August 2021

As with crime and politics, if you want to reveal the real plot in marketing’s evolution, follow where the money is going. Hmm. That’s probably not the most flattering of metaphors. Okay, scratch that image. But it is why I always look forward to Gartner’s annual CMO Spend Survey report. Allocation of budget is a CMO’s way of “voting with their wallet” for what they think is most important. Grab a copy of The State …

Follow the money: CMO budgets for martech and marketing operations Continue Reading »

Surveys are nice, but they have their limitations. They’re swayed by who participates (selection bias) and the way those participants interpret your questions in their own minds — which varies wildly for reasons a psychologist would be best suited to explain. The results can be directionally useful, but they’re not “facts.” The ground truth is what people actually do, not what they say they do. So I was thrilled to see the new Work Automation …

What are we automating in marketing and sales? A lot Continue Reading »

The good folks at BrandMaker recently released a study of CMOs and their perceptions of The State of Marketing Operations. In short, marketing operations has risen from being “an overshadowed marketing function that worked in the background to solve internal pains” to “an integral part of the marketing organization.” (And there was much rejoicing.) 70% of the CMOs surveyed reported that they have a dedicated marketing ops team at their company. 66% of those teams …

The State of Marketing Operations or Can’t Find a Better Martech Continue Reading »