Current data

Put simply, we know: The more up-to-date and complete the customer data in the CRM, the higher the company's sales potential. The trick is therefore to use limited resources to quickly and efficiently create a data basis for various measures such as cross-selling or lead scoring. Marketing automation delivers reliable results in this context. It stands for the gradual, data-based and therefore targeted development of communication channels and campaigns across all communication channels, digital and print. The focus remains on brand and market-oriented communication with its specific operational marketing objectives. This is almost automatically accompanied by the continuous enrichment of existing CRM data: This is because scheduled or triggered communication optimizes the database in every loop - both for future marketing measures and for sales.

Scalability

Another advantage of CRM-based marketing automation is its scalability: based on so-called trigger elements, the communication route is set up once for each event and can then be automated and played out continuously. Through specifically integrated dialogue elements, reactions and thus data from the target group are recorded promptly so that the performance of the campaign can be measured and optimized. This transparency makes it possible to align marketing and sales strategies as a whole directly with market feedback.

Which triggers can be used to pursue which operational marketing goals? How and where does the print channel improve results?

Programmatic media campaigns

In the next step, for example, programmatic media campaigns with the aim of generating leads (newsletter registrations, etc.) would be conceivable. Existing customer/CRM data can be digitally anonymized, matched with online parameters and translated into target group segments. Advertisers whose data depth is not (yet) sufficient can use curated data segments from well-known data providers or even have individual custom audiences created. These are then stored as targeting in the campaign platforms for the targeted playout of digital advertising content.

Overall, marketing automation represents a pragmatic solution to the challenges of modern multichannel marketing. By enabling data-driven and therefore targeted communication, it paves the way for efficient use of existing, even incomplete data and for updating, supplementing and continuously generating relevant additional information. The scalability of this method and the prompt responses offer additional flexibility and enable efficient adaptation to internal resources as well as the needs of a fast-moving market.

*Alex Schmid is Topic Lead Dialog at Farner.

m&k: Vanessa Gentile, Salesforce just published the "State of Marketing Report 2022" (Werbewoche.ch reported). 6,000 marketing managers in 35 countries were surveyed. What are currently the biggest challenges facing these decision-makers?
The results show that the Swiss marketers surveyed perceive outdated tools and technologies as the biggest challenge. Customers are becoming increasingly demanding - they expect every interaction to be personally tailored to them and their needs. Meeting these expectations is already more difficult than it was a year ago, according to 88 percent of Swiss marketers.

What are marketers focusing on to deal with these challenges?
On the one hand, experimenting with new marketing strategies and tactics to meet changing conditions. This is because there are currently also macroeconomic changes that marketers need to prepare for, such as the elimination of third-party cookies. On the other hand, marketers want to improve the use of tools and technologies. For example, by breaking down data silos. Today, companies should know their customers well in order to be able to make them individual offers, and for this they need a holistic view of their customers. Tools and technologies can help to gain a 360-degree view, which is also necessary to reconcile personalization, data protection and privacy.

What important "Key Trends" can still be read out of the report?
To effectively reach their target audience, marketers are investing in a combination of channels. In Switzerland, there was a shift last year towards events and sponsoring, TV and Internet television as well as website and app. However, email marketing remains the most popular channel. Another key trend is emerging in the way marketers are dealing with the demand for more data transparency. Although 67 percent of Swiss marketers still invest in third-party data, 57 percent say they have a fully defined strategy for switching third-party data. As mentioned at the outset, customers expect personalized interactions, for which up-to-the-minute data must be available. The report shows that 67 percent of Swiss marketers are already engaging their customers in real time through one or more marketing channels. Finally, the report found that 77 percent of marketers find collaboration more difficult than before the pandemic. As a result, more are investing in collaboration tools. On average, 3.75 collaboration tools are being used.

You yourself started a project for Salesforce in Switzerland a few years ago, which is now being extended to more and more country markets: "Bring Women Back To Work". Can you outline this project again in a few words - for those who don't know it yet?
It's no secret that women are underrepresented in the workplace at all levels, and women returning to work after a career break are often overlooked. Bring Women Back to Work supports women re-entering the workforce in the 12-month coaching and learning program at all levels. Their previous experience plays a secondary role, in keeping with our motto "Hire for attitude, train for skills." Working with partners, we also promote part-time positions, flexible working and equal pay to enable women to re-enter the workforce in a way that is compatible with their commitments outside the job.

Will Salesforce continue its efforts in the area of equality, talent development and "Tech Literacy" (for example via "Bring Women Back To Work") continue even in these difficult economic times?
Absolutely. Our five values of Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality and Sustainability are deeply embedded in our corporate culture and reflected in our daily actions. We firmly believe that the role companies can play in society and the expectation to balance financial returns with social impact are greater than ever. We are stepping up our commitment to education and training in particular, and BWBW has just been launched in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, for example - with further cohorts planned in Switzerland for 2023.

Salesforce, the global leader in CRM solutions, has published its eighth annual State of Marketing Report. The report shows that the work of Swiss marketers continues to create more value despite macroeconomic and labor market headwinds. The report also reveals how marketers in all countries surveyed are adapting to changing data privacy regulations - and managing more data sources than ever before.

