At Kelton, insights are at the heart of what we do.

We rely on them to drive

marketing, brand, and communications strategies for our clients, and we
seek them out to satisfy our own insatiable curiosity. In that spirit, we’re
thrilled to launch our first annual Global Marketing Strategy Report — a
comprehensive look at how marketing leaders are planning for the year
ahead.

Digging into our inaugural research surveying the nation’s top marketers, a
common theme quickly emerged: 2020 is the year of the customer.
Businesses of all kinds (regardless of vertical, size, revenue, global
footprint) are taking a customer-centric approach to 2020, versus one that
delivers something new for the sake of new, or that focuses
disproportionately on sales.

YEAR
We also learned that bringing this customer-centric vision to life is not easy.
More than half of marketers aren’t confident their strategy hits the
mark.

In the following pages, we’ll dive into where marketing leaders plan to spend
their time and money next year, the challenges they’ll face, and — most

CUSTOMER
importantly — the tactics they’ll use to overcome those challenges. We
believe these insights will help marketers stay competitive and drive growth
in 2020 — and we couldn’t be more excited to share.

02
 85%
were director-level or above

BEHIND
NUMBERS 76%
worked for companies with
To better understand the state of marketing in 1,000 or more employees
2020, we surveyed 750 North American
marketing leaders from major organizations
across more than a dozen industries:

50%
came from companies with total
annual revenues of $100M or more
03
 CHANGING
PRIORITIES
BOARDROOM
Tasked with driving growth, 1 in 2 marketers believe
improving customer experience has the greatest impact —
and C-suites are now on board. According to the leaders we
surveyed, CEOs no longer look at the state of their business
primarily through a sales-revenue lens — they realize the
value of brand experience and its ability to drive customer
engagement and retention (see page 5 for top 5 stats).

These changing priorities have the chance to generate a

cascade of enthusiasm for customer-centric strategies
across entire organizations — exactly the kind of
cross-functional buy-in marketers need to drive real results.

04
 THE METRICS
TO CEOs:

40% 39% 38% 31% 29%

Sales revenue Customer Customer Sales qualified Average order

generated engagement retention leads price

05
 2020 GOALS

PLAYING LONG GAME

Reflecting the boardroom’s 2020 commitment to customer centricity, marketing leaders’ top
goals heading into next year place a strong focus on engaging with consumers. In fact, nearly
the same number of marketing leaders list improving customer experience as a top goal as
those focused on increasing sales. Many now prioritize customer engagement over the
launching of new products, services, and initiatives.

It comes back to growth: We believe businesses are increasing their commitment to the
customer because it’s what’s best for long-term organizational health. A new product can drive
sales in the immediate term, but it won’t guarantee an increase in customer lifetime value.

TOP 2020
MARKETING
41% 38% 37%
Increasing Increasing brand Improving
GOALS Sales awareness customer
experience

36% 34% 31% 29%

Acquiring new Retaining Launching Launching new
customers existing new initiatives
customers products/services

06
 While 37% of marketing Top Industries Focused On
execs say improving the Improving Customer Experience

customer experience will be

a goal in 2020, certain
industries are rallying
44% 44% 41% 40%
around it in greater numbers.
Meanwhile, consumer goods Healthcare Food & Financial Media &
Beverage Services Entertainment
comes in last at 33%.

Top Industries Focused on

And when it comes to the Customer Engagement Metrics
success metrics that matter
most to CEOs, once again
key industries report
INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN engagement is critical. 51% 46% 43%
(Consumer goods is last
Media & Financial Healthcare
again at 34%). Entertainment Services

CUSTOMER Finally, when it comes to integrating AI into 2020 marketing plans, 29%

IS KING
of all marketers surveyed plan to do so to optimize the customer
journey. This spikes specifically across healthcare (32%) and financial
services (34%).
07
 52%
Brand
promise 57%
Advertising
THE PROBLEM messages

MARKETERS LACK
TOTAL CONFIDENCE
IN THEIR STRATEGIES Where Marketers
In order to achieve 2020 goals, marketers will need 54% Lack Extreme
to rely on strategies that drive results. And that’s Value Confidence
the problem: As next year approaches, more than proposition
56%
half of marketing leaders aren’t extremely confident Brand
that their key messaging and core brand elements positioning
strategy
will successfully engage consumers.

55%
Mission
statement

08
 Of course, it isn’t a shock that more than half of marketers lack confidence
in their key strategies — not when so many struggle to understand their
customers. According to our survey, a significant number of marketing
leaders find it challenging to really know their target audiences. They
understand the power of putting the customer at the heart of their brands,
but many don’t know how to do it — and this presents a major disconnect.

WHERE MARKETERS STRUGGLE

37% 34%
Reaching new Identifying the best
customers strategy to engage
customers

THE DISCONNECT

BETTER INSIGHTS
33% 32%
Understanding who their Understanding the
TO BE TRULY customers are customer journey

CUSTOMER CENTRIC
09
 2 0 2 0 M A R K E T I N G TA C T I C S

THE GOOD NEWS:

MARKETING LEADERS HAVE
CONCRETE PLANS THAT
WILL HELP THEM CLEAR
NEXT YEAR’S HURDLES.

