Events

7 Predictions That Would revolutionize Data-Driven Marketing Strategy

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A successful data-powered marketing strategy offers explosive competitive possibilities that can transform the way companies conduct their businesses. Moreover, it can target individual customers with highly personalized messages resulting in increased sales revenue. Smart marketers have already harnessed data and other cutting-edge marketing technologies to reinvent customer engagement. Tom Chavez, Chris O’Hara, and Vivek Vaidya, in their ground-breaking book “Data-driven”, make seven forecasts in the data-driven marketing world. It gives us a perspective on where this revolution would lead in the next few years.

1) Artificial intelligence reduces scut work and makes marketing more strategic

7 Predictions revolutionise Data Driven Marketing Strategy
7 Predictions revolutionise Data Driven Marketing Strategy

In an AI-enabled business, the tools that we use are surfacing possibilities and suggesting the next right action. This in turn enables the sales personnel to go out there to sell, service, and support customers. This is so much better than annotating every move like some traditional salespeople do. When marketers can anticipate issues, seize opportunities, and prevent problems, then they are bound to spend less time firefighting. As a result they can also save precious times.

2) Data pipelining becomes a durable differentiator

Data pipelining is the ability to capture, connect, and synchronize consumer data vertically in a manner that ensures data sets do not operate in a silo but as a single logical entity. In other words, if one piece of hardware or software crashes, then the others absorb the shock gracefully and are up and running instantly. It represents a significant change from legacy methods where the IT department took large systems offline for many days for reconfiguration. On the other hand, an adequately architected data pipeline ensures real-time decision making is possible to give out the most accurate and relevant data.

3) Consumer IoT encircles CRM

When consumers interact with gadgets, the technology is throwing off precious data almost every second, constituting a new data fabric. The novel ecosystem involves not just laptops and mobile phones but also music players, televisions, thermostats, health monitors, refrigerators, and even coffee makers. This symphony of touchpoints is collectively called the Internet of Things. Therefore, data-driven companies seeking to earn the attention of target customers are starting to engage with their target market across this entire fabric.

4) Content management gets blown up, put back together and cloudified

Digital experiences and consumption of content generate data. As a result, content management systems or CMSs emerged to automate the creation of corporate websites. But they missed the business model transition and continued peddling packaged software. Today most companies operate a mix of home-grown systems with components from external providers. However, such CMS comes with its inefficiencies and hazards. Currently, there are no software alternatives to fill the gap. Future CMSs will evolve from delivering static media assets to AI-enabled data-driven content for high consumer engagement.

5) The all-in-all intelligent marketing hub emerges

A smart marketing hub or IMH will come int being that will make every consumer interaction personal, perfect, and in real-time. It will not perform this personalization in individual silos but will transmit directions to any external system, including digital content, mobile, social, video, virtual reality, gaming, etc. It works by tagging every touchpoint with a code that sends information and receives instructions. Over time IMH would move to more sophisticated guidance based on context.

6) An open-ID alternative will take root, bringing balance to the force

Identity management is in the center of data-driven marketing. Currently, the ability of Facebook-Google duopoly to enjoy the most profound footprint for managing consumer identity gives them immense power. The only way to negate it is for other market players or a new provider to come into existence. Perhaps, as the natural functioning of market forces, a neutral, non-advertising, trusted alternative to Google-Facebook duopoly for managing consumer identity might come by in the next few years.

7) Consumer direct-data-sharing for dollars powered by blockchain emerges

Consumers are on the cusp of taking control of their data. They are flocking to tools that enable them to share personal details on their terms. The new consumer-centric mindset is an inversion of today’s advertising model where individuals, not corporations, store their data and accept payments for the right to access it only when you decide it and that too for specified reasons. Blockchain’s basic design equips it to address the question of consumer data control. It holds the promise of enabling peer-to-peer, real-time, and secure exchanges of personal data.

Tom Chavez

Tom Chavez is the founder and CEO of Superset Inc., a venture studio that founds, funds and builds technology companies. He is a serial tech entrepreneur who has spent the last 20 years developing new technologies for data, analytics, and AI. He was also CEO and co-founder of Krux, the data management platform acquired by Salesforce in 2016, which is now the technical backbone of Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Chris O’Hara

Chris O’Hara’s monthly “Managing the Data” AdExchanger column and Annual Econsultancy whitepapers on programmatic media, data management, mobile advertising, and media management are widely popular throughout the ad technology, media, and agency industries. He joined Krux to build and lead its marketer data practice.

Vivek Vaidya

Vivek Vaidya is a serial tech entrepreneur who has spent the last 25 years building industry-leading technologies in enterprise software, data management, analytics, and machine learning. In his most recent role as CTO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, he led and managed the engineering teams for all Salesforce Marketing Cloud products.

SMEI Making News For Its Big Data Masterclass

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Marketers create demand, build brands, promote sales, and earn customers’ loyalty. But today’s environment implies they must play new roles. They must be strategists, technologists and scientists. They ought to allocate scarce resources to benefit company priorities thereby increasing return on investment. And they ought to capitalize and track the most advanced technologies that are flooding the market. The tasks that were once nice-to-do are today becoming central to a sales and marketing professional’s job. And that is where big data comes in. It enables a marketer to collect data in the most efficient way in a shortest time possible. Marketers make use of this statistics to make decisions in every step of the way in their marketing strategy. So, what is big data in the modern parlance?

Big data

Big data analytics refers to the ability to use the discernment from facts to inform decision-making. This is particularly useful in the sales and marketing industry. Big data enhances marketers’ ability to focus on making customer relationships more successful. By using big data analytics to guide customer development, marketing professionals create greater customer loyalty. Marketing centric companies continue to deploy big data to develop their capabilities so that they can establish the right marketing business model to drive sales. In a survey by Spencer Stuart of Chief Marketing Officers at the CMO Summit, 54% said that the marketing strategy of their respective organisations would be greatly influenced by data analytics. 

