CIO Press Release

Research Conducted by CIO Highlights CIO/CMO Relationship Gaps and Misconceptions to Be Addressed at CIO/CMO Agenda Event

FRAMINGHAM, MA–(Marketwired – Apr 30, 2013) - CIO‘s 2013 CIO/CMO Partnership survey digs into the CIO/CMO relationship from how these executives view each other, to future IT spending. Overall, the results stress that CIOs and CMOs must work together now to ensure investments for automating marketing align with enterprise architecture for maximum business results. The growing need for collaboration and alignment between the CIO and CMO for technology solution adoption — highlighted in the survey — has sparked the launch of the CIO/CMO Agenda event, produced by CIO in partnership with The CMO Club.

CIO and CMO Perceptions
The majority of CIOs and CMOs (82% and 77% respectively) describe their relationship with the other as excellent/good and 40% of CIOs and 27% of CMOs believe that the relationship will continue to improve over the next year. One reason for this positive view of the relationship is that respondents most often characterized each other as a consultant or strategic player in technology decisions. However, 14% of CMOs see CIOs as a road block and an additional 19% view CIOs as a risk assessor. One-quarter of CIOs view CMOs as a rogue player (view chart). Adoption of cloud solutions without IT’s approval was also highlighted in IDG Enterprise’s CITE research, including employee use of consumer services (41%) and file sharing tools (31%). To benefit the enterprise, CIOs and CMOs believe that collaboration, agility, innovation, customer insight and influence with the CEO are key to developing a closer relationship, which is necessary for results.

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eMarketer

Consumers are sensitive to how much companies listen and respond to them online

Most US internet users across all age groups are aware that businesses frequently listen to what they say online. According to a December 2012 study conducted by J.D. Power & Associates for NetBase, US internet users between the ages of 45 to 54 were most cognizant of this phenomenon, at 72% of respondents. Millennials between 18 to 24 years old were least likely to be aware of companies listening in, although still over three in five knew this went on.

What’s more, most consumers reported that they actually wanted companies to listen to online conversations. A majority of respondents in every age group except for those 55 and over reported this preference.

Consumers may want to catch the ear of brands online, but they have decidedly mixed expectations for what kind of engagement is appropriate. This means companies must tread carefully.

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ClickZ

With so much data and automation technology available to marketers, there is a temptation to do more, more often. Yet, the most effective uses of big data are usually not bigger marketing, but leaner, more efficient marketing.

The biggest challenge now is to wrestle big data down into actionable insights. We need to get to the data that counts. Grazia Ochoa, director of global digital marketing at Starwood Hotels and Resorts said in a recent panel on data-driven marketing that I was lucky enough to moderate here in New York City, “We view consumer behavior in multiple models in order to understand the full experience in each visit in a particular property, but also over time to see how we can improve the return rate. If I can move a guest from four visits a year to six, that is better than just optimizing the four visits we already have. We strive to do both.”

Similarly, Charlie Swift, VP of marketing analysis and operations at Hearst says, “As we move forward inventing the new world of publishing – between digital editions of our magazines and the shift to deeper consumer relationships – data is at the heart of our ability to learn and react faster to the market dynamics. Speed to learn and change is critical to our long-term success.”

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MinOnline

By, Matthew Yorke

It was not that long ago that the biggest challenge for publishers and marketers was to understand the dynamics of the print and the online worlds. Today, it is far more complex both from the medium and message standpoints.

The Echo Effect
Late last year, IDG Research Services released the results of its latest study: The Echo Effect : Understanding the Value of Tech Buyers. More than 3,100 visitors to IDG U.S. technology media sites such as PCWorld, Macworld, CIO, and Computerworld, participated.

Before I get into buyer behaviors, just surveying the modern reader’s journey is a dizzying experience filled with insights.

Ninety-five percent of the respondents use one or more social platforms. No surprises there you might say. However, in terms of what those interactions mean for brand engagement, that’s the exciting part: Forty-two percent are willing to recommend a company and 40% of the respondents experience increases in their brand loyalty.

