Happy pre-Summit weekend, readers! Today, we’ll talk about the mix of marketing temperaments and talents that make up a CMO’s dream team, will explore how marketers can tell if a vendor is offering a real AI solution or just a regular-old solution with an AI price, will learn why we may need to sweat the small stuff after all when it comes to customer experience and will remind you of the details on how you can win TEN THOUSAND BUCKS’ worth of Perkuto consulting.
As usual, please get in touch if you have a topic or a story we simply shouldn’t miss.
The CMO’s perfect mix of marketing temperaments: Thinker, Feeler, Doer
To build a successful marketing team—one that’s “eager to contribute bold ideas, unafraid of dirtying their hands with new technologies and proficient at striking partnerships across the enterprise”—it’s imperative that you get the right mix of talents and temperaments, and that you lead with the heart of a teacher, says Marketo’s Chief Customer Officer Matt Zilli in MarTech Today. Specifically, whether you hire outside for your team members or develop them from within, focusing on the classic “Thinker, Feeler, Doer” temperament trio will provide you with a good balance of analysis, intuitiveness and action to help you tackle the most complex of marketing challenges. Read all of Zilli’s tips here.
AI or souped-up analytics?
It seems like everywhere you look, martech vendors are offering new and improved products and technologies featuring Artificial Intelligence or AI. Certainly, the lure of machine-enhanced insights are enticing, especially if they can help you get to the next level in achieving your marketing and business goals. But the reality is that much of what is called AI isn’t AI at all—according to Anand Thaker in MarTech Advisor, it’s “a souped up version of analytics and modeling which nevertheless looks and feels like magic to many non-technical marketers”—but at a premium price.
So how do you ensure any marketing dollars you’re dedicating toward AI-empowered solutions are well spent? Thaker recommends asking vendors informed questions, like “Why do I need AI to solve this business problem?” and “Do I have sufficient data to use AI?” The answers to these questions will not only help you evaluate your need and their technology, but will also help you determine if the vendor feels like a good relationship fit. Check out all of Thaker’s vendor questions here.
Sweating the small stuff for a superior CX
We’ve all heard the old cliche, “Don’t sweat the small stuff” but if your business wants to provide the best customer experience possible, Shep Hyken writes in Forbes that you may want to ignore that advice. Interviewing Jason Bradshaw, director of customer experience for Volkswagen Group Australia, Hyken found that the car company was able to turn its underperforming CX program around not through big, flashy promotions but through “connecting with your customer and delivering a little bit above their expectation, and doing it all the time.” (emphasis mine) I suspect it’s that last part that the most difficult to do, but also the one that makes the biggest difference. Check out more of the interview and Hyken’s insights here.
Want to win 10K? You’re only days away!
As you may already know, Perkuto is giving away 40 hours in consulting—worth $10,0000—to one lucky person at the upcoming Marketo Summit. Will it be you? Not if you don’t sign up to win!
Just imagine what you could accomplish with that kind of prize…you could tackle that custom nurturing project that’s been on the back burner for months. Or use the consulting to get a GDPR Assessment. Or choose something else that makes sense for your business.
Find out more about the prize here, then plan on visiting our booth (#441) at the Summit to enter the giveaway sweepstakes. We’ll see you there…good luck!
