December, 2010

Omniture Technology Users Outperform through Marketing Automation

Enterprise marketing organizations are under increasing pressure, both from internal and external factors, to accomplish more with less in order to sustain and improve the health of their companies. In June and August of 2010, Aberdeen surveyed 453 companies to learn about the primary drivers of their marketing efforts for 2011 and beyond. The survey had representation from both Business-to-Businesses (B2B) and Business-toConsumers (B2C) companies, of which, 30 of these respondents indicated Omniture technology as their primary marketing automation solution. The results indicate that Adobe users of Omniture technology outperform Industry Average and Laggard companies (combined as all others) in the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. This Research Brief reviews the key factors differentiating Omniture technology users from Industry Average and Laggard-performing companies to explore how they are achieving greater results through their marketing programs and solutions.
Research Brief Aberdeens Research Briefs provide a detailed exploration of a key finding from a primary research study, including key performance indicators, Bestin-Class insight, and vendor insight.

Business Context
Faced with a myriad of challenges that include the economic downturn, an increasingly competitive business landscape, and rising customer expectations, Aberdeen's report Sales & Marketing Alignment: Collaboration + Cooperation = Peak Performance shows that the primary strategy pursued by 46% of all companies is establishing a formal marketing strategy that fits this new business environment. While integrating this strategy into their agendas, Omniture technology users differentiate their marketing efforts with a greater focus toward automating marketing processes and campaigns (43% vs. 28%). This strategy enables them to achieve stronger performance across a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Figure 1. Figure 1: Effective Marketing Delivers Results
Omniture Technology Users Percent of the sales forecasted pipeline generated by Marketing Percent of marketing generated leads converted into closed business 5% All Others 22% 16%

Maturity Class Definitions The following Key Performance Indicators were used to determine the Bestin-Class for the Sales & Marketing Alignment report: Year-over-year change in annual revenue Percent of the sales forecasted pipeline generated by Marketing Best-in-Class: top 20% of aggregate performance scorers Industry Average: middle 50% of aggregate performance scorers Laggards: bottom 30% of aggregate performance scorers

17% 11% 15% 10% 20% Number of respondents, n=453 25%

Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2010

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As illustrated in Figure 1, Adobe users of Omniture technology outperform all others in both marketing generated leads converted to the sales forecasted pipeline and marketing generated leads that result in closed business by 38% and 59% respectively. In addition to these accomplishments, these customers also averaged 10% year-over-year improvement in annual company revenue, as compared to a mere 3% average increase among all others. Why are these particular Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the most relevant to businesses? Consider what cross-functional business executives reported from around the globe in Aberdeen's August 2010 Quarterly Business Review. Of the 1,600+ business executives surveyed, 48% indicated organic revenue growth is their organization's top goal. This affirms that marketing organizations need to be laser-focused on programs and technologies that deliver leads to the sales pipeline and positively impact conversions to closed business to achieve the top business goal of driving revenue growth through new, non-acquisition related revenue.

Strong Capabilities for Strong Results

Determining and implementing a relevant and accurate strategy is crucial to achieving success from marketing efforts. The key ingredient of Omniture technology customers' marketing strategy is automation; in order to support this strategy and drive strong results these companies utilize certain process and knowledge management capabilities (Figure 2). Let's now consider how users of Omniture technology deploy these differentiating capabilities more effectively than all others: Ready access to marketing collateral. Aberdeen's research shows that companies currently adopting this capability are 86% more likely to achieve Best-in-Class results, compared to non-users. Providing relevant stakeholders in marketing, sales, service and channel partners with access to compelling content and assets is critical in automating marketing programs, especially as it supports the ability to speed time to market and generate faster sales cycles. Omniture technology customers are 54% more likely to automate their marketing programs, compared to all others. Process to monitor marketing costs and budget. Forty-seven percent (47%) of the executives participating in Aberdeen's Sales & Marketing Alignment study indicated the lack of marketing budget as a key challenge impacting their marketing efforts. In the context of this finding, the value of deploying processes to monitor marketing costs and budgets in this economic environment is clear and has specific relevancy to both B2B and B2C marketing efforts. In addition to keeping checks and balances in place, it allows companies to associate the cost of each marketing campaign with its contribution to the sales pipeline and closed business, including revenue generated from sales of new and existing products/services. This enables users to understand the impact of each marketing
"We place great emphasis on enabling our sales reps to easily locate marketing materials they need to utilize to move the opportunity forward in conjunction with our formal sales process." ~ Rebecca Rosen, Director of Marketing, TelePacific Communications

2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com

Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

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campaign on the bottom-line. Best-in-Class companies are more than twice as likely as Laggards to have this capability in place. Figure 2: Omniture Customers Deploy Key Capabilities
Ready access to marketing collateral Process to monitor marketing costs/budget Process for disseminating marketing campaign results Process for tracking and measuring marketing results 20% 37% 64% 37% 40% 60% 80% 100% 56% 71% 89% 68% 81%

