In my previous blog, I discussed the three trends dominating consumer driven marketing.
In this post, I’ll be discussing how to best structure your digital marketing to gain the highest potential return on your investment.
1. Understanding data
A new kind of marketer has emerged of late in order to deal with an increasingly demanding consumer. These new marketers deal with data and numbers, rather than psychological tricks and conventional wisdom. The most important aspect of creating a relevant experience for a consumer is to understand the context from a customer’s viewpoint. Those who have already tasted success in this area have done so by appointing marketers who understand the data that comes from digital behaviours, and how to create proper behaviour models as customers progress along the purchasing journey. Such marketers are comfortable at analyzing whole swathes of data from multiple sources, and they understand the importance of that data to the business, based on the specific requirements of each demographic or segment. They can predict behaviours and create customer experiences that will produce the desired business outcomes.
Creativity was once the focal point of campaign-creation, but that has now been superseded by analytics which are used to drive creativity itself.
2. Engineering the experience
CMOs must understand they may need to update the culture behind their marketing departments to allow this new kind of data-driven marketing understanding to prevail. Changes may need to be made to any management structures that are specific to one channel, to instead create a seamless enterprise where data drives the entire focus of the business as a whole, and not as separate entities that spend as much time fighting for budgets as they do creating campaigns. CMOs need to understand that it is the whole purchasing journey that’s important, particularly when attempting to increase conversions, rather that each individual signpost.
One further challenge is to successfully use data across these departments to search for ways in which the customer experience can be optimized. No longer is episodic campaign planning appropriate. Any approach taken must be driven by data, and not by perceived wisdom that may be years out of date. Learning how the customer experience can be optimized is of far more value than approaching a campaign with holistic intentions.
3. Following the consumer
The ecosystem of the multi-channel environment is not a clean one. Technologies constantly evolve, new devices and applications appear all the time and as a result, data becomes fragmented. Marketing companies will increasingly become challenged by the sheer number of technology providers and innovations and will need to become increasingly flexible as a result. Traditionally, IT departments find it hard to keep pace with all the latest hardware and software fads. CMOs and marketers are already moving closer to the revolution of marketing technology, which means they are more likely to upset the apple cart when it comes to their IT needs to create a more streamlined way of doing business.
Additionally, CMOs now know that to remain successful, they need to tap more into the pool of innovative technologies used to manage experiences which will act as the focal point of their newly-aligned marketing department. They also need to allow their teams time to gain a better understanding of digital technology to be able to make better technology decisions that will serve the needs of consumers in this enhanced digital age.
The new business marketing model
The new marketing model:
- is powered by technology and data analysis
- is focused on delivering business outcomes
- is streamlined and focused and not fractured across different channels
- plays a crucial role across all channels and business units
