IDC Releases Chief Marketing Officer Top 10 Predictions for 2013

This year, the C-suite will demand the CMO produce a strategy and a plan for how market-driven data will significantly contribute to corporate objectives

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Data Corporation (IDC) today hosted a Web conference, IDC - 2013 Chief Marketing Officer Predictions: Today's CMO Becomes Master of Data, highlighting the top 10 predictions for the year ahead. Featuring analysts Rich Vancil and Kathleen Schaub, the session provided organizations with insight and perspective on long-term industry trends along with new themes that may be on the horizon.

“The challenge for the CMO is dealing with self-educated buyers. These are the smart, resourceful, and socially connected consumers who do their own research before ever entering the formal channels of a vendor's marketing and selling apparatus”

The Predictions Web conference series is designed to help company leaders capitalize on emerging market opportunities and plan for future growth. An audio replay of today's webinar will be available within 48 hours. To access the replay, please visit http://bit.ly/IDC_Predictions2013_CMO.

The Top 10 Predictions are:

• Prediction 1 - The C-suite (CEO, CFO, and COO) will demand that the CMO produce both a strategy and a plan for how market-driven data will significantly contribute to corporate objectives
• Prediction 2 - The CMO and the CIO will begin the year as functional peers and end the year as either friends or frenemies, and per the CEO, the CIO will become more actively involved with the CMO in all marketing automation decisions that have cross-functional implications
• Prediction 3 - The automation outlay could approach 10% of marketing's discretionary budget in 2013, with two-thirds of the total outlay coming from marketing and one-third coming from IT; for "best practice" organizations, this will shift to 50:50 by 2014
• Prediction 4 - Even with their new partnership with the CIO, many CMOs will find that their positions are in jeopardy as they failed to produce a robust data analytics function — or even a game plan to get there
• Prediction 5 - Starting in 2013, after the CMO realizes that he/she does not have the skill sets in place for data analytics proficiency, 50% of new marketing hires will have technical backgrounds
• Prediction 6 - Eight out of ten companies will report that most social media initiative growth is taking place outside of marketing
• Prediction 7 - By the end of 2013, 5% of CMOs will shift to a "mobile first" strategy
• Prediction 8 - Content isn't king — it's a wild beast; In 2013, CMOs will be pragmatic, shifting focus less on big platform projects and more on linking access to audience needs
• Prediction 9 - The demand for greater insight into the revenue impact of marketing and sales will require that older CRM systems be replaced, creating infrastructure disruption
• Prediction 10 - High-tech pipeline conversion metrics will continue to improve; expect a 20% improvement in target-to-deal ratios and a 10% reduction in time to create a customer, with both due to better automation and analytics-driven process improvement

"The challenge for the CMO is dealing with self-educated buyers. These are the smart, resourceful, and socially connected consumers who do their own research before ever entering the formal channels of a vendor's marketing and selling apparatus," said Rich Vancil, IDC Group Vice President. "In the wake of all of their self-education is a stream of data that the CMO will have to understand."

For additional information about these predictions or to arrange a one-on-one briefing, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or [e-mail]. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact [e-mail]; reporters should email [e-mail].

About IDC Predictions

A hallmark of IDC's offering for three decades, the annual Top 10 Predictions reports provide IDC's outlook on the IT market across industries for the coming year. IDC will publish dozens of Top 10 Predictions documents for 2013. Please visit www.idc.com/predictions2013 for a complete listing.

About the CMO Advisory Service

The CMO Advisory Service provides senior marketing executives and their operations counterparts with critical research and insights to plan program and people investments, prepare marketing operations, mobilize resources, and measure results. Subscribers to the Service are invited to join the Marketing Operations Leadership Board which meets three times per year. Board meetings provide marketing operations (MO) managers with the tools, research, and peer-to-peer access to develop successful operations and improve efficiencies within their marketing organizations. For more information about the CMO Advisory Service and membership benefits, please contact your IDC account manager or Michelle Blondin at 617-826-9662 or [e-mail].

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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