Great marketing starts with the customer.
In our modern reality the consumer is in a constant state of evolution. Prospective buyers want information on their own terms, at any time and in any place – and they remain firmly in control of their decision making journey.
Marketers are also under more pressure to deliver than ever. Opportunities and challenges driven by the global pandemic are driving up revenue targets, and CMOs are scrambling to deploy the right skillsets and technologies to bring in the numbers.
This reality is driving an environment of pressured change, with new priorities forcing Marketers to deliver differently. At Realm we passionately believe that accomplishing this begins with the right people, with the right expertise, working together in a way that sets them up for success.
Shorter and more collaborative planning cycles:
We’re seeing a real shift away from the majority of budgets being locked into annual planning. Always on tactics like Search, SEO and inbound traffic drivers are still being consistently streamed, however engagement, demand and events are becoming more agile endeavours. This is a direct result of increased volume and quality goals vs. consumer habits not remaining static over the calendar year.
Customer experiences are also beginning to be seriously prioritized over an historic reliance on conversion. Along with other integrated efforts, CX brings Marketing, Sales, MOPS and Product teams together to design programs which are measurable throughout the conversion journey. The resulting insights can be quickly passed back up the chain, allowing marketing to be optimized in a shorter timeframe to particular job functions, verticals or indeed accounts.
Agility is key here. Shorter and more dynamic planning cycles means having people that you trust available ‘on-tap’ across a plethora of skillsets and experience levels. These people must be deployed as tight teams who understand the context and shifting needs of your business.
It’s a competitive world out there:
Although our wider industry has not escaped the last couple of years unscathed, digital disruption and remote working initiatives have revolutionised buying behaviors and created wild opportunity for some sectors. To capture this demand, Google reports that a whopping 88% of brands have doubled down on digital. Companies are now facing much stiffer competition in capturing the time and attention of consumers, particularly in areas of video, social, digital and content marketing.
A deep understanding of complex digital channels and how they play together is no longer enough. A balance of strategic understanding and hands-on delivery must be maintained to ensure that dollars spent are driving a cohesive brand to sale experience.
Speed to market matters:
In this modern, hyper-competitive reality, speed to market matters more than ever. Aligned tools and technology can give fast results at scale, however this is of no use if teams are deploying these insights slowly. The penalty for a lag in optimisations can at best mean a clunky user experience, and at worst mean a lost opportunity.
This is often compounded by agency staffing models. Traditional agency resourcing is done on a forecast basis, with static activation teams ring-fenced across a 1 to 3 year period with strategy floated in for annual planning. Brands actually need the opposite.
To imagine an successful agile team structure, a good analogy would be thinking of it as a “decision tree” of expertise. You still require a close-knit team of people who fully understand what needs to be orchestrated and who needs to be called in, however you may need to lean into only a few (of many) skillsets to implement what you need to. Importantly, you only want to be paying for the people that you use too!
Agile and dynamic team expansion puts brands on the competitive edge, and it is at the heart of how we are designed.
Our agile working model sets us up for success:
At Realm we operate what we call our “Gravitational Working Model”, designing high-performance teams that work for our client’s real needs. This reduces working friction, placing us as an extension of their team to flex thinking and reach the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
With dedicated business and strategic leads in key markets, and cultural guides on the ground in many more, we ensure that our work puts the customer and the client first. Activation teams are designed as flexible resourcing across a global network of expertise, so that our clients have access to who they need, whenever they need them.
Ultimately it’s the people that matter, wherever they are and whatever hours they prefer to keep.
Contact us today to find out how the Gravitational Working Model could make things more agile for you on hello@realmb2b.com