Before the big data craze came along, companies had a different approach to their marketing endeavors. Many relied on intuition and market feedback for segmentation and messaging decisions. Today’s marketers still rely on those same core strategies, but today they augment those techniques with data-driven technology and analytics. Those new data insights have led to a couple of revolutionary developments in the marketing industry.
Technology in the daily routine
According to The Guardian, using technology to fine-tune marketing processes is no longer a niche curiosity. Executives and lower-level employees alike are seeking data analysis tools and other high-tech solutions as a daily part of operations.
Brian Streich, international marketing director for StubHub International, told the news source that the proliferation of new platforms makes innovation ever more challenging for marketing executives.
“With the introduction of mobile and so many different devices, it will be extremely important for CMOs to continue to understand new technology and ways of capturing data across platforms so they aren’t having the same conversation over and over with the same customer,” Streich said. “The better you understand those capabilities and utilize them, the more successful your marketing campaigns will be and the quicker you’ll be able to learn and adapt.”
Increased collaboration
Marketing departments have more information than ever before at their fingertips. With so many tools at their disposal, it’s now easier than ever for high-level executives to collaborate with others and complete projects. With information and sharing technology it’s easy for marketing professionals to work together.
Surjit Chana, chief marketing officer at IBM Europe, told The Guardian that marketing today is all about collaboration.
“While each company will need to find its own way of working, CMOs should look in-house and use the expertise of CIOs to get a better handle on their situation and to define the right technology needs for their business,” Chana said. “Regular work sessions are a good starting point – the CMO and CIO can look at what the business strategy is, how the marketing strategy needs to support it and then agree on the technology roadmap needed to make it come to life.”
Keep data quality in mind
As marketers look to data-driven marketing technology to help drive consumer interaction and messaging, stakeholders should be sure that data quality is incorporated into their strategy. Without accurate data, new technology systems will provide poor analytics and hurt targeted marketing efforts.
As data quality has become a cornerstone for the new marketing reality, marketers should be sure to leverage the relationships they build with IT to ensure high quality information. A sophisticated data quality strategy can be implemented to help with analytical efforts across the business, but especially in marketing.
To read more about how marketers can improve their data quality, download the white paper ‘Leverage data to inform business decisions.’