All Roads Lead to Data

It’s no secret that technology is ever-changing and with more ways to reach your customer, it’s also no surprise that the Chief Marketing Officer—especially—is feeling this transformation.The article, “Redefining Markets: a CMO Perspective,” describes significant changes to the CMO role. Not only are CMOs having to adapt and use new technologies to reach customers, but some are finding their roles have evolved—driven now by customer experience rather than product.

Look to social media for an example: With the likes of Facebook have come Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat—all of which can be used by anyone, any age, anywhere. These are typical outlets CMOs, and companies in general, resort to in order to reach their customers. CMOs have “adapted” to the social media era to broaden their marketing efforts and individually target their consumers. This is ‘using data’ at its finest—for instance, when I log onto Instagram or Snapchat, the only ads I see are for diapers and children’s clothes—two things I am always buying for my toddler.

But what other outlets can CMOs anticipate having an enormous influence on their organizations? The article points out some key factors. The top three? Cloud computing, mobile solutions and Internet of Things (IoT). In our everyday work at Farland Group, these are three topics we continuously hear about from executives as being top of mind—and not just CMOs. Coincidence? I think not.

What drives these top three areas? Data. And data is another topic we hear about from our clients quite often—so I understand how important and valuable that data can be. In “Redefining Markets: a CMO Perspective,” the research shows that 63% of CMOs view creating a better customer experience as their number one priority. To do this, they’ll need to better understand their customer. And to understand their customer, they have to interpret massive amounts of data. According to Nicholas Drury, Global Banking & Financial Markets Leader for the IBM Institute of Business Value, “I think the winners are going to be those who have the greatest capability to get access to that vast array of data available across different channels, and maximize its use.”

All roads lead to data—CMOs understand that and are already in the midst of adapting.