The Good News About CMOs and Data Driven Marketing

Before I get to the aforementioned good news allow me to go back in time, be it ever so slightly. 

In January of this year I scribed a post entitled 2017: The Year of the Data Driven CMO. Feel free to click to read the entire piece but until you do here's some highlights from that post.

• I referenced that, despite the fact that is the year 2017, research from Bazaarvoice showed that nearly 70% say surveys are indeed their primary source for customer data.
• Yes surveys. These same marketers are probably still using fax machines. 
• And completely unsurprisingly the same research revealed that only 27% of customers believe surveys are the best way to learn about them.
• I also threw out the obligatory data points i.e. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated every single day. But you already knew that, right? Say yes... 

And one last thing from that earlier post: If 2017 is in fact to be the Year of the Data Driven CMO then said CMOs must stop using archaic methods to gather and in turn use that data and to do that they need to use the right marketing technology. 

The Good News About CMOs and Data Driven Marketing 

In a report released by eMarketer of more than 2,000 executives, including C-level and their direct reports, in 21 countries across various industries about their digital transformation, well see for yourself.

As you can see over half (55%) of respondents indicated their decisions are data driven. And...

... more good news as more and more marketers are making data-driven decisions YOY from 2016-2017. 

I've said it before and will it say again: Marketing leaders must create a data-driven marketing culture and organize the required people, processes and systems. Moreover marketing leaders need to eliminate data silos and create a single source of truth and a 360-degree view of customers to reliably and efficiently target the right message, to the right person at the right time.

Enter Martech

Or better still, enter a Data Management Platform to be specific. More eMarketer research reveals that data tools, or more aptly outdated data tools are the #1 time waster. 

To get their message across, Modern Marketers need to connect on a personal level, creating engagement that matters to their customers. Doing so, though, means understanding what matters to their customers, where they are, and what they’re using to engage with a company’s brand—then tailoring experiences to each wherever they are, and whenever they want those communications. And faced with trying to do more with less—as many organizations are today—they need to do all of that more efficiently than ever before.

The key to connecting the dots and achieving all of these objectives is using and applying the right type of data at the right time. By compiling relevant consumer and audience data, marketers can create a more complete picture of target audiences, segmenting and focusing their messaging appropriately, tailored to the right device experience. But operationalizing big data effectively isn’t always an easy progression, and knowing how to apply different sources of data can make or break end results.

A data management initiative—centered around the deployment and operationalization of a data management platform—can help. However, even with the right technology in place, companies need to set proper goals and understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to organize and use data effectively and efficiently, based on their own needs and customer expectations. They must figure out what will work and what won’t in their particular organizational environment. They also need to understand how to continually optimize and scale their program for repeatable success.

Eight Is Enough

I am definitely showing my age and you will show yours if you remember the TV show of that name from 1970s. But in this context 8 is enough as in downloading Eight Questions to Ask as You Introduce a Data Management Strategy to learn which questions to ask to compile relevant audience data, how to segment and focus appropriate messaging, and how to use the right data at the right time to drive real results.

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