{"id":28562,"date":"2020-02-01T09:19:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T14:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=28562"},"modified":"2021-12-15T00:17:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T05:17:14","slug":"what-not-to-do-with-your-marketing-and-martech-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/what-not-to-do-with-your-marketing-and-martech-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What Not To Do With Your Marketing and Martech in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we settle into 2020, we take a look at the latest predictions and trends for marketing, and specifically martech, for this year.<\/h2>\n
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It\u2019s the time of year everyone sees the latest predictions and trends for the new year in your specific field. It\u2019s no different for me as a marketer and technologist, and it\u2019s easy to get excited by all of the hype about these topics and start goal planning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always exciting (and sometimes painful) to be on the leading edge of marketing technology<\/a>, especially these days when there are so many opportunities to apply technology for you and your customers’ benefit.<\/p>\n

I have a contrarian view. It\u2019s great to learn about what\u2019s new and changing and staying abreast of this. But, it\u2019s at least equally, if not more important, to understand existing issues facing your use of marketing technology and how to solve these, before, or as part of any new pursuit. The fundamental problem — these new martech trends, tools and technologies may not fix your existing problems or add value to your business.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without further ado, I will tell you what not<\/strong> to do with your martech and marketing operations in 2020.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t continue to use your same marketing metrics<\/h4>\n

With the wealth of data available from your marketing technology and other customer data sources, you should examine how you can use the data you already have to develop new metrics<\/em> that can help your business<\/strong>. We are beyond the measures of opens and clicks, and you should start to look into more comprehensive metrics, such as touchpoint analysis, to understand how your customers interact with your brand across all communications and channels before a sale.<\/p>\n

This step isn\u2019t necessarily about chasing holy grail metrics like customer lifetime value (LTV), or return on marketing investment (ROMI). Both are often difficult calculations when you consider all relevant variables. This process is about defining new metrics that are meaningful to the business, so that you may bring more value or insights into your team\u2019s marketing work and advance your understanding of the customer with the data you already have.<\/p>\n

This process also entails collaborating with other teams in your organization to possibly get existing data to supplement the marketing data, as well as working with your internal customers of marketing (sales, executives, and more) to understand what they care and need to know about.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t presume you know what your customers want.<\/h4>\n

As marketers, our job is often to know what our customers want presumptively. While this can work, it\u2019s better to know what the customer wants definitively. That\u2019s where testing comes in. Setting up a process and structure for doing marketing testing is vital to understand your potential and existing customers<\/em>, including justifying larger investments for change.<\/strong> Testing can be simple A\/B testing on a call to action in an email, but it needs a correct design to be useful.<\/p>\n

For example, I was with a large software client who planned to run various tests with outbound communications. In a discussion around one of the email tests, someone asked how long the test would run. The person responsible said \u201c3-4 weeks,\u201d but they hadn\u2019t considered if this amount of time, and the size of the audience, would allow the test to be statistically significant.<\/p>\n

Statistical significance is important since it helps determine if the change tested can deliver the expected future business value with larger audiences. This is an example of how methodical and structured testing ensures you obtain accurate learnings. Even big companies aren\u2019t always doing this right.<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t stop talking to your customers after the sale.<\/h4>\n

Your customers are still your customers after the sale. Marketing is not only about the sale. It\u2019s about developing lasting relationships<\/a> with your clients,<\/strong> so don\u2019t only talk to your customers about your company.<\/b> Both B2C and B2B clients require lasting relationships for multiple reasons (cross-sell, upsell, loyalty, advocacy, and more), and these reasons require an ongoing relationship. As with all relationships, this development entails ongoing communication.<\/p>\n

If you aren\u2019t already doing so, you need to start talking to your clients after the sale. This communication can take many forms:<\/p>\n