Did you know that there were nearly 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation software in 2014 than in 2011? Likewise, adoption is expected to increase by 50% in 2015, according to SiriusDecisions. Several large B2B providers have recently stepped into the arena, including Salesforce and Adobe.
Did you know that realigning sales and marketing can boost revenue by 208%? Or that organizations which align sales and marketing functions enjoy 36% higher customer retention rates and 38% higher sales win rates.
A recent survey of 362 executives conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit found that three out of four surveyed agree that their staff struggle with data and cannot apply data effectively to their decisions.
Data-driven companies are likely to be more profitable than their competitors, and they are more likely to ensure that employees apply the most relevant data to the business activities that most affect the bottom line. Yet companies struggle with data for three reasons: culture, organizational structure, and technology. Fortunately, these hurdles can be overcome and marketers can take specific steps to begin making better decisions.
The Culture Struggle
The survey reveals an apparent disconnect between how chief executive officers see the current status and benefits of data initiatives and how lower-level managers see them.
It’s not that CEOs are out of touch, it’s that they’re not getting the real scoop. Each level of management filters out some of the bad information. When the problems get filtered out, CEOs expect marketers to do things they’re not able to do. They may think that applying analytics to marketing decision-making is easy and, therefore, can be done quickly. When the CEO thinks everything is okay, he’s not going to authorize additional funding to close a gap you know exists because he thinks you’ve already done it.
All of this makes it harder to weave data-driven marketing into the culture of the company.
What’s the solution? Tell your CEO the truth!
You can’t have a clear understanding of the situation if the data is wrong or the picture is incomplete. If your organization is ready to be data-driven and your CEO and everyone on down supports it, then no one should have trouble with the facts. You shouldn’t have any trouble talking about problems like the system is not operating at the speed that is required or the data is not available. If you can’t talk about the problems, then you’re going to have trouble changing the culture as well.
The Organizational Struggle
There is little disagreement among those surveyed that they struggle with data because they lack access to that data they need and they lack the ability to convert that data into actionable insights. When it comes to capturing and disseminating important business data, 57 percent of the respondents believe their company does a poor job.
Too often, data are not shared across departments or broadly among staff focused on the same goals. Two-thirds of those surveyed agree that some departments have much better access to data than others.
To use data to drive your marketing, identify the data you need and determine whether it is available elsewhere in your company. Often, valuable data sources are available, but not accessible.
The Technology Struggle
One in three surveyed believes that the struggle with data is caused by a lack of technology. There’s a breadth of tools and variety of vendors and price-points and capabilities to choose from. What’s on the market can solve their problems, but only if they have it in place. If they have it in place, then they can focus on the other areas, like culture, and the organizational challenges that prevent sharing the information.
There are many user-friendly tools on the market that can analyze data, deliver customizable data feeds and dashboards, and visually present the data in clear terms. When marketers can see and understand the data clearly, they are more likely to ask the right questions and they become much better at conquering the ultimate challenge: extracting relevant insights from data and applying them to their business.
Even if your company lacks the ability to deliver information on iPads or other new platforms, presenting decision-making options and tracking performance of decisions help give data meaning and make it more likely that marketers will continue to engage and adopt a data-driven approach.
How to Overcome the Data Struggle
Creating the data-driven organization is a three-stage process, say the experts who were interviewed for the report. The ideal approach is for company leaders to share with employees a vision of cultivating a data-centric culture, and then to support that vision by funding the tools and talent. The third stage is to require, acknowledge and reward those who use data to make decisions.
However, few companies follow this idea approach. Most start at the bottom instead of at the top. Most companies focus on the technology and tools, then consider the expertise they need, and finally, work to instill a data-driven mindset across the organization. The survey showed that only one-quarter of the companies surveyed pay financial rewards to employees who use data to make decisions.
This is where marketing can lead the way, not only by adopting the data-driven mindset, but by communicating early successes across the organization and speaking out about the obstacles to greater success.
Marketers without a data-centric background need to develop their skills. Those with the skills should foster a data-driven mindset in others by helping them understand analytics can help you fine-tune your gut instincts. Far from removing creativity and the personal touch, analytics enhances them. With data to analyze, you can test a broad range of ideas because if an idea flops, you know it and you can change direction quickly.
The bottom line is that data can be helpful to your career and your business — if you know how to embrace it. By incorporating some of the information outlined above, you’ll find that data can be a transformative part of your business experience.
