2 0 1 6 M A R K E T I N G

P R E D I C T I O N SMARTECH, ADTECH, CONTENT, DATA, ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING, AND BEYOND

ADTECH

MARTECH

CONTENT

DATA

DEMAND GEN

ACCOUNT-BASEDMARKETING

It is that time of year again! The time when we, as marketers, reflect on the past year and plan for the year to come. Marketing and technology change so fast that we need to prepare.

What new advancements and innovations will 2016 bring to marketing and sales leaders? What will you have to prepare for and think through?

To help in your 2016 planning—and for a fun look ahead into the future of marketing—EverString has compiled marketing predictions from internal and external thought leaders from around the country!

Let’s see what 2016 will bring!

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MARKETING BECOMES COMMISSIONS-BASED

As the buyer journey continues to mature further towards self service, marketers become more and more responsible for education at scale, pushing leads deeper and deeper into the funnel before they are even touched by sales. In this new world, sales does less educating and more closing. And with the advent of new tools and practices that proactively fill top-of-funnel with qualified accounts, marketers shift their programs from TOFU to MOFU in order to accelerate deals. As they take on more of a sales role, they ultimately shift to a variable compensation structure that more represents sales commissions.JIM WALKER

VP OF MARKETING, EVERSTRING

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NO MORE WASTED IMPRESSIONS

In 2016, there will be a much deeper integration between the martech and adtech stacks. Specifically, the ability to serve targeted ads to highly targeted accounts. If I could write a memoir as a marketer, I’d title it Wasted Impressions. There is just too much wasted money on the wrong accounts that will never convert. We can do better and it’s coming in 2016.

JESSICA CROSS DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE MARKETING,

EVERSTRING

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5 SALES AND MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2016BUYER PERSONASLiterally writing them down and translating them into actionable, buyer-centric story lines. Sounds fundamental, but few companies do this!

SALES AUTOMATIONAs a component of sales enablement programs run by marketing, sales automation platforms will drive consistency, productivity, and conversion.

ADVOCATE MANAGEMENTCompanies will place more emphasis on mobilizing their customer communities and driving advocacy through technology.

INFLUENCER ENGAGEMENTCompanies doing this right are earning impressions, endorsements, traffic, and conversions.

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETINGABM will be front and center. It will also be a top driver of sales and marketing alignment.

MATT HEINZ PRESIDENT, HEINZ MARKETING

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CONTENT SCALING AND MEASUREMENT

In 2016, content marketing will mature from a ‘go do it and see how it goes’ practice to a ‘go do it and let’s measure if it works’ practice. Marketers will be focused on leveraging their growing library of content through rich experiences that make it easier to generate leads and draw insights. Software that allow marketers to manage content at scale will see significant uptake. In 2015 marketers focused on creating great content. In 2016 marketers will focus on leveraging that content.YOAV SCHWARTZ

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, UBERFLIP

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THE AUTOMATION OF HYPER-PERSONALIZATION IN SALES

Hyper-personalization. That’s what it’s all about. In 2016, we will see personalization gain momentum for sales reps. Tools will emerge that enable automation of personalization through data integration with your CRM. These tools will mine for interesting data about accounts and individuals, sync with a sales automation tool, and allow for more personalized messaging at scale.

MATT AMUNDSON DIRECTOR OF SALES DEVELOPMENT,

EVERSTRING

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THE EMERGENCE OF

ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING

2016 will be the year that Account-Based Marketing goes mainstream, just as 2009 was the breakout year for marketing automation. We’ll see the hype move beyond basic articles to talk about why ABM is important to actionable content that shares best practices and how-to guides from real practitioners. And, we’ll finally see technology emerge to manage the ABM process at scale.

JON MILLER CEO OF ENGAGIO AND

CO-FOUNDER OF MARKETO

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CONTENT AS A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Content is becoming increasingly critical within all marketing organizations. In 2016, we will see marketing teams restructure around content. Instead of content being an add-on to a functional group, content will begin to act independently as a center-of-excellence, working with all of the teams within marketing to maintain consistency in voice, tone, and brand.

DAYNA ROTHMAN DIRECTOR OF CONTENT AND INBOUND,

EVERSTRING

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THE DATA-DRIVEN COMPANY

In 2016, as data science and artificial intelligence break into the mainstream, every decision made within a company will be driven by data. That means ad spend, content, marketing decisions, the day-to-day of a sales rep, and more. I don’t think data is meant to replace intuition and experience gained by an individual, but I do think that data is going to take that intuition to the next level.

TIM JOHNSON VP OF ENTERPRISE SALES, EVERSTRING

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BRING YOUR CUSTOMER RIGHT INTO THE STORY

Marketers will be hyper-personalized with content in 2016. These days it takes more than a fancy ebook and clever title to stand out from the crowd. In 2016, marketers will go beyond traditional tactics, like adding someone’s name to a text-based email or serving curated content, to personalization in the content asset itself. An ebook or video will become uniquely personalized in real-time for a true 1:1 content experience. Imagine bringing your customer right into the story? Literally!

TYLER LESSARD VP OF MARKETING, VIDYARD

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CHANGE MANAGEMENTIN PREDICTIVE MARKETING

The biggest challenge with deploying new technology is managing the change required to capitalize on the value of that new technology. In 2016, we will see the coalescence of best practices for predictive marketing. These best practices will help companies understand what to do and how to execute with predictive marketing insights to drive more conversions and increased revenue.

READE TRIOLO VICE PRESIDENT OF SOLUTIONS & SUCCESS,

EVERSTRING

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We wish you a happy, healthy, and productive 2016!

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