Social Selection
But, from a marketer’s point of view this means more than just putting up a Facebook page or a Twitter stream. IDG’s social research revealed why users are on certain platforms and what their expectations are for each. For example, in the consumer tech category, we discovered that Facebook is used for sharing, Google+ for seeking (although this data may be influenced by brand associations with search), LinkedIn for networking, and Twitter for dynamic sharing. Consumers also expect vendors to use these platforms to respond to their questions, offer insights into products, and provide product reviews/rankings.

Mobile Taking Over for PCs
Print and online are no longer the game. It’s a mobile world, and smartphone/tablet activities are replacing PC-based usage. Two-thirds of the respondents own and regularly use two or more mobile devices, and about 33% of their browsing for technology content is via mobile. We know they are researching products, seeking in-store price comparisons, and purchasing products with their smart mobile devices. Mobile and social are two legs of a stool; the third is video.

Lights, Camera, Action
We discovered that our readers cannot resist tech-related videos, with 93% of them watching and 72% commenting on and sharing videos or posting them.

Mobile is driving this new-found appetite for video with 40% watching tech videos on their tablets and smartphones. Video is not just an entertainment factor. It drives tangible purchase behaviors with 64% of the respondents moving from watching a video to seeking further product-related information.

Puzzle Pieces from IDC’s Audience Segmentation
So that’s all very interesting, but what really counts is segmenting users by their social and technology behaviors to understand exactly what kind of messaging and marketing engages prospects. That’s the real challenge. In conjunction with the IDG Research Services Echo survey, we worked with our sister company, IDC, and its ConsumerScape360 practice and segmentation model. We discovered three audience segments among online readers: New Media Influencers, Enthusiastic Adopters and Needs-Based Buyers. Briefly, here’s how they differ and what can be learned from each category.

New Media Influencers are the highest value segment as they are natural brand champions and research products extensively before buying. They are active contributors to social/new media and are twice as likely as an average consumer to give brand or product advice to others.

Enthusiastic Adopters are key to driving sales in the early stages of a product’s lifecycle. This segment is most excited by technology and they own a lot of it. They rely on information from a variety of sources including social media, but are more likely to be following others (such as New Media Influencers) through the social web rather than actively contributing to the conversation. They respond well to marketing that is feature or function focused.

Lastly, the Needs-Based Buyers, who are the smallest segment, are more price sensitive and only buy technology when older devices no longer work. This group of prospects relies heavily on the advice of others.

Based on the Echo research and IDC’s ConsumerScape360, I have several recommendations for tech marketers, and marketers in general, since technology has become a part of so many products and services: Consider how you integrate social interactions and social content, including video, into your more traditional marketing. Think of ways to actively target and activate the New Media Influencers to become brand champions, and tailor messaging to reach those all-important Enthusiastic Adopters.

Life is certainly not easier in the digital and social worlds, but insights needed to turn prospects into customers are now clearer and can help you choose your priorities.

Computerworld

Computerworld - Dell’s buyout deal should give the company renewed business flexibility and stealth, but its customers need to know if Dell will be in the PC market for the long haul.

“Now, Dell will be able to better compete with HP, Lenovo, IBM and Cisco,” said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy. “They can do what they want without the scrutiny of Wall Street and the SEC, and do it under the radar, making it harder for competitors to guess at Dell’s next moves and then making defensive moves to thwart them.”

However, whether Dell, the third-largest PC maker in the world, plans to continue to be a major player in the PC business is an open question. That question has customers – both enterprises and consumers – concerned.

“It’s too early to tell how much Dell wants to remain in PCs,” said Moorhead. “They could more easily reduce or exit the business as a private company… Dell customers, specifically business PC customers and channels, could be a little edgy until Dell announces it’s in the PC business for the long haul.”

Hewlett-Packard, which has been barely hanging on to its number one position in the PC market, used the news of Dell’s buyout announcement to take a jab at its competitor.

“Dell has a very tough road ahead,” HP said in a released statement. “The company faces an extended period of uncertainty and transition that will not be good for its customers. And with a significant debt load, Dell’s ability to invest in new products and services will be extremely limited. Leveraged buyouts tend to leave existing customers and innovation at the curb.”

