Just-in-time marketing—marketing content created only when it’s needed and attuned to the needs of interested consumers exactly when they are in the buying mood—may boost revenue growth, reports Accenture. Drawing from a survey of more than 500 chief marketing officers globally, the professional services company says that just-in-time marketing can deliver a higher return on marketing dollars, and companies pursuing this approach are three times more likely to beat their peers on revenue growth.
Survey respondents also say that mass marketing strategies aimed at creating the broadest possible audience are proving less and less successful. CMOs told Accenture that as little as 20 percent of the customers typically reached were interested in the promoted product or able to buy it.
“By adopting just-in-time practices, we’re seeing leading marketing organizations unlock value that was previously trapped or unattainable,” says Paul Nunes, managing director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance. “This value accrues mostly from just-in-time marketers’ ability to engage the customer at the exact moment of need and from avoiding wastage.”
Thirty-eight percent of the companies which Accenture identified as just-in-time marketers have grown their annual revenues by more than 25 percent compared to just 12 percent of their peers. The survey found the same group ahead of their peers in a number of other ways: 82 percent report increased efforts to minimize marketing inefficiencies, 57 percent are “very satisfied” with their ability to share the right message with consumers at the right time, 87 percent have employees with specialized analytical skills to develop actionable customer insights and 58 percent describe their digital and traditional marketing initiative as “very highly integrated.”
“Just-in-time marketing organizations provide more satisfying and engaging customer experiences,” says Rob Davis, managing director of Accenture Interactive. “To deliver on the personalized experience customers expect, they have changed their marketing operating model, for example, by integrating digital and analytics. The winners will be those who balance creative excellence with operational rigor.”
More information on Accenture’s findings on just-in-time marketing can be found in its report, “Building The Just-In-Time Marketing Organization.”
