Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Marketers set to drive deeper customer engagement

More of us are aligning strategy, teams and technology

Because of the extensive digital transformation across the meetings and events industry spurred by the pandemic, the NextGen events channel will span formats (e.g., virtual/webinar, in-person, hybrid) and types (e.g., conferences, trade shows, road shows, customer groups) and has the potential to drive broader and deeper customer engagement.

The report, entitled 'NextGen Events: Optimized for Outcomes', was based on a survey of 150 global marketing leaders and in-depth interviews with executives from Equifax, GE Healthcare, HCL Software and GfK. The research was developed in partnership with Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events and hospitality technology provider.

Key findings in the report included:

• Virtual events still matter
  Virtual events continue to deliver tremendous reach and value, yet 64% of marketing leaders say their organizations are only moderately effective or not effective at executing virtual events.
• In-person events remain the top choice to nurture relationships and drive conversions
  60% say restarting in-person/hybrid events is very important, even critical.
• Event marketing has matured
  65% say learnings over the last two years will lead to a more holistic view of events that are better aligned to marketing outcomes.

In order to capitalize on the NextGen event channel opportunity, CMOs will need to craft a clear and comprehensive strategy that matches each different event with the right goals, while working closely with event planning teams to deliver a more immersive, engaging attendee experience - whether online or in-person. This means learning how to deliver engaging virtual events, re-thinking traditional event planning, encouraging cross-team collaboration, and optimizing the MarTech stack to maximize event program impact.

"With so much uncertainty, it has become even more important for organizations to have a clear understanding of all the events happening in their portfolio in order to gain complete control and a clear picture of what's happening now and what lies ahead," said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. "Through better management and with a focus on testing and learning, CMOs can ensure NextGen events are tied to business outcomes: brand awareness, lead generation, retention and loyalty."

"The results from the report highlight the significant impact the pandemic has had not just on meetings and events, but also on the roles and relationships between planners and marketers," added Cvent Chief Marketing Officer, Patrick Smith. "The digital transformation over the last two years has made events more measurable, enabling marketers to better understand the impact events have on their marketing efforts; and with the rise of virtual and hybrid events, the lines between event planning and digital marketing have blurred. This NextGen event channel means that marketing executives and planners need to work collaboratively, rather than in siloes, to better engage attendees. If they do this effectively, there is more potential to deliver greater event program impact and value across the organization."

Download the report here: https://cmocouncil.org

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)