This year’s event featured engaging sessions on career advancement, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the customer buying process, and each one had some interesting nuggets of insight. Did you know, for instance, that it takes just 13 years to go from assistant to director level in marketing, compared with 20 years in other industries?
Here’s a collection of four interesting points drawn from presentations by B2B Marketing editor-in-chief Joel Harrison, CommuniGator’s head of marketing Simon Moss, and James Foulkes, co-founder of Kingpin Communications.
1. Creativity is less of a priority as marketers move up the career ladder
At executive or management level, a marketer’s focus will often be coming up with creative campaign ideas to meet their marketing objectives. But as they move up the career ladder, creativity becomes less important as they start to think more strategically and develop a more generalist business skillset.
2. Agility and curiosity are traits that will lead to success
In a marketing environment that’s constantly evolving, marketers must be able to show they’re agile and can adapt to new ideas and ways of working. Having the curiosity and bravery to experiment with new approaches is a trait that will separate the ordinary marketer from the extraordinary. This was among the findings of our recent B2B Marketing career acceleration guide, which is available to download here.
3. Despite concerns, GDPR doesn’t have to spell marketing mayhem
The general data protection regulation (GDPR), which will significantly impact how marketers are allowed to contact customers when it comes into force in May 2018, may turn out to have hidden positives. Marketers should see increased engagement from email subscribers, although the total number of email subscribers is likely to decrease because the people who are unengaged are unlikely to opt in to their email messaging. The GDPR will also provide customers with greater confidence around how their data is being used and managed.
4. Digitisation is significantly shortening the time it takes to make a sale
Currently, 57% of customers carry out online research about your brand before talking to a salesperson. If their queries can be answered by whitepapers, case studies or FAQ pages, customers won’t have to speak directly to a sales rep at the start of the buying process. Marketers should be aiming to satisfy a customer’s need to consume online content by ensuring valuable information is readily available at all times.
