In a recent webinar, Balihoo CMO Shane Vaughan stated, “Marketers must be technologists.” This statement is truer than ever.
As a 25-year marketing veteran, Shane’s statement really struck a chord with me. Not only has the landscape for how the consumer investigates and purchases brands changed, but the tools (read: technologies) we have at our disposal keep multiplying. No longer is it enough to be great at positioning, messaging, branding, media (traditional and digital), research, campaign integration and forecasting market trends, but we now need to know which technologies to use, when to use them, how to integrate them and most importantly, how to interpret all the data which we can hopefully now access.
(Whew. And a huge “Oh, my.”)
I recently found some interesting papers and a resource which helped me frame the broad spectrum of available marketing technologies and the role technology plays today and in the immediate future for marketing professionals.
1. First, Gartner’s September 2, 2011 paper Balance Customer Experience with Marketing Productivity in Marketing Automation Initiatives explains, “Marketing technology value comes from productivity and its impact on the customer experience. Marketers should evaluate each existing and future marketing technology based on a balance of company needs (“what’s in it for us”) and customer needs (“what’s in it for them”).” I found the Gartner Marketing Technology Value Matrix to be especially helpful in thinking through the many technologies now available to marketers.
2. BTB Marketing Insider article “Marketing Tools and Technology – How Does a Marketer Decide?” poses the question to five industry experts. The key takeaways from these experts include: Have a solid process, clear goals, a culture of testing and innovation, and listen to customer needs. To these recommendations, I might also add: Use your network of colleagues, analysts, partners and vendors to learn best practices.
3. Lastly, I found Scott Brinker’s blog, “Chief Marketing Technologist” quite informative and it contains many interesting posts about the role of the marketing technologist. The recently posted three-minute video “Why Marketing Technologists Now” provides a nice overview.
The value of marketing technology cannot be ignored. When used properly, it is a relationship-building tool that improves customer experience and ultimately contributes to bottom-line growth.
And, it appears there are many experts and resources to help us all make sense out of the plethora of technologies available to us. That’s a good thing because according to Gartner’s Jan 3, 2012 High Tech Tuesday Webinar, “By 2012 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO.”
(Wow!)
Although the influx of available marketing technologies can be overwhelming at times, the exciting thing is that it will help us all be better and more efficient marketers, and there are plenty of resources to guide us on this constantly evolving path.
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