In this second installment of our interview with precision marketing expert Sandra Zarotti, she talks about key trends and who really controls your marketing. You can read part one of this interview here.
1. Over the course of your marketing career, you’ve managed a lot of people. What trends shape the way marketing teams operate today? In the next five years?
A key trend shaping marketing teams today is the imperative to blend marketing and technology for improved outcomes. Understanding how to break down silos and develop a true customer-centric culture is not easy, but it is essential. Marketers who can drive these changes to connect marketing to technology will be leaders in the next five years.
2. What are common obstacles that prevent marketing teams from getting things done efficiently?
Paralysis around technology and data is a show-stopper. Accepting and embracing the fact that your customers are in control of your marketing is another. There is so much complexity and dynamic change in marketing options, channels, speed and relevance, that marketing needs to be smart, savvy and precise all at once and then produce measurable results in the areas of revenue and ROI in order to maintain credibility and viability.
3. What role does technology play in overcoming these obstacles, particularly cloud technology?
Oh, I love the cloud. Why? Because it gives us marketers a great platform to start solving our marketing challenges without big investments of time and money. It gives us choice. It gives us the opportunity to try and learn and optimize. Technology is marketing’s new best friend!
4. Any closing thoughts?
The Chinese proverb “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” applies here. In order to break through the daunting nature of data, break it down into smaller steps and just start doing something.
We like to suggest an initial phase of Precision Marketing that will do some simple analytics and then apply it to a campaign so that the test vs. control results can prove that value of continuing forward on the journey. We have been 100 percent successful in generating positive results with this first-step approach and in continuing the journey forward.
