Data-Driven Marketing | Step Five: Process is the New Black

by Lisa Arthur

Process is the last step in my five-step series about data-driven marketing. I know, I know, process is not the most popular topic among marketers, and it’s certainly not something marketers usually find “sexy.” However, when process helps you gain an edge over your competitors or increases brand relevance, process can be very sexy. Here’s how you can master process to improve performance and the customer experience, as well as generate more sales wins:

Agree on the definition of process. Make sure your team knows you’re not talking about the old ways of doing business. Processes today are much more sophisticated; they’re purposeful marketing activities that include advances in technology and automation. Process can give you more control in today’s marketing environment. To gain that control, though, you’ll need to identify a process for your company and figure out what analytics are needed for the individual customer, the overall customer and operational performance views.

Use process to boost accountability. Through experience I figured out that requiring accountability from my team doesn’t make me a dictator — it’s just the opposite. Insisting on accountability makes me a better team contributor. It sets the stage for getting feedback and opening up dialogues required to improve clarity and collaboration. Put great processes in place, and your marketing team’s responsibilities will be so clear they’ll be freed up to do more to contribute to the bottom line and to discuss new solutions.

Become partners with IT. It’s a theme that is woven throughout each of my five steps to big data marketing. Tear down the silos and improve collaboration with IT — both will help you address gaps in data, develop a comprehensive strategy and remove barriers that fragment data and muddy customer engagement.

Adopt integrated marketing with an Integrated Marketing Management (IMM) platform. Markets change and so will departments, strategies and campaigns. Remove the fractured systems that fragment data so you can stay agile. Unite key business applications to implement cross-functional and global processes. Put checks and balances in place so you can measure impact.

Keep moving forward. Review and edit your processes over time to stay in sync with the fast pace of the marketplace today. Question tools and systems, and focus on consolidating technologies, channels and data.

If you want to untangle the data hairball, you have to jettison provisional management processes, ad hoc applications and patched up technologies. Develop modernized processes so you can fully understand and interpret big data. Your internal teams won’t be the only ones who benefit — your stakeholders, shareholders and customers will reap the rewards, too.

Hear more of Lisa’s marketing advice and wisdom in her interview with C-Suite Radio.

Lisa Arthur is the Chief Marketing Officer for Teradata Applications, the leader in integrated marketing software. She meets with thousands of CMOs and marketing professionals annually through public speaking and events. Learn more about Lisa’s book, “Big Data Marketing,” and follow her on  Twitter @lisaarthur.