In the tech industry, everyone’s talking about data. From the data deluge to data being the new oil (do we even want a new oil..?), it’s all about extracting and analyzing that sweet sweet data.
Except, we all know it’s not a simple task. There were 59 trillion gigabytes of data consumed in the last decade. 59 trillion. Where do you even start with a number like that? And for marketers, who must have an intricate knowledge and understanding of their audience to be successful, there are more than 7,000 tools to choose from when it comes to crunching the numbers and gleaning those mission-critical insights.
While I’m sure you’d love a blog post that dives into the minutia of those thousands of tools, their features and benefits, I’ll leave that to the smarter folks at Gartner and Forrester. But what we have done is looked at the analytics space for marketers – to get a feel for who’s influencing that space in the press and what they’re doing to lead the conversation.
The pie chart below illustrates the earned media share of voice in the UK between key marketing data analytics vendors (Cision: Jan 1, 2021 and Aug 15, 2021):
Clearly Salesforce is dominating – and this isn’t a major surprise of course – given its scale, broader brand awareness and the influence of its CEO Mark Benioff. But take a look deeper under the bonnet and you’ll find a dedicated programme of thought leadership reports, customer case studies and industry commentary – all tapping their audiences at different levels.
From high level advice on closing the marketing digital skills gap to building momentum through regular state of the nation-style reports, Salesforce consistently demonstrates its leadership and expertise – showcasing a clear understanding of its customers and their challenges. Salesforce’s strong relationships with its customers are also illustrated by the high volume of household names like Bosch and Starbucks speaking to the press about how Salesforce has helped them build data-driven cultures and get closer to their customer base.
For the likes of Fivetran, Adverity and Supermetrics, it might look like a mountain to climb to close the share of voice gap on a player like Salesforce – but it is achievable with the right strategy. It just requires more time and consideration. At Hotwire, we work with clients on a dedicated discovery process at the outset (and throughout) all client relationships. We help clients get under the skin in terms of what makes the industry tick, what their customers want, how they differ from their competitors, and understanding why certain decisions are made and what their implications mean for our clients’ strategies.
Coverage volume and share of voice are just a couple of (fairly blunt) metrics. When you dive deeper into key message delivery, publication influence and audience demographics – combined with the insights mentioned above – you’ll start to uncover gaps in the market. White space. Find that white space and not only will the share of voice gaps start closing, but your coverage will likely be more impactful and influential – opening new doors for relationships and revenue.
Winning the race might be winning share of voice to some companies. But for marketers and those in comms, we need to unlock the campaigns, content, and viewpoints, that engage our audiences in ways that resonate, at whatever scale is necessary. That means starting with a thorough and considered discovery process. It probably means analysing some data, too…
If you’re reading this and thinking “we’re also trying to close the gap on our Salesforce-style competitor” or you’re the leader and concerned about maintaining your position at the front of the pack, drop us a line and we can chat. 👍