Recently CMO published an article quoting from
eHarmony’s managing director, Nicole McInnes;
The excerpt below is well worth considering we have long argued that marketing has not changed the requirement to do your "homework" properly to focus on getting insights based customer centric strategy, execution and implementation right is more valid the ever...the channels of delivery and engagement may be constantly changing and evolving -
“When I was in advertising, we had these roles called mac operators who used to execute an art director’s vision and ideas purely because they were skilled at the software,”
Operators know software really well and how to work it, but have not been given broader training on strategy, competitive analysis, audience segmentation and what makes humans ‘tick’.
In order to be successful, digital marketers need to keep data, channels and software in their right place, at the same time remembering the broader marketing elements like strategy, positioning, devising the marketing mix that hits the right target audience, product strategy, future-proofing business and solid competitive analysis to help set the direction.
“To actually become a true marketer, you need to understand so much more than how to simply operate software and optimise based on data,” she stressed. “But it’s hard to see it as those digital skills are now so highly valued. I fear if you don’t also train marketers to understand why to choose a certain channel or initiative or get them focused on how the consumer actually makes purchase decisions, we will have a generation of digital operators and very few potential marketing leaders.
CEM linked to new generation AEDM (audience engagement and data management) with a human face is the most mission critical aspect of any successful business looking to be competitive for the long term.
If you don't believe me ask your customers?