As part of the CMO Council’s ongoing investigation into the evolution of the customer experience (CX), this program focuses on the critical next steps forward as brands take advantage of recent technology investments and start advancing strategies in analytics, experience and customer journeys. This initiative examines issues ranging from the technology frustrations marketers are managing to the new data, intelligence and engagement strategies marketers and commerce executives must master in order to truly tap into the power of contextual experiences. In this age of the totally connected customer, senior marketers must turn to new best practices and strategies to deliver customer engagements and experiences that are intentionally developed, deployed, measured, monitored and fully monetized to encourage commerce and connection. Today’s marketers must look beyond automation and toward context.

This global initiative reviews the requirements of today’s marketing and commerce landscape to understand the mindsets, technologies and strategies that organizations must adopt to better meet customer demands for always-on, always-accessible commerce, service and support. It examines how operational disconnects and deficiencies impact experience and the resultant loss in revenue, margin, reputation and brand equity. It also shines a light on the value and benefits of using big data analytics and customer insights to create a more relevant, personalized and gratifying experience. Going beyond a review of big data, this initiative explores key issues around data management across the organization and turning those points of insight into contextual experiences through individualized personalization.

Most importantly, this program looks to capture the realities of automation and technology provisioning on the modern marketing and commerce organizations, including the impact that potential gaps in technologies have on the business. Through research and executive dialogues, this program will provide decision makers with access to experts, peers and inspiration to catalyze change within their own organizations as senior leaders seek inspiration and justification to press forward with scaling and accelerating the return on customer experience and technology investments.

63% of companies successful in Marketing Automation plan to increase their Marketing Automation budget – Marketo & Ascend2

A recent survey revealed that 564 C-level executive respondents from large global enterprises still do not have an effective business strategy for competing in a digital, analytics-enabled world - Forbes Insights and Ernst & Young (EY)

Recent studies show that 89% of customers leave an organization after just one bad experience - Gartner 

Census Bureau estimates $89.1 billion in e-commerce sales during Q4 of 2015, a 14.7-percent jump from Q4 2014 - Marketing Land

By 2020, 40% of sales organizations will rely primarily on mobile digital technology for their sales force automation initiatives - Gartner 

Customer frustration leads to the following: 13% tell 15 or more people if they're unhappy. Conversely, 72% of consumers will share a positive experience with 6 or more people - thinkJar

86% of senior-level marketers say that it’s absolutely critical or very important to create a cohesive customer journey - Salesforce

A B2B customer will regularly use six different interaction channels throughout the decision journey, and almost 65% will come away from it frustrated by inconsistent experiences - McKinsey & Company

99% of companies believe achieving a single customer view is important to their business, but only 24% believe they have achieved it today - Martech Advisor 

Predicts 2016: Analytics Strategy - Gartner

Beyond Net Promoter Score: The Evolution of Customer Experience Metrics - Gartner 

Dimensional Marketing: New rules for the digital age - Deliotte University Press

March 2016 - Leveraging Techonology to Improve Customer Experience and Marketing and Sales - CIO Review

March 2016 - Omni/Multi/Cross-Channel Marketing: The Evolution of the Customer Experience - CMO.com

March 2016 - What Customer Experience Does--And Doesn't--Mean - CMO.com

February 2016 - How to Connect Customer Journeys From Research to Purchase - Marketing Week

February 2016 - In Retail, It's "The Year of the Customer" - Marketing Land

February 2016 - Quantifying the Customer Experience - CMSWire

January 2016 - Customer Experience Requires Commitment, Not Compliance - CMO.com

January 2016 - Most marketers can't predict the customer journey and admit they aren't maximizing revenue - VentureBeat 

January 2016 - What the 2015 Holiday Season's 3 Biggest E-Commerce Surprises Mean for Marketers in 2016 - Marketing Land

December 2015 - Context Marketing is the New Content Marketing: Are You Ready? - Business2Community

October 2015 - 5 Ways to Engage Customers Using Personalized Marketing - Forbes

October 2015 - Don't Forget the Customer in Customer Journey Mapping - CMO.com

February 2015 - Do You Really Understand How Your Business Customers Buy? - McKinsey & Company

4 Attributes of a Frictionless Customer Experience - LinkedIn 

Customer Experience 2020: Mobile, Voice, Social and Contextual - LinkedIn 

Using Big Data for Customer-centric Marketing - LinkedIn

3 customer behavior analytics opportunities to watch - IBM 

Quarterbacking Your Marketing Automation: Three Plays For Focusing on the Long Game in Your Customer Relationships - Dun & Bradstreet

How Messaging Apps Are Poised to Transform Ecommerce - EcommerceBytes.com

Preditive Marketing: Easy Ways Every Marketer Can Use Customer Analytics and Big Data - Omer Artun and Dominique Levin  

Customer Experience Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Connecting with Custoners - Bernd Schmitt 

Big Data Analytics and the Future of Marketing and Sales - McKinsey Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum

Connect: How to Use Data and Experience Marketing to Create Lifetime Customers - Lars Birkholm Petersen, Ron Person, Christopher Nash