Today, marketers are all too familiar with the realities of operating within a siloed ecosystem. Functions are segmented, and information isn’t easily shared between departments, offices or regions. Processes aren’t always well thought out, and in some cases, they’re nonexistent. Department structures vary from business to business.
The sheer amount of information and data that marketing companies need to track has grown exponentially, leaving many businesses struggling to keep up. And now, for marketers with global operations, the recent enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) -- the most significant change to data security in decades -- is threatening to add an entirely new layer to what is already a complicated landscape.
Not only will marketers who collect data need to clearly communicate to consumers how they will use said data, but they will also have to reinforce this usage, grant and restrict access to the appropriate parties, and more. These factors will inevitably generate more silos and exacerbate those that already exist, but marketers must be ready to take increased steps to help break down these silos. Doing so will help them ensure their operations are more efficient and effective.
Let’s examine a few areas for marketers to generate a lasting impact.
Complicated Supply Chains
In conversations with marketers, I’m often surprised to hear about how difficult it is for them to describe what I would consider basic information about their business. When I inquire how much they spent on their social advertising during the last day, week or month, they don’t know. When we try to discuss their social advertising performance in depth, they are only able to reference their most recent wrap-up report.
This is because brands are often working with several different agency partners and rarely maintain control over their own data. Not only does this make for a challenging supply chain for marketers to manage, but it also creates a disconnect, often leaving the marketer without a complete view of their advertising.
With an industrywide focus on streamlining models and finding technological efficiencies, many marketers are starting to reevaluate the expectations and accountability of their supply chains. This will become an even bigger priority for marketers over the next 18-24 months, in anticipation of more stringent data regulations and challenges. As a result, more and more companies are considering new ways of working, such as bringing marketing operations in-house, reducing their number of agency partners and turning to consulting firms for help.
Building Bridges Between Walled Gardens
Smart marketers are also making moves to take a more comprehensive view of their advertising across the walled gardens of social advertising platforms. Comparing the ROI of all advertising channel, side by side, allows advertisers to easily identify the most effective channel for their business needs and pull key insights about their business. But the nature of social platforms -- Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat -- being walled gardens makes comparing their different data sets challenging.
Currently, marketers are either relying on agency-issued reporting -- which is rarely comprehensive, accurate or timely -- or they are stitching together spreadsheets with data from different platforms. Besides the fact that both of these options present major risks for businesses, they are also very inefficient, sucking up billable hours on tasks that could be completely automated.
Data: The Fundamental First Step
With GDPR looming, data is at the forefront. While these changes make businesses accountable for their data, how they manage that data can ultimately lead to even more siloed, disconnected operations. To combat this, marketers need to take control of their data. While every business has its own unique systems, data is a universal language and the first place marketers should start when looking to break down silos.
The first step is for marketers to do their due diligence and dig deep to make sure that they have true ownership of their own data resources. This means taking stock of their entire marketing ecosystem, ensuring the right teams have the right access to the right data and streamlining resources where appropriate to help break down silos. Before you can change how a team processes information, you have to ensure that all the players have access to, and are reading from, the same playbook.
Secondly, marketers need to monitor their marketing performance in real time to identify and solve issues or challenges as they arise. They can’t just log into a system, pull a report and analyze the information -- or worse, expect their agency to do it for them.
Lastly, marketers must consider the tough questions they will need to answer at any given time to evaluate the success or failure of their campaigns. And they need to make sure that they have on-demand access to the data they need to answer those questions.
Throughout the next year, I think we will continue to see marketers leverage the tools they have to create a more connected, less siloed ecosystem. The speed and pace at which these changes will happen remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: Right now, marketers are in a prime position to proactively move the industry in the right direction.