10
 TA C T I C # 1

INCREASE
2020 MARKETING BUDGET PLANS
Social media marketing
54% 39% 8%
& Influencer partnerships
Market research 53% 41% 7%

BUDGET Paid advertising

Website development or
redesign
52%

51%
39%

41%
10%

8%

Let's start with the obvious: Solving problems Content marketing 50% 44% 7%
costs money. The good news? Heading into
Mobile marketing 50% 44% 6%
2020, two-thirds of marketers say they have
enough budget to achieve their goals — SEO 46% 46% 8%

thanks to a 46% year-over-year increase. Events or tradeshows 45% 45% 10%

Marketing tech stack 45% 50% 6%

More importantly, marketers are boosting
budgets strategically, focusing on areas that Email marketing 43% 50% 7%

will help them better understand and engage 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
with their customers — including social media Increasing Staying the same Decreasing
marketing, market research, paid advertising,
content marketing and mobile marketing. Some percentage totals don’t equal 100% due to rounding.

11
 INDUSTRY TRENDS

With 53% of all marketers increasing budgets for market

research next year, we expect to see marketing leaders begin
59% 58%
Financial Media and
to dimensionalize CX, the customer journey, etc. Certain Services Entertainment
industries plan to increase market research budgets even
more, including financial services, media and entertainment,
and healthcare.
55%
Healthcare

Customer/Market
segmentation research And in looking closer at the financial services industry,

34% marketing executives plan to put their money where their goals
(vs. 25%
businesses
overall) are, with 43% (vs. 36% overall) investing in market research to
better understand existing customers. They’re also significantly
Customer experience more likely to invest in other key research initiatives like
research customer/market segmentation research and customer
30%
(vs. 23%
businesses
overall)
experience research.
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 TOP 2020
TA C T I C # 2 MARKETING
TAC T I C S :

CUSTOMER- 27% Social media stories

CENTRIC 27% Video marketing

MARKETING 25%
Customer/market
segmentation

Smart marketers are also planning to invest Customer experience

in tactics designed to illuminate blind spots. 23% research
Customer segmentation and customer
experience research, for example, shed 23% Innovation research
much needed insight on target customers,
while brand health tracking is an essential
way to measure how consumers view your
22% Brand strategy research

brand over time. In many ways, knowledge Empowering customers

is the key to confidence, and marketers 21% as brand ambassadors
plan to spend on the insights they need.
19% Brand health tracking

13
 TA C T I C # 3

EXPAND
PRESENCE
Increased budget can go a long way, but so can expanded influence within the
organization. Many marketing leaders report that, in 2020, their department will play
a larger role in broader business strategy, and will work more closely with key
stakeholders across the organization. This is a necessary step for marketers to be
able to lead successful customer experience initiatives. True transformation requires
buy-in and participation from leaders across every department, and a marketing
team more closely aligned with the C-suite is much more likely to earn that buy-in.

HOW
44% Marketing will play a larger role in informing
business decisions

MARKETING
D E PA R T M E N T S
WILL CHANGE
42% Marketing initiatives will be more closely tied
to business decisions

IN 2020
41% Marketing teams will engage closely with
the C-Suite

14
 Of course, a larger marketing presence doesn’t
TA C T I C # 4
preclude the need for outside expertise. Next year,
marketers will lean on partners to reach their goals
and fuel growth.

THE POWER Who will they turn to? 43% plan to partner with a

OF MARKET market research firm and/or a brand strategy

firm — and their number one reason for doing so

RESEARCH is to better understand their existing customers.

15
 While the Year of the Customer will certainly bring new
challenges, it also provides a guiding star for marketers. When

HUMAN facing difficult choices surrounding your 2020 marketing strategy,

remember the power of the human element. Look at the ways

ELEMENT
and world in which consumers engage with your brand, the
relevant needs they have, and begin to identify opportunities to
engage with them in more substantial ways. Prioritizing the
people and audiences who are most important to your business
is a surefire way to drive growth.

We know bringing your customer-centric vision to life isn’t easy,

but this report highlights the fact you’re not alone — many
marketers face this challenge! We hope the insights and
marketing tactics we’ve shared are helpful in your 2020 planning.
We’re always here to help and answer any questions.

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H U N G RY F O R M O R E I N S I G H T S ?
W O R K I N G O N Y O U R 2 0 2 0 M A R K E T I N G S T R AT E G Y ?

WE LOVE TALKING ABOUT THIS STUFF.

GIVE US A CALL OR DROP US A NOTE.

keltonglobal.com
[email protected]
1.310.479.4040

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AN DI NG
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About Kelton Global: I ONS Partner Agencies:

INSIGHTS

E X PE
CAT
Kelton Global, an LRW Group agency, is an award-winning

RI
NI

consumer insights and strategy consultancy that helps

E
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N
CE
MM
marketers at the world’s biggest and best-loved companies Y
CO S
build their brands from the insight out.
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