Each week, marketers from around the world join the ExactTarget Nexus partner ecosystem on Twitter for a conversation about trends and best practices in the interactive marketing industry. We call the virtual coffee chat the Nexus Café.Last week we had the opportunity to speak with Tim Kopp, ExactTarget’s Chief Marketing Officer, on corporate marketing strategy. In an ever-changing digital marketing environment, Tim shared his thoughts on developing an effective marketing strategy and making adaptations to position for changes in the marketplace. A summary of the conversation is below:
@ETNexus: What is your top concern for building a corporate marketing strategy?
• @tbkopp: Not sure if it’s a concern, but top consideration is building shared alignment to the strategy at all levels (including the Board).
• @DigitalKaitlyn: It’s important for corporate marketing to be seamless on all fronts and be sure social media, email, and print complement each other.
• @brandColby: Authenticity. Will your customers accept the image? They ultimately create your brand image. It’s up to you to influence it.
@ETNexus: In your time working with digital marketing, what has changed within the landscape? Any lessons to share?
• @tbkopp: What has changed the most is fragmentation and number of choices a marketer has - most important thing is to stay true to strategy.
• @tbkopp: It’s easy to get tempted to test out what’s hot and shiny new objects versus staying true to your strategy and customer needs.
• @spencerabrams: Main shift I’ve noticed is going from batch and blast towards 1:1 marketing.
@ETNexus: How do you keep your marketing team motivated to up-level performance every quarter and every year to keep up with growth?
• @tbkopp: A very clear linkage of individual and departmental goals that connect to overall corporate strategy is key.
• @kristeneal: The team needs to understand corporate and department vision/goals to feel autonomous with their job to continue up-leveling.
• @tbkopp: I truly believe employee morale is best leading indicator of brand health. So, I really focus on this as a key objective.
@ETNexus: Is there a difference between B2B or B2C corporate marketing strategies that should be addressed?
• @tbkopp: I don’t believe the differences are as profound as people think. B2B brands could focus more on the consumer and building a world-class brand.
• @tbkopp: I think B2C could brands could learn from B2B in being more measurement-oriented and better leverage technology.
• @brandColby: B2C and B2B are different cultures. Different goals, different lingo. You have to address that.
• @jvanjijn: For certain, B2C and B2B have very different decision making units (DMUs). In a B2B world, the wife doesn’t always decide.
@ETNexus: As marketing budgets are squeezed to invest for results, how do you prioritize interactive channels compared to traditional?
• @tbkopp: Love this question. I believe scarcity actually drives innovation. So a squeezed budget can be a blessing if you let it.
• @tbkopp: Being more specific, I think squeezed budgets have driven more dollars and focus to interactive. More measureable and immediate.
• @amandaberkey: Agreed. Shrinking marketing budgets seemed to pave the way for digital marketing to boom to drive innovation and ROI.
@ETNexus: When building your marketing vision and strategy, how do you evaluate marketing technology solutions to answer your needs?
• @tbkopp: Marketing technology is only useful to the extent it helps you better accomplish a stated objective.
• @susanprater: You have to try new channels and not be afraid of failing!
• @amandaberkey: Technology should drive stated results from your strategy. Adoption and integration in marketing process is top of mind.
• @tbkopp: I like to present vendors with my biggest challenge and see how they would solve it versus giving their standard pitch.
@ETNexus: As a student of the marketing discipline, how do you stay ahead of the industry? Any books, articles that you’re inspired by?
• @tbkopp: You MUST stay externally focused. I try to read a book per week and talk to a new customer and/or partner each day.
• @brandColby: I’ve learned a lot from @JayBaer’s “The Now Revolution” as well as @sernovitz’s “Word of Mouth Marketing.”
• @tbkopp: Right now I’m reading “Breakthrough Company” and “Behind the Cloud.” Both are great.
Follow @ETNexus and join us for #NexusCafe every Thursday from 11am - 12pm EDT to discuss emerging topics and trends from across the digital marketing world. Add the hashtag to your tweets to join the conversation.
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