe) inviting us to sell to them.”

CMOs, Stewart opined, need to own the strategy for using technology tools before they are deployed—without getting bogged down in the tactics.

I agree. Event management is a classic example of where many marketers tend to employ technology tactically instead of strategically.  Their event management systems focus on measuring the cost of events rather than the value.  And marketing departments pay scant attention to post-event measurement processes.  As I posted in January, CEOs and CFOs are getting more demanding—they expect the CMO to prove the bottom-line impact of marketing’s investments in meetings and events.

With management buy-in and the right technology, any organization (a business, an association, or a nonprofit) can prove the value of any meeting by defining goals and measuring outcomes.

Casey Cote

Casey Cote is the Chief Executive Officer for Omnience. Joining the company in 1995, Casey established its strategic direction as the industry leader in marketing event management and a technology innovator. He launched initiatives that made the company a pioneer in applying technology to the challenges of managing a large portfolio of events. Casey is also actively involved in managing customer relationships, seeking out partners and acquisitions, and directing the company’s expansion into new markets. Previously, Casey managed forecasting and budgets at Sprint.

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