Bill Franks is Chief Analytics Officer for Teradata. Franks is also a faculty member of the International Institute for Analytics and author of Taming The Big Data Tidal Wave and The Analytics Revolution. His work has spanned clients in a variety of industries for companies ranging in size from Fortune 100 companies to small non-profit organizations. You can learn more at Bill-Franks.com.
In a recent poll on digital marketing by Smart Insights, respondents said content marketing would have the biggest impact on driving results for their business this year. So, it comes as no surprise that 50% of B2C marketers expect to increase their content marketing budgets in 2015.
To help you build and strengthen your content strategy in 2015, we’re sharing an infographic by Smart Insights and JBH. Whether you’re seasoned content marketer or are just getting started, we’re sure you’ll find the stats and tips below helpful:
After search, email is the next most effective marketing channel for e-commerce. However, it’s not always easy to create email campaigns that will generate results. To help you boost sales by using email marketing, the following infographic by Targeting Mantra, shares nine tried and tested campaigns that you can easily replicate:
If you’re like many marketing professionals, you’re trying to wrap your mind around Instagram and whether or not it’s right for your business.
Well, Instagram might not be right for everyone, but it just might be yet another way to promote your business inexpensively via social media.
So, with that in mind, we’d like to draw your attention to the following infographic which includes some fascinating statistics about the platform:
This infographic is particularly helpful because it walks the reader through several important steps on using Instagram for business. Enjoy!
P.S. I wasn’t able to find a link for the creator of the infographic. If I missed it, or if you know who created this, let me know so I can give them the proper link juice.
If you work at an advertising agency or are a marketing director for a large corporation, you’re probably interested in finding the best social media analytics tools to help you run your business.
There are a wide variety of social media tools out there, some of which are terrific and others of which are not so good.
We use a variety of good tools to help run marketing campaigns for our clients, and have learned a few things about which ones are the best and which ones are worth ignoring.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the top social media marketing tools for ad agencies and marketing directors.
Google Analytics — This, of course, is a must for anyone running a digital advertising campaign or marketing campaign. By dropping a line of code into your website, you can track how people get to your site, how they navigate through your site, and how long they stay on your site. Google Analytics is getting more complex every day, which can make it difficult to use, but overall it’s really a terrific tool that everyone with a website should be using.
Act-On Software — Act-On is not a social media analytics tool as much as it’s a marketing automation tool, but some of the analytics features are so robust that it’s worth including on our list. If you’re interested in tracking how people engage with your brand via email and social media, then Act-On (or one of its competitors, which include SilverPop, HubSpot, Marketo and others) is a must. (Disclosure: Act-On is a sponsor of our sister blog called the 60 Second Marketer.)
KISSmetrics —The guys at KISSmetrics try to do what Google Analytics can’t. They take data and try to help you make sense out of it instead of just dumping it into your lap. It’s tough to compete against Google and it’s even tougher to compete against an entity like Google that provides its service for free, but KISSmetrics has done a good job so far and you have to give them credit for that.
Socialbakers — This social media metrics platform is perfect if you’re looking for in-depth data that allows you to measure, compare, and contrast your campaigns against your competitors. They provide a wide range of research and studies for free on their website and specialize in global analytics. According to the Socialbakers website, twenty percent of the Global Fortune 500 use Socialbakers.
SproutSocial —This platform allows you to publish posts to your social media channels while monitoring how people are responding to those posts. They have a dashboard that provides just the right amount of data and information so as not to be overwhelming. If you’re an advertising agency or marketing director that likes to see data visually instead of just a wall of numbers, then SproutSocial is worth taking a look at.
Here’s a screen shot of the SproutSocial dashboard to show you what I’m talking about:
As mentioned at the top of the post, if you work at an advertising agency or are a marketing director at a large corporation, you’re probably interested in finding ways to manage your social media campaigns. You’re probably also interested in finding ways to analyze data and put it to good use.
These are our top five social media management tools for people working in an ad agency or in a marketing department on the corporate side. What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments section below.
Jamie Turner is the CEO of the 60 Second Marketer and 60 Second Communications, a marketing communications agency that works with national and international brands. He is the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile” and is a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.
If you’re searching for an Atlanta-based advertising agency or marketing communications firm, you’re probably also interested in facts and figures about digital marketing.
Well, you’re in luck.
What follows are 25 amazing facts about digital marketing that every marketer should know, whether they’re based in Atlanta, Georgia or anywhere else in the country.
Ready? Terrific. Here goes:
Jamie Turner is the CEO of the 60 Second Marketer and 60 Second Communications, a marketing communications agency that works with national and international brands. He is the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile” and is a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.
