Making Money On-line: Over Half of Global CMOs Are Making Data Driven Decisions

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Over Half of Global CMOs Are Making Data Driven Decisions

With topics such as predictive analytics and artificial intelligence growing in not only importance but popularity among the c-suite, the idea or concept of using data to determine and drive marketing decisions is hardly breaking news.

In a recent Marketing Land piece, the writer put it perfectly and quite succinctly: "Data permeates every facet of business today, and marketing teams are evolving to reflect the data-driven culture. While there is still an art and creative science to marketing, even the creative aspects of the job are now driven by insights and analysis."

Another way of putting it succinctly goes something like this: Marketing leaders must create a data-driven marketing culture and organize the required people, processes and systems.

The Numbers Don't Lie

It would appear global marketing leaders are getting that message, at least based on the findings below via eMarketer. As you can see from the results of a survey of global executives including C-level and their direct reports, in 21 countries across various industries about their digital transformation.

Now the cynic would say these numbers should be higher across the board but let's not haggle. Let's enjoy the fact that over half of global leaders are using data to make decisions and in doing so are presumably eliminating data silos and create a single source of truth; a 360-degree view of customers to reliably and efficiently target the right message, to the right person at the right time.

Data = Increased ROI

Anytime you see anything that positively impacts ROI you can bet a CMO, let alone any marketer will be drawn to it. And data is no different.

In more research via eMarketer 40% of marketers saw an increase in revenue as a result of utilizing a data driven marketing approach from Q1 to Q2 2016. Moreover, another 52% expected to see a revenue increase in Q3 2016 due to the use of data driven marketing.

Singles Only

No, I am not going to talk about the latest dating site or the next chapter meeting of your local community association. This is all about the aforementioned single source of truth, the inherently important need for your organization to have a single customer identity that unites behaviors across all channels into one comprehensive profile.

Today, certain technologies can link all the unique cross channel identifiers of a customer back to a single unique identifier. Once you have a single unique identifier, you can really know who your customers are across all channels, and begin to:

Personalize interactions based on channel preferences and behaviors.
Reach a more precise level of targeting and segmentation by using cross channel behavioral information in real time.
And most importantly, integrate cross channel communications and speak to each customer with a single voice regardless of channel.

The Data Driven CMO

Today’s Chief Marketing Officer is tasked with many demands, made even more challenging with the ever-evolving digital domain. Their biggest challenge? Leveraging personalization to demonstrate and drive clear ROI to the executive team.

Download The Data Driven CMO to see how leading CMOs weigh in on other challenges, including how they can skillfully decipher, understand, and leverage the abundance of available data to engage with customers.