Post MarTech 2016 Thoughts on Operations, Data, Content, & Creative—And How They All Come Together
Like most of the attendees of this year’s MarTech conference, I jetted out of San Francisco towards home impressed, energized, and excited. The hyper-speed of the marketing technology industry and the incredible people who work in it continue to amaze me with their passion and ingenuity. Wow!
Many of the attendees of this year’s conference likely arrived intending to use the time to assess the landscape and hone in on what they wanted from marketing technologies. But most—myself included—left with a clear picture of what they needed. There was this phrase on a presenter’s slide that captured that powerfully;
“The seeker embarks on a journey to find out what they want, but discovers along the way what they need.“
In 2014, MarTech taught us the importance of Marketing Operations Management Tech—tools that would help marketing teams gain control. MarTech 2015 was data, data, data. It taught us that the availability to capture data with fantastic new tools, and using other tools to interpret that data, was essential. Those two are not enough. The big takeaway from MarTech 2016 was itself a continuation of the 2014 and 2015 conversations and finally included the importance of content and creative. The take away was;
In order to be successful, marketers need to fuse the science of Operations and Data with the art of Content and Creative in their strategies and execution.
Another way of explaining what I mean by “fuse” is to think about connecting the metrics side of marketing with the emotive of words and images. Often, the “data deliberates” and “metric mavens” train their gaze solely on the hard numbers and figures, allowing those to independently drive decisions and direction. The creatively-inclined throw focus on the “soft and fuzzy” aspects of marketing—the human element, the heart. Unfortunately that may miss the strategic mark.
I suggest the connecting of “data-informed creative marketing,” or combining insight gleaned from actual metrics with the inherent authenticity of creative. That produces an end result of content with depth, resonance, and impact.
The added benefit of managing operations and data and considering the softer side through creative work management is reduced friction for the producers and faster time to market.
I’d love to continue this dialog and hear your thoughts on effective ways you might fuse the hard data with the soft emotion. Please add a comment, reach out directly, or check out some of our other resources and best practices.
Rob Munz, Chief Product Officer and Founder of inMotionNow, has spent the past 15 years working directly with creative departments at national brands, agencies, associations and mid-size businesses to help them improve their production workflows and complete projects more efficiently.