Eighty-four percent of Swiss marketers believe their work represents greater value than it did a year ago - an increase of 2 percentage points from a year ago. However, they are struggling in an uncertain economy: 37 percent of Swiss marketers said that budgets are tight, and 88 percent of Swiss marketers agreed that it is more difficult to meet customer expectations than a year ago. To cope with the current situation, marketers are focusing on:

• Experimenting with new marketing strategies and tactics
• Improving the use of tools and technologies

Vanessa Gentile, Head of Marketing Switzerland at Salesforce: "Marketing managers are not only faced with the challenge of meeting the increasing demands of customers. At the same time, they are feeling the cost pressure - especially due to the current economic challenges. In addition, the regulatory shift to marketing without the use of third-party data is imminent. Companies, and marketers in particular, need to think about new strategies to further improve and strengthen the communication and relationship with their customers. Our eighth State of Marketing report is not only a barometer of sentiment, but also provides guidance in the ever-changing marketing landscape to create exceptional long-term customer relationships." The trends highlighted in the State-of-Marketing report were identified through a survey of 6,000 marketing executives in 35 countries and six continents, including 75 from Switzerland. Among the findings are the following:

• Multichannel as a success factor: Marketers are investing in a combination of channels and technologies to reach audiences in new places and build lasting relationships. Events and sponsorship, TV/Internet TV and website/app have seen the biggest growth in usage by Swiss marketers over the past year. However, email marketing remains dominant, accounting for more than 80 percent of all outbound marketing messages, according to Salesforce Marketing Cloud's trillions of messages sent.
• First-party data as an integral part of the strategy: Marketers are adapting to changes in data privacy regulations and demands for data transparency. Although 67 percent of Swiss marketers still invest in third-party data, 57 percent say they have a fully defined strategy for switching third-party data.
• KPIs are shifting as marketers seek real-time intelligence: At every stage of the funnel, marketers track more metrics than ever before, year after year. Rapid evaluation and response remains a competitive advantage. Sixty-seven percent of Swiss marketers engage customers in real time across one or more marketing channels.
• Distributed teams unite with collaboration technology: The realization that remote and distributed working is on the rise is prompting executives to invest in new collaboration tools. 77 percent of Swiss marketers say collaboration is more difficult today than before the pandemic and are using an average of 3.75 collaboration tools to help.

All information in detail

An overview of all the numbers in the 2022 State of Marketing Report in the Tableau dashboard. you can find here; the entire report with the global figures is available here.

This corresponds to growth of 11 percent. With 22 new talents and 24 new customers, BSI continues its success story, which received additional tailwind from the entry of the Swiss investment company Capvis in August of the year.

In a year under difficult auspices, the software specialists at BSI are pleased about new renowned customers and a continued high willingness to invest as well as the subsequently strong company result: "The Corona pandemic definitely revealed the need of companies to further digitalize their customer relationships and was an accelerator in this respect. This has significantly increased the demand for our solutions in the market," commented Markus Brunold, CEO of BSI. "In some cases, the pandemic also created a very specific need: for example, in April 2020, as part of the crisis management for the Zurich Social Insurance Institution (SVA), we launched a portal within a weekend that enabled the self-employed to apply for compensation for loss of earnings."

BSI was able to further strengthen its business in the three core sectors of retail, insurance and banking, and in particular also expand its cloud business. "In addition to the strong growth and the new partnership with Capvis, we were able to keep our values and culture unchanged - always with a 100 percent focus on our customers," adds Brunold.

BSI Customer Suite in high demand

The reasons for this growth can be found in particular in product innovations such as the newly launched Customer Data Platform, the BSI Insight analytics tool, and investments in the further development of CRM, Customer Experience and Artificial Intelligence.Solutions from BSI. With its various solution modules, the BSI Customer Suite with its zero-code approach offers comprehensive support to marketing, sales and service - and has generated strong growth.

Team at BSI grows again

The drivers of these brilliant figures are, of course, BSI's software architects and developers: The team, which has grown to 344 heads, is now spread over eight locations in Germany and Switzerland and also pulled together from the home office: "We are pleased that our passion for software and our customers is also transported in remote times and that we were able to pass on these values to 22 new talents," says CEO Brunold. "Despite local distance, the cooperation with our customers was close at all times and worked smoothly. We stand by our customers as partners -. that also proved to be a success factor in 2020," sums up Brunold.

Focus industries strengthened

Customer focus and comprehensive industry expertise paid off for BSI: In the banking community alone, several new customers were acquired, including well-known financial institutions in Switzerland and Austria. In the insurance sector, BSI benefited from the unabatedly high demand for its CX and CDP digitization solutions - for consolidating inventory data systems and managing customer relationships. Individualized customer targeting on the right channel at the right moment supported by automation and artificial intelligence was also a trend in the retail industry. BSI 2020 supported numerous retail customers with advice and solution applications in their reorganization on the way out of the crisis.

On the side of Capvis, Markus Brunold is optimistic about a promising 2021: "With Capvis' large network and know-how behind us, we will use the year to invest in the further development of the BSI Customer Suite. Following the launch of BSI CDP and BSI Insight, our Enterprise Integration Platform (BSI EIP) will be available by the end of 2021. We also plan to further expand our partner network, connect additional platforms and ecosystems, and continue to grow our focus industries. Our expectation is that the pandemic market situation will accompany us for some time. However, we are optimistic about this year's business performance - not least because of our motivated team and our many great customers".