Challenges of Audience Insight in Martech & Finding Hidden Value For The Creative World

After being out of a classic agency environment for a few years while client side I have spent the last 10 months with one of the leading global #Martech networks; #Verticurl. It was fascinating to see a number of similar, as well as new, themes arise. 

If like me you are constantly trying to keep up with the changes; I have empathy for you. As such I thought I’d capture some observations around the challenges of finding hidden value in Existing audiences. I hope it helps, and please be gentle… I usually write this stuff for an audience of 3 on a ppt.! Thanks for sticking with me so far! You're now part of a select group of readers who have made it this far.

 Here goes:

#Martch has revolutionized the way businesses approach marketing, has it though? 

It has revolutionised access to information, the speed and depth, absolutely. But are insights better, are companies getting the critical returns they invested for? An interesting benchmark will be Cannes this week. In theory the quality of the work should be better if we have better and faster insights. Also we have some of the best talent I have seen in 20 years coming into the industry. So if we aren’t then why? ( if you disagree with this – save yourself 7 more mins reading the rest of this!). 

Could it be though; the gathering, managing and using of data to gain audience insight is still at parity with 15 years ago? And is it getting to the people who need it most … the Creative & Planning community?

With the help of a galaxy of complex martech tools, we can now gather audience insights, analyse #data, and create targeted #campaigns. However, while martech has made marketing more efficient, it also presents several challenges when it comes to gathering #audienceinsight. But why has so little moved on for the masses of businesses that invest in martech and big #impact work is reserved for just a few #brands?

It's Dull: But Data Integration Is Still The Holy Grail for CMO’s

One of the biggest challenges for CMO’s who want to gather audience insight in martech is data integration. Businesses use a variety of tools (too many IMHO) to gather data. #CRM systems, social media platforms, and web analytics tools you name it are there in abundance and yet in some instances so complex you have to hire people like us.

Sometimes we find multiple platforms in the same organisation and legacy tools that often store data in different formats. Silo’d departments make it even more difficult to integrate and analyse the data. This can lead to incomplete or inaccurate insights, which can negatively impact marketing campaigns and scar my Creative friends for life! What this does (and I have first-hand experience of this) is create a blinding effect on a CMO, and a lack of self-belief up and down a Marketing dept’s decision making. This then becomes expensive at the agency level, where it is often the role to unravel this #techdebt whilst scrambling for that one insight that could help change a brands world (a brand’s world not ours.. to be clear.. but that’s another post altogether!).

Validating a connected and joined up approach of a business to data and analytics is crucial, but the bigger  idea of #audienceorchestration through MarTech provides a roadmap on what to build your tech systems to. #audienceorchestration is simply using technology to better understand your audience. By ensuring that all data sources have a vision of #audienceorchestration, are #integrated, with departments working together: businesses can gain a more complete understanding of their audience. The competitive advantage is not only to deliver more targeted and personalized marketing campaigns, but to get exponential value out of you marketing partners. This approach also helps to eliminate #datasilos and improve #dataquality, as all data is stored in a centralized location and can be easily accessed and analysed. 

Obvious right? But a connected and joined up approach is the one repeatable thing missing when going into organisations. Businesses can make more informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date data, leading to better marketing insights and ultimately, improved ROI. So the question still remains why are we talking about silo’s and data scattering rather than #audienceorchestration?

Challenge of #DataPrivacy 

Another challenge of gathering audience insight in martech is #dataprivacy. I will admit this is constantly overwhelming. As a ‘merely competent’ international marketeer who has worked on the agency and client side I was either providing or asking for clarity. I could deep dive into a market one day only to have another 5 change or morphed the next. It can be more exhausting than a week of 2am finishes at Cannes! 

But with the increasing focus on data privacy regulations such as #GDPR and CCPA, businesses must be careful when collecting and using customer data (I hope we all know that by now). Failure to comply with these regulations can result in hefty fines and damage to a company's reputation. This makes it essential for businesses to ensure that they are collecting data ethically and transparently. If you want a data conundrum I urge you to research China’s data cloud privacy policy (Spoiler alert it involves more investment but also makes sense).

The Challenge of Data Quality 

#Finally, another challenge of gathering audience #insight in martech is data quality. With so much data available, it can be difficult to determine which data is relevant and accurate. Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to incorrect insights, which can negatively impact marketing campaigns. To overcome this challenge, businesses must ensure that they are collecting high-quality data and regularly cleaning and updating their databases. 

While martech has made gathering audience insight more efficient, it also presents several challenges as above. To overcome these challenges, businesses must ensure that they are supporting an #audienceorchestration mindset when collecting data ethically and transparently. Integrating data from different sources, and regularly cleaning and updating their databases quite simply has to be done by #CMO’s to pass to the next level. By doing so, they can ensure that they are making informed marketing decisions that will drive business growth and make the whole #marketing & #tech supply change that supports it more effective .

The goals seem to be:

1. A view of orchestrating audience data giving the organisation something to strive for

2. A less silo’d approach, with all dept's serving at the pleasure of the same audience approach

3. Search for hidden value in existing audiences to maximise challenged budgets

I still believe by leveraging the right tools and techniques, companies can gain value from their audience behaviour and preferences, allowing them to tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. 

Ultimately, investing in Martech solutions that enable accurate audience insights can help businesses stay ahead of the competition and achieve long-term success in today's ever-evolving digital landscape. But only if there are the building blocks before and there is an #audienceorchestration goal to work to.

I will never profess to be an expert; as you can see from LinkedIn I have worn too many hats to be a master of one! But if you have found any of the above points interesting and would like to speak to some people much smarter than me on #audienceorchestration please let me know… and yes they may work for the same Co. ;-)

BDS.