In his latest contribution to MarTech, email marketing thought leader Ryan Phelan warns about how easy it is to be distracted by shiny objects — and he doesn’t just mean new technologies; he includes shiny new mindsets too. The antidote to the “perennial ‘bright-and-shiny’ disease” is to remain laser-focused on the outcomes you aim to achieve.

For example, BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) causes your brand logo to appear alongside your email in the recipient’s inbox. Nifty to have, but it’s only worth going through the authentication process if that logo is going to drive tangible outcomes.

Ryan poses three questions to help you check your own interest in the latest novelty:

1. Do I have a clear and defined KPI?
2. Is it worth the expense?
3. Does it scale?

Read more here. »

In its report, “The State of Marketing Budgets 2021,” analyst firm Gartner finds marketing budgets as a percentage of revenue falling to “their lowest level in recent history.” Budgets were almost cut in half, falling from 11% in 2020 to 6.4% in 2021. More predictably, CMOs reported shifting offline spend to digital channels, pure-play digital accounting for over 72% of the total budget. 

One year ago, based on its “CMO Spend Survey 2020-2021,” Gartner predicted that marketing technology would see increased spend even as other functions were cut back. In fact marketing technology held steady as a percentage of overall budget (an increase of 0.4% hardly indicates strong growth). Surprisingly, analytics found itself in fourth place in budget allocation across marketing programs and operations. 400 respondents in North America and Europe were surveyed.

Why we care. CMOs are having to square the circle this year. With exceptional downward pressure on their overall budget, they still have to spend adequately on the digital channels which have become all-important and the marketing technology that powers them.

That has meant re-allocation of dwindling resources: bad news for external agencies and publishers offering offline ad inventory. 

Of course, CMOs showing they can do more with less are making CFOs happy. They’re prepared to cut marketing as well as travel and real estate.

Read more here. »

Effective online content is essential to drive and convert B2B leads. Does your marketing team know what it takes to craft and optimize content that produces results? Download “B2B Content Marketing Guide: 3 key tips to increase traffic and leads,” from MoreVisibility and learn how to create content that anticipates and answers your prospective buyers’ questions, drives traffic, and cultivates leads.

Learn more »

In addition to stellar brand speakers, we have some high-profile analysts and consultants taking the virtual MarTech stage. Chris Penn will be talking about predictive analytics; Pam Didner tackles marketing/sales alignment; Mark Davey lays out the DAM playbook; and Frans Riemersma will be describing an actionable CX framework.

It’s all yours. And it’s all free. Secure your pass now.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join thousands of senior-level marketers to learn how to make data-driven decisions that power organizational success.

Psst… Hungry for more? Expand your training with a live, deep-dive workshop on agile marketing, buying technology, customer experiences, CDPs, and attribution analysis — just $149 each. (Buy more than one to unlock 15% off registration!)

The agenda and registration link are here. »

Grab your free MarTech pass now and get ready to learn actionable tactics for creating unified digital experiences, leveraging customer journey analytics, increasing inbox engagement, getting marketing and legal teams on the same page, and loads more.

Register for free »

“Burnout is real. Take time off. You have to rest your mind.” Manny Medina, CEO, Outreach