In this series of profiles, we'll be putting the spotlight on some of the wonderful speakers who will be featured at The Social Shake-Up this June.
As CMO of Infor, Chip Coyle heads up global marketing, including branding, demand generation, corporate communications, customer programs, and events. Prior to joining Infor, Coyle was at Oracle Corporation, where he drove demand generation programs that delivered over 50% of Oracle's worldwide license sales. We're so happy to welcome him to Atlanta this June, where he'll be speaking on how to align digital initiatives with the C-suite agenda.
To start, what's the most significant way that the role of the CMO has changed in the last five years?
There are a couple of key trends that have been particularly impactful. The first is the meteoric rise of digital marketing and the resulting change of ownership of the sales process. The balance of power has shifted to buyers, putting them in control and also significantly increasing the influence (and importance) of the marketing organization in the buying cycle. There are so many more avenues for reaching audiences now than there were five years ago, which means a lot of opportunity. At the same time, it means unprecedented competition for mindshare. Being savvy, fresh, creative, and ideally first have never been more important.
The second key trend is the consolidation that continues to occur in many industries, particularly in the tech sector. The rapid pace of M&A activity is making traditional notions of brand image and equity a thing of the past. Shepherding and cultivating numerous diverse brands (not to mention the marketing organizations that come with them) is a highly complex task that is likely to give even the most experienced of CMOs pause.
When it comes to customer engagement, how can brands strike a good balance between taking advantage of all the digital platforms out there and maintaining that old-school feel of human-to-human interactions?
One thing we've always said, "In the age of high tech, don't forget high touch." It's all about personalization. And fortunately, technology now lets us deliver that on a one-to-many scale. When you take the time to get a deep understanding of your buyers and focus interactions on what matters most to them, you can build lasting, meaningful, and profitable connections. At Infor, we also still believe very strongly in the importance of personal connections, and I don't feel those will ever be replaced. Our marketing efforts always include a lot of opportunities for face-to-face interactions - and always will. It is not "either/or." In fact, digital/social engagement -- before, during, and after an event - helps enhance the overall face-to-face experience.
New tools and technologies seem to come out on the market practically daily. On the one hand, you don't want to fall behind the curve when it comes to adoption, but you also don't want to be chasing every shiny new tool that comes along. Any recommendations on how to figure out what's real gold and what's just glitter?
Being a marketer today is like being a kid in a candy store. It's exciting to see such a high level of innovation and to watch our industry essentially transform itself almost overnight as a result. At the same time, we all know that implementing technology for the sake of technology rarely ends well. The key to making the right choices hasn't really changed in all my years of working in the enterprise software business - invest the time to map out how new technology will support your goals, take your organization's larger technology footprint into account, set clear and realistic objectives, and sweat the details. It helps to align new initiatives to existing programs or campaigns, making it easy to test and evaluate. Be willing to take some risks and be a leader. Pilot, pilot, pilot. Try small experiments that help you win or fail fast.
Some interesting areas we are experimenting with right now: 1) Geo targeting. Geo fencing is a technology that allows an advertiser to use location data of an audience in proximity to a physical ad, a tradeshow booth, etc., and map those individuals back to their desktop devices for future online re-targeting of complementary messages and offers. 2) LinkedIn Lead Accelerator, engaging anonymous web traffic anywhere online with relevant ads and engagement and nurture content at every stage of the buying process. We've seen great results with this in a recent pilot with our Enterprise Financial Management business.
Our thanks to Chip for taking the time to answer these questions. Don't miss out on seeing him and a host of other experts from leading brands, up close and personal, this June - register for The Social Shake-Up today.