We know that data-driven marketing is becoming more critical to marketers and fundraisers. One doesn’t need a crystal ball to know it will continue to influence what we build and execute in 2016. Let’s be clear, it’s not about more data, but data that can drive business decisions. Company leaders, especially within the C-suite, are considering how they will define their own vision of a data-driven company, the metrics required and how to adopt predictive prospecting as a strategy.
In a recent webinar, Cool Perspectives about Data-Driven Marketing, three of Gartner’s Cool Vendors in Data-Driven Marketing came together for a panel discussion. Here are some of their predictions of what’s to come in 2016.
“There are three big trends affecting data-driven marketing that will accelerate through 2016. Big data technologies combining open source and commercial advances are making new types of data available at scales and speeds marketers couldn’t imagine a few years ago. As a consequence, marketing itself is able to deliver more and more personalized insights and messages, rather than averaging experiences. And there is a third shift toward synchronous experiences, where what is happening now or in the very recent past can inform things like offers, messages, content, and analytics.”
Martin Kihn, Research Analyst, Co-author of Cool Vendors of Data-Driven Marketing
Gartner
“Taking a data-driven approach starting with pre-engagement will continue to be instrumental. For years, our non-profit customers have been using predictive analytics for fundraising to determine who to ask and what to ask and when to ask. While marketers have used analytics to determine buyer behavior, they’re now incorporating wealth intelligence to determine what offers and upgrades they can present in a very personalized way. The results are pretty outstanding. Marketers are seeing higher conversions and more loyal customers. While privacy around what personal data is collected and how it is used is still a valid concern for consumers, I think we’ll start to see a higher level of trust being earned by the companies who use their data to focus on how they can create an exceptional experience for the customer through smart segmentation and customized messaging.”
Mike Lees, Chief Marketing Officer
WealthEngine
“Google is the modern operating system for digital marketing. Adobe, Oracle and Salesforce may get the press, but Google dominates in terms of marketer’s mindshare, marketshare, and ultimately execution. Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and Google Adwords have created digital marketing’s data layer and the standard analysis engine to understand, optimize and execute on digital marketing investments. Next up for Google is to help marketers build a truly enterprise marketing data warehouse and analytics engine in the cloud.
Google Cloud Platform & Google BigQuery deliver on this next piece of marketing infrastructure today, creating the first end-to-end data-centric marketing cloud. It’s clear now that CMOs will own the tech marketing stack and Google will be their go-to provider. Other marketing tech vendors will need to be interoperable with the Google Cloud and deliver their own unique value in this ecosystem. Only a data-centric company like Google can deliver this new kind of marketing cloud.”
James McDermott, Chief Executive Officer
Lytics
“Few CMOs will argue that they don’t own their brand anymore. We have lots of user data thanks to social media, but social media is changing consumer purchasing behavior far faster than companies are translating social data into useful insights. Businesses must begin to iteratively add data tools if they are to overcome this challenge.
Office cultures don’t change overnight. Many companies fear that data will require a top-to-bottom cultural overhaul, which causes them to hesitate instead of adding new data tools. Fear barriers only begin to lower when people begin to iteratively embrace a new concept. With these iterations, change starts to take hold, and companies begin to find the equilibrium between what’s always worked and what’s necessary to remain competitive as the uncertain future unfolds.
In 2016, I believe the fear barrier around data-driven marketing will finally begin to lower as people recognize that they don’t need to eliminate the old ways of doing things, and instead need merely to augment their existing toolbox with new capabilities. On-demand data-driven marketing tools will give CMOs new options as to what they discard, what they keep, and most importantly how they can better use the tools and processes that their company cultures can handle.”
Malcolm De Leo, Chief Evangelist
Quantifind
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