There’s no doubt that data and technology are key drivers of successful marketing. As reported by eMarketer, “marketers put more dollars behind their data-driven marketing efforts, and saw revenue gains, between Q1 and Q2 2016 in the US. Similarly, overall, spending on marketing technology—key to data-driven efforts—continues to grow worldwide.”
While it’s difficult to stay competitive in a fast-paced, ever-evolving digital space, here are some key tips marketers can implement to remain in the know.
Consider marketing as long-term sales
In many ways, marketing is a way to plant seeds for long-term sales. And given the long sales cycles for many companies, a lot of technology decisions marketers put into place now should start generating results in the next year or so. As a data-driven marketer, you have to ensure that both your technology and positioning with the market is not just appropriate for what you currently do, but is going to be of interest to clients in a year or two years from now.
Be more mobile-centric
A mobile-first approach is a must for companies wanting to maintain a competitive edge. It’s no longer the year of mobile–we’ve basically passed that phase. We’re moving so rapidly into mobile devices that clearly, app usage has not just improved in terms of quantity but also conversion. However, for many companies, app development is basically a simplified version of their website, and they haven’t clearly thought about a mobile-first business approach. It’s vital to think about how to use the small phone factor and the mobility of it to provide better benefits to consumers.
Measure success and failure
Marketing organizations are realizing more and more that every activity they undertake should have clear expectations and measurements. The best organizations today look at which individual marketing activity contributes to overall business success. Marketers need to have a clear marketing channel mix and constantly evaluate what contributes and how much to an individual sale. And, of course, that changes based on a customer’s demographic, age, geography, and the product being offered.
Understand the profitable customer
Companies must be mindful of what their profitable products are and who their profitable customers are. You have initial customer profitability, then customer lifetime value, but you also have to understand the sophisticated attribution methodology underneath. Many companies think in measurement and attribution only for each channel. But today, customer journeys are so complex and different for almost every customer, you have to drive marketing not just across demographics, but think about every individual customer – and how can you get that customer to convert.
