The State of Marketing Technology Solutions

We can measure results, usage, cost, ROI, through-put, retention, volume, and velocity, to name a few. Importantly, we now focus on clear measurable goals with measurement of results against those goals. Having accountability shows value and eliminates any confusion. The ability to deliver clear results is the best way to achieve a mindset of measurement.

Measuring the Project Deadline

We do measure our teams on project deadlines because we have a culture of accountability. Accountability is one of our five core behaviors along with customer focus, collaboration, effective problem solving, and results orientation. Therefore, depending upon our initiative, we rely on continuous improvement, time motion studies, and cost per delivery, to name a few, as ways to measure our ability to deliver faster. Of course, beyond these measurements, we are also tracking that we are delivering better results, more cost effectively.

Necessary Skills to be Successful in the New Marketing Landscape

First, it is critical to never forget that the customer focus is the reason we exist. Our ability to meet their needs and solve their problems leads us to revenue and growth. With the customer, foremost in mind, we then can focus our skills on delivering programs that generate measurable results. Success is easy to understand when there are clear results. So, having the mindset to establish clear objectives and then demonstrate clear results will always work. Again, the word, “accountability” is critical to success. Marketing technology tools require investments and these investments must demonstrate a clear ROI to demonstrate success.

Future Technology Innovation

As I look to the future, I am excited and hopeful that there will continue to be industry changes that make current technology tools easier to deploy, use and measure. The explosive growth of solution offerings in the past several years has created complexity which, in turn, delays our time to market because we have to vet more offerings than ever before, we have to perform more complex ROI analysis, and our implementation times become extended. I do not seek technology innovation which becomes nothing more than ‘bloat-ware’ where features are added to increase perceived value. This is a challenge for many companies who then end-up with me-too product solutions and lose sight of their core value proposition. My desire is for them to solve core needs and to do it better, faster, easier, and cheaper. Too often, I see technology solutions lose sight of their competitive advantage as they add a bolt-on or integrate new acquisitions that are not ready for prime-time. In my crystal ball, I look to a future with easier solution integrations and vendors who become partners by demonstrating clear and demonstrable ROI on their offerings. I also hope to see fewer new technologies in search of a need when the real need is increasing the ROI from our existing tools.

Technology helps me prioritize my life. My key goal still remains the same: delivering best-practices for how to engage with our customers through Omni-channel and always-on marketing. It is complex and it is time consuming but it also delivers more actionable and measurable results than ever before. My life will truly change when attribution analysis becomes attainable in a meaningful and intuitive way. Ultimately, the tools that increase my productivity, solve my pain points and are intuitive to use are the ones central to my existence. All the others? I try to avoid them.