In addition, harnessing the flood of data from customer interactions also helps companies to price their products and services appropriately by offering pricing optimization suggestions. As far as marketers are concerned, data analytics enriches and boosts their decision-making power when it comes to implementing the right marketing strategy for their businesses.

SMEI’s big data application masterclass in Vietnam

SMEI Big Data Masterclass VietnamRecently, Sales and Marketing Executives International, conducted an intensive 2-day Masterclass in Vietnam for the management team of Saigon Co-op. The Masterclass brought new ideas and real-world cases to help the Saigon Co-op management team develop practical knowledge of how Big Data can be applied to improve customer loyalty and shorten the buyer journey. The American Professor Marianne Collins, CME, a leading authority in consumer and buyer behaviour taught this masterclass.

Sales and Marketing Executives International Inc.

SMEI Big Data Masterclass VietnamFor tens and thousands of sales and marketing professionals around the world, the globally recognized organization, Sales and Marketing Executives International, hereafter referred to as SMEI, offers members online forums, educational webinars and peer connections for sharing the latest trends in big data analysis. Besides, SMEI’s professional certification programs create a worldwide standard of credibility for individuals seeking recognition for their professional competencies.

The history of the organisation is a fascinating read. The organisation was founded in 1935 by IBM Founder Thomas Watson Sr. In the same year he invited the presidents of many Sales Managers’ Clubs to New York City. The agenda was to discuss forming a network of sales and marketing executives. The result was the National Federation of Sales Executives, the first of several names for SMEI. The federation grew quickly, especially after World War II when member CEOs dedicated them to helping Europe and other war-battered areas rebuild their economies. By the late 1940s, the association included more than 40 countries and was the largest in the world for sales and marketing managers. In 1949 it became National Sales Executives International and in 1961 became SMEI.

Today SMEI has expanded its operations to many more countries including Canada, China, Egypt, Europe, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the writer has been serving as SMEI board member since 2014

Why you shouldn't use a sales pitch

Ditch the Sales Pitch and Put Customers’ Needs First

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Think about ditching the sales pitch. It’s not merely an important profession. Sales is an honorable field, too. But there’s a part of sales that feels undignified to me, something the industry could do without. I’m talking about the pitch.

Ethics is defined as a system of moral principles concerned with what is good for individuals and society. If that is true, how can a pitch be ethics-based when the effort is focused on trying to get you to buy something before I know whether you need it or want it or whether it would even be of benefit to you? It can’t, so drop the sales pitch. A pitch is a self-centered technique that isn’t focused on helping other people. In my estimation, it violates what is ethical because it focuses only on the salesperson without taking into account how a prospective customer might benefit, too.

People like to buy, but they don’t like to be sold to. A pitch is an example of focusing solely on the latter. If you start with a pitch, you have no idea what the prospective customer wants or needs or what would be a good fit for that person.

Focus on What Fits

I arrived at this stance early in my consulting career. Corporate life can often force you to focus on quotas and targets. Leadership, meanwhile, might dictate that hitting your numbers — regardless of whether the product or service fits the client’s wants and needs — is more important than anything else.

To be clear, this approach doesn’t make it harder to hit your quota or target; it makes it easier. You now spend time with prospective customers who might actually buy from you rather than trying to force people to buy from you when have no intention to do so.

The problem with the pitch became clear to me when I sold a client only to later realize that the company had been a bad fit for what I could deliver. The client wasn’t ready to make the necessary changes to the company. I was left trying to help make it work, but the client wouldn’t let me. Now, we teach our advisors that both parties get to make a decision regarding whether they’ll work together. Focusing on a mutual fit rather than what can be sold is one of the most crucial lessons a salesperson can learn.

Being a good salesperson is about helping a prospective customer satisfy a need or a want. It is, after all, the honorable thing to do. The problem is that too few salespeople take this approach. Don’t just take it from me. Consider the evidence.

While less than 20% of salespeople think they are being pushy to drive a transaction, half of all buyers feel like they are being pushed too hard toward a sale. To improve relationships, ditch the pitch. Without pitches, your people can have more effective sales conversations with prospective customers because they don’t have to try so hard to make a sale. They only have to determine whether there’s a mutual fit.

Make It a Two-Way Conversation

To do so, start by asking plenty of pointed questions that get to the heart of the customer’s wants and needs. By taking this approach, your prospective customer conversations are all going to be different, so start by focusing on what is important to the client. This will make your prospective customer conversations much more collaborative because you are focusing on helping someone buy rather than convincing someone to buy. From these conversations, you can determine whether your product or service actually fills your customer’s desires. If not, walk away or refer the customer to someone else.

The best businesses focus on putting customers first. Salespeople ought to do the same. By prioritizing a customer’s wants and needs, salespeople can see whether their product or service aligns well. It also shows customers that they are more than just a number. So drop the sales pitch and start making customers feel important.

If you’re interested in learning more from Mark Thacker, join the SMEI webinar on December 3, 2019.

Mark Thacker is the president of Sales Xceleration, a firm specializing in sales strategy, sales process, and sales execution. Mark has a 33-year history of sales leadership and success in diverse industries.

A natural leader and motivator, Mark has led sales teams with annual revenue responsibility from $1 million to in excess of $800 million. Prior to the founding of Sales Xceleration, he personally worked with more than 50 companies in the small business community, serving as an outsourced VP of sales, helping many to record-breaking results. As the leader of Sales Xceleration, he has overseen the growth of over $1 billion in revenue from Sales Xceleration clients since 2011.

Mark is the author of “Hope Realized: Finding the Path to Sales Success.”

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