The digital marketing event last night took an interesting turn. The initial concept was to discuss the balance between optimizing marketing investment within and across marketing channels.
Our panel met ahead of time to talk through the agenda. What was clear to everybody is that none of the above is possible unless the data allows for these projects. Here is a link to a Columbia University study on marketing ROI in the era of big data.
It is important to collect data proactively rather than by accident. A common theme was to start with business outcomes, develop short term KPIs, assess available data, determine missing data, and calculate ROI potential before starting work. It may not make sense to take on too much.
It was interesting to hear how difficult it is to successfully accomplish all this. However some companies do it very well meaning it is possible to succeed. Everybody agreed that automating marketing decision making is not going to happen but it is possible to be smarter and better.
