5 New Year’s Resolutions Marketers Should Make (And Keep)

We asked five marketers what New Year’s Resolutions they’re planning to make (and keep) and for 2020.

The beginning of a new year is always the perfect time for breaking old habits and patterns and starting fresh, both personally and professionally.

For marketers, specifically, 2020 could be about doubling down on customer-centricity, gaining new technical skills in the age of digital transformation, or embracing creativity and innovation—you know, the stuff that makes marketing fun.

For this installment of our “CMO Wants To Know” series, five industry experts shared their 2020 resolutions with us.

In 2020, marketers should resolve to be truly customer-centric.

“Between metrics and shiny new tools and tactics, keeping the customer at the center of your strategy, planning, and execution can get lost in the shuffle. But the best marketers stay focused and diligent, maniacal even, about the customer’s experience and how to best impact it for the customer’s benefit, not only for revenue or capturing their data. It’s hard but so valuable and effective.”

“The role of marketing in an enterprise has been evolving for quite some time, but I would argue that the sharpest pivot has been around the expectation of marketing to show up as legitimate experts in technology. No longer can marketers fly under the radar with mere tech proficiency. The marketing tech stack that powers your organization is critically important to unlocking speed, agility, and ultimately a better experience for clients and customers. Marketers need to invest in becoming fluent in order to credibly partner with CIOs, establish trust, and create shared goals to drive greater customer and business value.“

“We’ve embraced ride-hailing services into our everyday lives, been influenced by Instagram posts, read the paper on our iPad, and asked Alexa to play our favourite songs. In some ways, I think marketers in 2020 should refocus on what marketing has always been about: creativity, simplicity, and innovation. Great ideas, powered by the latest innovations—whether they be in tech, data, or ways of thinking—has always been a recipe for success. And in an industry (and world) where we can get overwhelmed with options, simplicity should be your guiding principle. Resist the urge to overcomplicate things.”

“Let’s rethink the relationships with partners in the supply chain and how we approach the idea of ‘limited’ resources. This is about aligning interests and sharing resources, instead of perpetuating current practices, where too many agencies and ad spend managers try to squirrel away budgets to make sure that they don’t lose their jobs. The cost and complexity of reaching customers is increasing, while the potential of traditional interruption ads is eroding. We are nearing ‘peak ads.’ It’s time we start making ‘frenemies’—people we can partner with for specific missions where our interests are aligned and our resources complementary.”

“Truly understanding your customers and prospects requires a lot of change management across LOBs to identify, connect, define, and understand who and what your audiences want from your brand. Marketers sit in a very unique position to enable and empower the organization by becoming the hub for experiences. This hub consists of unifying and enhancing audience profiles and defining insights while creating experiences that impact brand, revenue, satisfaction, and loyalty.”