Number of respondents, n=453 Omniture Technology Users All Others

Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2010

Process to disseminate marketing campaign results. The ability to make the right people in the organization aware of campaign results in a timely manner enhances the value of marketing programs and associated results. This process allows users to track specific KPIs (i.e. leads generated, click-through rates, web visitations) from each marketing campaign as well as reporting a detailed and/or summary overview of the achieved results. These performance reports are an invaluable tool providing relevant organizational stakeholders with visibility and understanding of the marketing programs' impact on the business while clarifying expectations and needs for future programs. Indeed, Aberdeen's data shows that companies utilizing this process are 63% more likely than non-users to achieve Best-in-Class results. Measuring results. Companies using Omniture technology are 73% more likely than all others to ensure they are measuring their marketing programs. To this point, Aberdeen's research shows that the primary factor driving top performing companies to deliver superior KPI results involves building marketing programs that can be measured, combined with promptly capturing and disseminating those results. This primarily relates to an organization's need to have visibility into its performance and a clear understanding of the impact on its marketing programs. Measuring program results is crucial in establishing such visibility and replicating successful marketing campaigns while avoiding potential failures. Some of the most common metrics measured by organizations participating in this research include company revenue growth, addition of net-new customers and marketing's contribution to the sales pipeline.

2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com

Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

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Effective Technologies Enable High Performance

The performance results illustrated in Figure 1 clearly demonstrate that Adobe users of Omniture technology differentiate themselves through their strategic focus on marketing automation. While the capabilities outlined above are a key part of their performance, the use and deployment of technology is an equally important component in the equation to support marketing automation initiatives, as shown in Figure 3. The following highlights the values of the technology enablers Omniture technology users have adopted to enhance their performance: Web analytics solutions. These tools enable organizations to track, measure, and understand the individual and aggregate patterns occurring from their website traffic in order to measure the effectiveness of their online marketing programs. Using this technology, companies can determine which products or services are being considered and, in turn, use this information to tailor specific promotions and content delivery in order to optimize sales follow up activities with the right message, offer, and/or collateral at the right time. Aberdeen research shows that users of this technology outperform non-users by 47% in marketing's contribution to the sales forecasted pipeline.
"The ability to use web analytics to understand effective utilization of our online real estate was an immediate benefit for us. It allowed us to improve the impact of our marketing assets, thus truly integrating the content on our new web site with our business." ~ Tim Munsell, Lead Web Analyst, Dave Ramsey

Figure 3: Technology Enablers Fine-Tunes Marketing Efforts

83% 54% 75% 49% 75% 43% 66% 42% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Web Analytics solution

Search engine marketing / optimization tools Content management system Lead management tools and dashboards 20%

Number of respondents, n=453 Omniture Technology Users All Others

Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2010

Search engine marketing/optimization tools. This technology allows companies to provide prospects/customers with the right content by driving the most relevant online material through search results. Users of this technology are able to promote specific products, services, and websites in coherence with their online marketing strategy. Another benefit of these tools is the ability to
Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com

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leverage historical data (i.e. visitations and content consumption) to refine and improve the accuracy of future search results. Content management systems. This technology empowers organizations to create and edit content for various marketing channels and mediums including websites, direct mails, email etc. Organizations utilizing this technology to create, capture and manage content have a greater ability to influence the interaction of prospects and customers with their product(s) and brand(s). In fact, Aberdeen's November 2010 benchmark report on Marketing Asset Management: It's More Than Just An Image shows that companies using this technology achieve 8% year-over-year improvement in lead conversion rate, compared to 0% (no change) for non-users. Lead management tools and dashboards. These tools are key enablers in managing the lifecycle of leads, and streamlining the process to expedite them through to sales for improved lead conversions rates. Successfully deploying these tools into the existing sales and marketing processes helps organizations map the different interactions that take place from capturing a new lead to converting the opportunity into closed business. This improves an organization's ability to manage the leads throughout their lifecycle more effectively, thus maximizing revenue opportunities. Omniture technology users are 57% more likely than all others to deploy these solutions to support their marketing efforts.

Does It Make Sense to Pay?

