To compete in the "customer experience" battle CMOs must engage and activate their corporate story and brand promise across the enterprise.

1. Feb 29, 2016
James O’Gara
CEO / Founder, OnMessage
The first question you might ask is … what’s messaging infusion?
It is the disciplined process leading B2B companies use to
deliver a clear, compelling and consistent message throughout
the customer experience.
How does messaging infusion work?
CMOs collaborate with the executive team to align the
company’s go-to-market strategy with customer requirements
and formulate a clear, compelling and consistent corporate
message. To accomplish this, CMOs must conduct extensive
discovery and diagnostic work to assess the company’s go-
to-market strategy, competitive environment, voice of the
customer (VoC) and voice of the employee (VoE). CMOs
must ascertain what the corporate message is now and how
it must be improved. They will then need to analyze how the
corporate story is developed as well as where and when it is
delivered throughout the customer experience. Based on a
comprehensive understanding of the go-to-market strategy,
competitive landscape, customer and story — CMOs must
then develop a scalable enterprise-wide messaging platform
that can be brought to life throughout the customer experience.
Once a clear, compelling and consistent corporate messaging
platform is in place — an infusion strategy must be designed
and developed. The messaging infusion strategy formally
documents the processes, people, systems and guidelines
that are required to attain consistent messaging infusion
throughout the customer experience. This will require some
degree of process re-engineering, formal education and new
operating procedures for marketing and customer-facing
areas of the business. The corporate messaging platform and
messaging infusion strategy are activated by “igniting the
platform” across critical touchpoints throughout the customer
journey. When these engines are up and running, measurement
and reporting systems are used to ensure corporate
messaging is resonating with customers and the infusion
process is achieving engagement, conversion, retention and
loyalty goals documented in the messaging infusion strategy.
Messaging infusion requires top-down commitment from
the CEO and CMO. It is not an overnight process. It is
transformational in nature and a multi-year journey, but
the value it creates across the business is well worth it.
How does messaging infusion create value and why should CMOs care?
Messaging infusion is about deploying disciplined and formal
enterprise-wide processes that are intentionally designed
to pull a clear, compelling and consistent corporate story
throughout the customer experience. It is the strategic lever
CMOs are pulling to gain greater control of the story
consumed throughout the customer journey and connect
customer-facing areas of the business that impact the overall
customer experience.
This comprehensive process increases the CMO’s strategic
involvement across the business and creates significant value
for critical stakeholders at the same time. Below are just a
few ways messaging infusion creates value across the
enterprise and how that value translates into a superior
customer experience:
C-Suite:
> Strategically aligned go-to-market strategy and
corporate story
Shared vision, mission and values system
Intimate understanding of the voice of the customer
Increased knowledge of the voice of the employee
Clearly defined and shared points of difference
Full alignment of the story and corporate products /
services / solutions
Infusion: How CMOs Are Creating Greater Value Across the
Enterprise and a Differentiated Customer Experience.

2. Clarity around the core value the company delivers
Compelling, differentiated corporate message and
customer experience
Marketing Executives:
Shared, consistent go-to-market story across all
marketing disciplines
Fully aligned messaging platform / content across the
marketing partner ecosystem
Compelling and consistent messages utilized by all
customer-facing areas of the business
Cohesive, connected and consistent multi-channel
marketing strategies
Greater control over the message consumed throughout
the customer experience
Improved customer acquisition, retention and loyalty rates
Higher ROI on sales and marketing investments
Sales Executives:
Less time creating sales messaging, tools and
presentations
Increased sales productivity and selling time
Compelling and consistent messages utilized in selling
situations
Consistent, connected self-service and sales processes
in the buyer journey
Value-driven sales conversations instead of features /
functionality
More qualified leads and shorter sales cycles
Increased sales closure rates and share of wallet
Customer Service:
Clear, compelling messaging platform to drive call scripts
Corporate messages woven into customer conversations
Consistent corporate messaging training / education tools
for call center reps
Stronger connection to vision, mission, values and
brand promise
Connected story between pre-sales, sales process and
post-purchase phases of customer journey
Internal Communications:
Consistent story to anchor internal communication strategy
Shared messaging platform to drive efficient internal
communication
Increased connection with and belief in the corporate
story as well as vision, mission and values
More compelling and consistent messaging utilized in
internal communication vehicles and initiatives
Public Relations:
More briefings and interviews that are “on message” and
drive coverage
Media strategies anchored in a shared corporate
messaging platform
Consistent positioning and key messages to craft media
pitches and stories
Increased media engagement and conversations based
on defensible points of difference
Human Resources:
More compelling corporate messaging for recruiting
top talent
Effective and efficient employee orientation and
onboarding processes
Increased employee engagement and productivity
Strategically aligned employer brand and external
brand messages
Strategically aligned and shared vision, mission and
values system
Motivated and inspired employee population and
corporate culture
Investor Relations:
Strategically aligned Wall Street and customer story
Company’s core value and point of difference clearly,
consistently articulated in the market
Increased investor and shareholder confidence in go-to-
market strategy
Employees:
Clarity around the company’s higher purpose
Deeper understanding of how daily-work activities play
into the company story and promise
Increased confidence in customer conversations
Increased productivity; less time developing customer-
facing communications
Messaging infusion requires
top-down commitment from
the CEO and CMO.

3. Sales / Marketing Partners:
Common platform stakeholder can use to drive a clear,
consistent message
Greater connectivity and continuity throughout the
multi-channel customer experience
Highly integrated, efficient and effective execution across
all partners
Increased collective ROI from partner ecosystem and
multi-channel marketing strategies
Messaging infusion is more than a process. It is a requirement
for CMOs to capture the customer experience opportunity. It
is changing the way leading companies develop, deliver and
manage their corporate message. It is intentionally designed to
meet the communication and connectivity requirements of to-
day’s B2B buyer. Messaging infusion is how leading CMOs are
building the foundation from which they deliver a differentiat-
ed story and customer experience. It is the only marketing-led
initiative that truly permeates every facet of the enterprise and
the entire customer journey.
More Information:
For more information on messaging infusion and how B2B
companies are transforming the way they bring their story to
life throughout the customer experience visit:
www.itsonmessage.com/pov
To contact James O’Gara: jogara@itsonmessage.com