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IDG Research Services

This research conducted last summer from IDG Research Services provides tech marketers with information to help fine tune their marketing strategies and more effectively reach key target audiences. This infographic helps marketers understand the value of consumer technology buyers. Ninety-four percent of technology consumers purchased at least one tech product for the household in the past 12 months and 60% watch tech videos to find information about products/services they wish to buy.

For other infographics related to this research click here

Digiday

Bright shiny object syndrome is a known condition to afflict many marketers. Digital media is great at producing the Next Big Thing, hyped to no end by blogs and social media gurus. It’s why you see suggestions that Snapchat might be a huge area of opportunity for marketing.

Yet for many marketers, the most important thing is staying focused on the tried and true while keeping an eye on emerging opportunities. That means doing the blocking and tackling of digital media, whether it’s through email or search engine marketing. Digiday asked top digital marketers for their take on which digital media opportunities are underrated.

Bob Arnold, associate director of global digital strategy at Kellogg
For me, the most underrated digital marketing tactic is email. Email has long been shunned as a “has been” often taking the back seat to newer, sexier tactics like social media. That said, from a pure cost-effectiveness standpoint, it’s hard to beat email. It’s relatively cheap, consumers opt-in, so they are very receptive to the marketing message, and it’s fairly easy to measure success.

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ReelSEO

A recent consumer survey by IDGTechNetwork showed that video plays a vital role in the purchasing decisions of today’s electronics and technology consumers. But it’s not just standard video advertising that we are talking about. They look for a variety of content that will help them make a better informed decision and then tend to act on the information that they’ve found. Here’s a quick breakdown of the survey results.

Before I talk about the results I wanted to give you a run down of how the data was collected. It was an online survey aimed at ‘better understanding the demographic profile of the IDGTechNetwork audience.‘ The research was done via online invitations to complete the survey by ‘editorial stakeholders of sites within the IDGTechNetwork.‘ The responses were collected from April 30th to August 24th of this year.

With an audience of 130 million unique visitors and 2,354 respondents we get a margin of error right around 2%. Of course, that’s about half of the US online audience. It’s hard to say what percentage of the online video viewing audience in the US it is though as we don’t know if all 130 million of them watch video online monthly. I haven’t seen IDG on any comScore or Nielsen report as either a publisher (10th place in May was 11.4M video viewers for Nielsen, comScore is much higher) or an online video ad network.

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Technology Consumers Are Devoted Web, Video, and Mobile Users

IDG Research Shows How Much Digital Is a Part of Consumers’ Lives

IDG Research Services surveyed more than 3,100 visitors to IDG technology media sites in the U.S., such as PCWorld, Macworld, CIO, and Computerworld, to determine information consumption behaviors.  The research—“The Echo Effect: Understanding the Value of Tech Buyers”—underscores the power of social media, the widespread use of mobile devices, and the reliance on video to make purchase decisions.

By a large margin, consumers choose technology websites for technology news and information (87%) but approximately half seek out technology-related print media (52%) or tech blogs (49%).  Farther down the list are video-sharing sites and social/business networking sites.

(Click to enlarge)

Technology Consumers Are Devoted Web, Video, and Mobile Users

IDG Research Shows How Much Digital Is a Part of Consumers’ Lives

IDG Research Services surveyed more than 3,100 visitors to IDG technology media sites in the U.S., such as PCWorld, Macworld, CIO, and Computerworld, to determine information consumption behaviors. The research—“The Echo Effect: Understanding the Value of Tech Buyers”—underscores the power of social media, the widespread use of mobile devices, and the reliance on video to make purchase decisions.

Consumers find it hard to resist tech-related videos as 93% said they watched them and 72% reported they have forwarded, shared, or posted a video. And, given the mobile findings it is not surprising that four in 10 consumers are watching videos on a smartphone or tablet. Viewers are turning to video for product reviews, information to inform buying decisions, and to learn how to use a new product/service.

(Click to enlarge)