As more and more customers research and purchase products online, B2B connections are breaking down and digital marketing is now necessary to deliver a customer-centric experience. Today, a non-linear path, laid by self-driven exploration and spontaneous micro moments, often defines the customer’s digital journey. With the customer in the digital driver’s seat, they are the masters of online relationships and expect companies to be where they are, when they require support or service. Companies that haven’t begun mapping their customer’s digital journeys are left behind, while their competitors pave the road to bring customers their way.

Do you know where your customers are?

Designing a digital journey for your customers begins with understanding all of the stages your customers go through when they come into contact with your brand. From researching to buying, to becoming an advocate for your company, your Marketing team needs to identify the 360-degree relationship building process that transforms leads into loyal customers. Mass-marketing is no longer effective, and that targeted, multi-channel and personalized approaches to relationship building is necessary to delivering the experience that today’s customers are looking for.

Why your CMO needs to take charge of the customer journey

To engage your customers at every opportunity, and to ensure that their experience is seamless and consistent, your CMO must reach across organizational boundaries to design the optimal customer experience. By working together with sales, IT, and product management, your CMO can map a 360-degree view of your customers to deliver the right messaging strategies to the right people, at the right time. Your digital marketing team will then use this information to design a lifecycle marketing approach to turn your leads into sales and your sales success into customer advocacy.

Build the talent needed for digital age marketing

To succeed in the age of digital marketing, your marketing team must have the expertise needed to deliver a better bottom line. These skill-sets include advanced analytics, online community expertise, digital advertising, SEO, digital content creation, email marketing and online media relations. While it’s important to develop your current employees, hiring someone with the right expertise is a vital investment in building your company to ensure you are present and relevant in the future.

Here’s how to know when you need to hire new talent and avoid missing the opportunities you need to strategically grow your business — when you're ready to hire, reach out to our friendly and knowledgable team of marketing headhunters in Toronto.