Data-Driven Marketing Holds the Key to Sales Says Linkedin Exec Russell Glass

The rising importance of data to companies (organizations in general and marketing departments in particular) is changing the perception of marketing’s value. In fact, marketing is now so important that CMOs will make the best next-generation CEOs—thanks to their understanding of data and the customer.

Meet Dan Siroker, a new kind of marketer.

As the Obama campaign’s director of analytics in 2008, one of Siroker’s key responsibilities was optimizing the campaign’s website, a critical fundraising tool. Using sophisticated A/B testing, which involved comparing the results of 24 combinations of visuals, copy and calls-to-action, Siroker and his team identified the most effective combination for raising campaign funds from Obama supporters. Not only did this winning combination raise an extra $60 million for the campaign, as Siroker explained in this blog post, but the A/B testing also generated the data to prove it.

Marketing teams have historically found it hard to be considered a revenue center vs. a cost center. But when you generate $60 million—and show exactly how you did it—there’s no longer any doubt.

Now the CEO and co-founder of Optimizely, Siroker is just one of many pioneering, data-driven marketing executives who have become CEOs. Former marketing executive Paul Pellman was the CEO of Adometry before it was bought by Google earlier this year. Audi, Royal Dutch Shell, and Gilt Groupe have all recently named former marketing executives to CEO roles.

Here’s why this is a big deal

Only the marketing department has a clear window on the behavior of the prospect during 90 percent of the buyer’s decision making—the time spent doing research via visits to websites, reading online reviews, connecting with peers on social media and conducting online searches.

With the data created by this online behavior, marketers possess tremendous insight into their companies’ potential customers. “When I tell people that we can know, in real time, every single visitor when they arrive on our site and know what company type they are from and that we can target specific titles or regions or individual companies, they’re blown away,” says Bill Macaitis, former CMO of Zendesk, describing the company’s ability to understand their prospects in real time.

Marketing now holds the key to sales commissions

Marketing’s possession of this insight into the customer represents a huge shift from the past when the sales department played a much larger role in shepherding the prospect through the sales process. But now, the sales department has little direct knowledge of 90 percent of the buyer’s journey. It is now the marketing department, using data gleaned from the digital footprints left by prospects, that has the insight into this major portion of the sales process. And marketing can supply salespeople with exactly what they need: the qualified leads that are their lifeblood.

So data brings marketing and sales together. And because data can also identify deals that were marketing-sourced, the finance team also gains a new respect for marketing and its contribution to revenue. And finally, these changes have brought marketing closer together with the IT department, which helps install the marketing automation software, analytics tools and dashboards it needs to read the digital body language of customers and prospects.

Marketing is now at the nexus of business

The CMO’s team has the clearest window into customer and prospect behavior. To sales, the CMO delivers the leads most likely to buy to sales. To finance, the CMO shows his or her team’s revenue contribution. And with IT, the CMO helps built out the marketing technology stack that mediates critical interactions with customers and prospects.

The winning companies of the future will be data-driven and customer-focused. No one is in a better position to lead this kind of company than the CMO—the executive who is eminently qualified to be your next CEO.

via Data-Driven Marketing Holds the Key to Sales Says Linkedin Exec Russell Glass | Adweek.

Data-Driven Marketing Holds the Key to Sales Says Linkedin Exec Russell Glass

What Type Of Personal Brand Are You?

One of the best things about creating your personal brand is it helps you market unique qualities about yourself. The more time you invest in developing your brand and networking with people in your industry, you’ll discover how some professionals possess a similar one to yours.

Once you have established your personal brand and you have been engaging with the people in your networks, you’ll notice how you are drawn to following certain types of people. Let’s say you are very active on Twitter. Chances are, you are interacting with people in your industry with similar interests to yours. As you look beyond those particular traits, you’ll notice different personalities shine through. These personalities serve as a way to categorize different types of personal brands.

Are you obsessed with staying up-to-date with current events and pop culture? Do you find yourself providing industry advice for your colleagues? If you can answer “yes” to questions like these that define you as a personal brand, chances are you’ll run across other personal brands with a similar purpose to yours.

If you’re wondering what your personal brand is saying about you, check out these five different types of personal brand personalities:

1. The news and politics junkie. Do you find yourself tweeting the latest news updates and blogging about your opinions of current events? If you happen to define your brand with current events and the latest trends, your audience may view you as a the “news junkie.” They will most likely turn to you in order to stay up-to-date in current events. This is great for your brand because you’re viewed as an influencer in your industry and adds credibility to who you are as a professional.

2. The opinionated connoisseur. If you find yourself falling into this category, you’re probably someone who is the first to tell your audience about your opinion about the latest Apple product or the Oscars. Additionally, you’re able to combine your opinions about products and events with latest trends in your industry. By doing this, you are creating a personal brand where your colleagues and followers will most likely turn to your personal brand when they need to weigh their personal opinions.

3. The self-promoter. The self-promoter is someone who generates a lot of content and promotes it throughout their networks. This personal brand shares their accomplishments and makes it a goal to inform people about their professional life. Do you find yourself consistently producing content and inviting your colleagues to check it out? Then your personal brand could fall into this category.

4. The helping hand. This type of personal brand belongs to people who are usually the first to offer advice or be willing to lend expertise to the people in their networks. Whether it’s looking over a colleague’s resume or answering a question, you’re always available to help the people within your network. By helping others, your personal brand can gain a great amount of trust and people can depend on you as a reliable source of support.

5. The super networker. The super networker is someone who not only builds their network, but also helps the people in their network meet new people. Whenever you meet a new person as a super networker, you probably find yourself thinking: “I have the perfect person for you to meet because they will provide some great advice for you!” Although this personal brand may appear similar to the “helping hand,” as a super networker you’re more focused on connecting your new connections with your colleagues and opening the door to opportunity for them.

These different categories of personal brands can help you think about the type of brand you want to be. Do you want to influence your network? Do you want to be a source of advice? By figuring out the purpose for your personal brand, you can have a stronger mission of marketing yourself as a professional. Once you understand the type of image you want to portray in your brand, you will be able to increase your connections and build credibility as a professional.

Do you fall into one of these categories? What do you think your personal brand is saying about you?

via What Type Of Personal Brand Are You? | Personal Branding Blog – Stand Out In Your Career.

What Type Of Personal Brand Are You?