Modernizing a company’s marketing analytics platform, which most likely involves moving it to the cloud and redefining roles and processes, isn’t a one-person job. It’s not even a one-team job. It requires close collaboration and alignment between several stakeholders. But how many stakeholders is enough? How many is too many? 

At the least, here are the two teams who need to be involved in building a Modern Marketing Analytics platform, and one that you should seriously consider to help ensure long-term success:  

The data team: Data and technology stewards

Your organization’s data team is most familiar with the current state of the technology stack and how marketing data is ingested and prepared for analytics. Their knowledge is extremely valuable in understanding the scope of a modernization project and both the benefits and blockers to implementation. 

The data team can also see the broader possibilities of a new way of doing things. While a marketing team may see short-term goals and focus on solving specific problems within marketing, the data team sees the data landscape across the entire business. Furthermore, the data team has deeper insight into how marketing technologies can integrate with other areas and how data modernization can benefit the entire organization. A modernization project that doesn’t involve the data stakeholders involved with the marketing team won’t get far.

The marketing team: Close to the business problem

Data teams are great at understanding data problems. But the marketing team is closer to the business problems that the organization faces, rather than the technology problems. They are also more involved in the business vision and strategy, the priority and urgency of actions and goals, and the expectations that the rest of the business has of their function to help drive things like sales and brand awareness. 

Just as marketing can’t ignore the data team in planning a solid strategy, the data team can’t ignore marketing stakeholders. Insight from the marketing team is critical to ensuring that the right technology, data, and metrics are solving the right problems.

Consulting partners: Trusted advisers in modernization

Here’s the third piece of the puzzle that many people leave out, but that can be the most critical one for achieving success. 

In addition to the right internal teams aligning on goals and approach, an external consulting partner can be one of the most important drivers of a successful modernization project. While the data and marketing teams know the goals and internal workings of the business, the right partner can see the project through a neutral lens, with the knowledge of hundreds or thousands of similar implementations. 

The right consulting partner will bring:

  • Extensive knowledge of best practices for modern marketing analytics and cloud data architecture
  • Resources that can help with design, implementation, and training, and that can also act as an “extended data team” for organizations with limited in-house resources
  • Deep experience in the needs of today’s data-driven organizations, in facilitating collaboration between teams, and in the change management that needs to happen with cloud data implementation. 
  • Be a long-term partner that will be there for you over the years as you encounter new use cases and scale the system.

The bottom line is, while a modern marketing analytics project may be new to an organization, an experienced consulting partner has seen it all – the ups and downs of implementation and change. The right partner brings a playbook for modernization that’s been created through years of experience with companies going through the same complex process. With this playbook and guidance, modernization can go faster, be less painful, and yield value much sooner.

Putting all of the pieces together

The sooner you identify the stakeholders who need to be involved and the scope of your project, the sooner you can start planning and building your ideal Modern Marketing Analytics program. To learn more about the elements of successful Modern Marketing Analytics, download our ebook, Modern Marketing Analytics: An Essential Guide.

And to learn more about how a Modern Marketing Analytics program can benefit your business and how a partner can help you achieve success, schedule a meeting with us today.

 

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Emma

As the Marketing Manager for Data Clymer, Emma brings a creative and results-driven approach to the marketing team. She is skilled at project management, strategic planning, and also at producing meaningful and engaging content. With a client-focused mindset, Emma is passionate about growing Data Clymer’s brand awareness and developing impactful marketing campaigns that contribute to overall business objectives and customer success.