- Mobile Devices Become Personal Media and Sharing Devices
- Marketing Starts to Take Data Seriously
- There's an API for That
- Social Media Teaches Us Marketing
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Marketing Starts to Take Data Seriously
Data has always been viewed as an afterthought in marketing. Marketers were used to doing post-analysis of campaign results, research, and sales data to try to understand how to market to their prospects and customers. Data traditionally wasn’t used much for delivering campaigns and targeting and personalizing experiences for customers. But big changes are happening as we speak. Marketers now view data as a strategic asset that should be utilized aggressively as a key part of their arsenal.
In the past year, according to Forrester Research, marketers’ interest in and spending for data and analytics has increased from 8% to 12%. Hardly an article today doesn’t mention the role of “Big Data” in marketing. The good news is also that Big Data and analytics are being viewed as core marketing infrastructure, much like an accounting system is for the finance function within a company.
The investments in data and analytics are likely to get marketing teams the kinds of information they can use and rely on to deliver personalized services to their customers. The investments will need to be significant, but they can and will be viewed as capital investments that will enable these companies to better engage with their customers in a more intelligent fashion.
In the past year, Oracle Corporation—the largest enterprise database and applications company—acquired BlueKai and Datalogix, two Big Data companies focused on providing data for targeting and personalizing advertisements. This reflects the growing appetite marketing organizations and CMOs have to spend on marketing technology and infrastructure.