Rick Clancy, Senior Director of Public Relations for search and content marketing firm Covario, said he considers the three key issues facing marketers today to be: content, analytics, and automation.
“Measurable ROI is bigger than it used to be,” Clancy told Loyalty 360. “2013 is shaping up as the year of content, analytics, and automation. Those who can recognize these trends are likely to be the big winners. But you have to have the resources and talent to provide support and execute these initiatives. In three years, these will become even bigger priorities.”
Today’s marketer has to be astute with respect to metrics, analytics, and data, Clancy said.
“These are fundamental tasks that give you the wherewithal and power to manage programs,” he said.
Clancy used a baseball analogy to compare ROI, data, and analytics for marketers.
“No sport is more immersed in numbers and data than baseball,” he said. “Many use sabermetrics as it relates to player investments, how they organize their minor league systems, and how they draft.”
Clancy said that he sees clients expecting “a lot of partnership and collaboration.”
Besides having the experience and technical expertise to successfully execute programs, Clancy said clients also want Covario to “provide leadership, strategic insight, and actionable recommendations that can be implemented with measureable ROI.”
Clancy offered a key word that permeates any current relationship involving brands, vendors, clients, and/or customers: Responsiveness.
“Clearly, that is important to customers because they want someone to be responsive to them quickly and proactively,” Clancy said.
Clancy also discussed Covario’s significant rise in NPS (Net Promoter Score) in recent years, thanks to a partnership with Satrix Solutions.
“It really comes down to the bond with our customers and clients,” Clancy said, “and about exceeding their expectations at the core. It’s pretty reliable because it asks for recommendations for a company and how highly would those recommendations be. Our scores jumped from the prior survey from 39% to above 60 this year. This is a pretty big jump. We’re obviously thrilled with that.”
Covario’s RIO SEO software division launched in April 2012 and that division broke into the 40s with NPS.
“Each time we do this we get a lot of great feedback and perspective from customers,” Clancy said. “We take that, consider it, and execute on much of it. It’s a process of continuous improvement. Reflection, consideration, and improvement -- really looking hard at it and executing against it.”