Data-First Marketing

CHAPTER 9Step 5: Data-First Marketing Staffing and Culture

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said, “All companies of any size have to continue to push to make sure you get the right leaders, the right team, the right people to be fast acting, and fast moving in the marketplace.” Nothing could be truer for the marketing organization as it shifts to a data-first marketing organization.

Achieving the shift to a revenue-centric marketing organization isn't going to happen overnight. This is a pervasive technological and cultural shift for the marketing department. It involves a whole new way of looking at planning and executing marketing. Most of all, it requires us as marketers to accept a level of accountability we may have been unwilling or afraid to accept in the past. By accepting that responsibility, however, we stand to gain the trust and confidence of our company leadership, sales, and the entire organization.

In this chapter, we'll examine how to build your data-first marketing team. It starts with marketing leadership promoting the data-first marketing strategy as the new standard. We'll share how to assess your current team – do you work with your current team members or find new team members with specific skillsets? We'll cover how to evaluate skills and how to train and coach various skills and then empower your team to take action on the data they analyze. Now let's start building your data-first marketing team!

STARTING AT THE TOP: CMO AND MARKETING LEADERSHIP ...