Free web analytics platforms are enticing options for resource-constrained businesses that hope to improve their understanding of online customers. However, users of free solutions may not be getting the full benefit and value they seek. Findings from Aberdeen's September 2009 report, Web Analytics: Actionable Insights for Unlocking the Hidden Potential of Online Data demonstrates that users of free analytics solutions struggle to derive the same level of business value from their platforms compared to those companies that partner with paid providers. In fact, 21% of companies leveraging a free solution indicated they were unsatisfied with the amount of actionable data they received, compared to only 5% who indicated they were extremely satisfied. On the contrary, 15% of Omniture technology customers participating in that Web Analytics study indicated they were unsatisfied with the amount of actionable data they received, compared to 52% who indicated they were satisfied. Figure 4 highlights the percentage of companies using free vs. paid solutions that achieved year-over-year performance improvements across several KPIs. That report on Web Analytics further indicated the following regarding users of paid solutions outperforming users of free solutions: This fact may force companies to hire consultants to help with data analysis or utilize existing organizational resources. Of course, a free solution is no longer free under these scenarios. Paid solutions, however, often include training programs and support
2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

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services, albeit at an additional cost, to help end-users maximize their use of web analytics. Figure 4: Free Versus Paid Solutions
Website Traffic Volume Conversion Rates Campaign ClickThrough Rates Average Page View Per Visit Revenue Per Visit 0% 64% 46% 53% 21% 45% 24% 44% 24% 25% 10% 20% Users of Free Solutions Users of Paid Solutions 40% 60% 80%

Number of respondents, n=203

*Only respondents that have used web analytics for 2+ years. Percentages represent companies reporting improvement in this metric. Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2010

Case in Point Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is a leading personal money management education provider. The company broadcasts one of the largest independent radio shows in North America through more than 400 stations, sells books, and provides live events and classes on personal money management. In order to align the online delivery of their products and services with its business strategy, the company decided to launch a new web site and adopted Omnitures marketing automation solution to manage the new website. We changed our approach to marketing by automating it and making it a more datadriven function with precise measures to assess marketing campaign results and utilizing web analytics as is a key ingredient of this strategy, says Tim Munsell, Lead Web Analyst at Dave Ramsey. One of the initial steps the company took to implement its marketing automation strategy was to utilize the web analytics tool to track results (i.e. visitations and click-throughs) in order to understand the paths that visitors take online. The ability to understand how to effectively utilize our online real estate was an immediate benefit for us. It allowed us to improve the impact of our marketing assets, thus truly integrating the content on our new web site with our business. Another key component of Dave Ramseys marketing automation strategy is disseminating marketing campaign results to relevant stakeholders. Today,
2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

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20 individuals from different roles ranging from executive management to marketing staff are able to easily view campaign results. While putting these key capabilities in place, the company established a keen eye toward monitoring the costs of its campaigns to determine which were the successful. Our new solution enabled us to associate returns from each marketing campaign with its respective costs and as a result, we are able to determine marketing campaigns that would deliver the maximum return on investment (ROI) for us, adds Munsell. Careful planning and implementation of its marketing automation strategy gave Dave Ramsey the fruits from its labors. The first year after implementing their new solution, the company generated an ROI greater than 500%. In regards to its online business strategy, marketings contribution to online business has jumped to 50%. Another significant achievement was observed in to time-to-market (time to create and deliver marketing assets or content to market). It used to take us weeks to create content and put on our website, today we do it in almost real-time, states Tim Munsell.

Summary
While a lack of marketing budget and the need to demonstrate results from marketing campaigns are significant pressures faced by marketing organizations, improving annual revenue through organic growth is the top goal for most businesses. Aberdeen's research shows that in the face of these pressures, Adobe users of Omniture technology differentiate themselves from all others by heavily focusing on automating marketing processes and campaigns to improve marketing effectiveness. While Omniture technology customers aren't doing everything perfectly 47% lack defined workflows between sales and marketing - their marketing campaigns and strategies combined with their use of technology are consistently enabling greater contribution to the sales forecasted pipeline and driving greater revenue through higher lead closure rates. Aberdeen's research shows that companies leveraging all the capabilities and enablers outlined in this research paper as a part of their marketing efforts are 45% more likely to achieve Best-in-Class status compared to non-users. Therefore, organizations seeking to truly differentiate their businesses should consider automating marketing programs with the supporting capabilities and technologies listed in this document to achieve Best-in-Class performance.

2010 Aberdeen Group. www.aberdeen.com

Telephone: 617 854 5200 Fax: 617 723 7897

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For more information on this or other research topics, please visit www.aberdeen.com. Related Research
Sales and Marketing Alignment: Collaboration + Cooperation = Peak Performance; September 2010 The 2011 Marketer's Agenda: Accessing and Understanding Customer Experience Data Is Life or Death; July 2010 Customer Analytics Leveraging Customer Data to Fulfill the One-to-One Marketing Imperative; December 2009 Offer Optimization: Using Customer Analytics to Improve Marketing Performance; October 2009 Data Driven Marketing; October 2009 Web Analytics: Actionable Insights for Unlocking the Hidden Potential of Online Data; September 2009

Authors: Omer Minkara, Research Associate, Customer Management Technologies (omer.minkara@aberdeen.com) Chris Houpis, Senior Research Analyst, Marketing Strategy & Effectiveness (chris.houpis@aberdeen.com)
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