Many organisations believe they have an effective integrated
digital marketing strategy. However, I would suggest few are aware of the risk
of failure if they do not have an Integrated Digital Data Strategy.
The issue in many organisations is there is often little
clarity over who is responsible for data or the infrastructure the data sits
in. Responsibility may be seen to lie
with I.T or Marketing. Even within the
department there can be walls of ownership, the On-line Marketing Manager believes he owns all the online
data - how does the Social Media Executive
feel about that? And we haven’t even discussed the CRM Manager.
This leads to many different data owners with differing business objectives controlling their data in its own silo, never allowing access to other areas of the business. The outcome of this can be a fragmented understanding of the customers, worryingly delivering fragmented messages.
To deliver effective integrated digital marketing,
organisations must have a digital data strategy which will give them a complete
view of their customer and the interactions the customer has with the whole
organisation both on and off-line. The
Data Strategy must clearly define ownership of data and the infrastructure the
data will live in, be that one system or systems which talk to each other. Only then can data support the objectives set
out in the Marketing Strategy.
Perhaps more organisations need a specialist data team be
that internal or external.
Denise Minihane –
Data Services Director
Denise started out working in Education moving into data
when the buzz word was personalisation. Over time Denise has been
involved in the delivery of many data driven marketing solutions for clients
such as Tesco Bank, Lands End and British Heart Foundation. Now with the Purple
Agency, Denise supports the implementation of data strategy clients such as
Aga, WWF and Flight Centre. When not into data her passion is for the
theatre from tragedy to comedy farce.