Marketers are on their way in implementing their 2019 plans based on budget numbers put in place the past few months. As we reflect back on this budget season just passed, we can see three things of note:

• C-level executives pushing for more analytics, more closed-loop reporting on what leads are turning into actual sales. We’re working with clients on a variety of tech tools to both improve performance and tracking analytics on those sales results. It’s difficult in a B2B environment, with distributed sales channels that rely on distributors and reps. But the technology is improving to deliver those metrics.
• We’ve been doing research projects with clients about their “switch messaging” lately, and it’s striking a chord. Companies tend to struggle with objectively being able to answer the question, “what gets customers to switch from my competitor to us?” You have to apply a tight understanding of just what customers need to hear in order for campaigns to be truly compelling and differentiated.  Look at that About Us copy on your website.  Is it unique to you?  Or can you just drop your competitor’s name on the page and it still applies! Just what IS your switch message?
• Tech people love to talk about their technology “stack,” the tools that make up how they run their operation. So it begs the question: what’s your “Martech (marketing technology ) Stack?” What tools are you using to improve performance and reduce the cost of marketing? And are the ones in place working effectively to produce those results?

This coming year is a good time to experiment with new approaches and new initiatives. We talk about how everything changes in marketing, with different tools and techniques we’ll be using every two years or so. That pace of change can be overwhelming at times, but it is what makes marketing the most interesting part of any company!