By: Jay Friedman, CEO, Goodway Group – CvE’s parent company
The field of marketing has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, shifting from a predominantly creative and intuitive discipline to one that is increasingly measurable and scientific. The advancements in data collection, analysis, and the ability to measure marketing results have spurred this evolution. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on marketing has also played a critical role in making marketing more quantifiable and evidence based.
The Shift to Measurable and Scientific Marketing
Historically, marketing was perceived as a creative endeavor, relying heavily on intuition, gut feelings, and guesswork. While creativity remains an essential aspect of marketing, the introduction of advanced analytics and data-driven insights has led to a significant shift toward more measurable and scientific marketing practices. This transition has been spurred by several factors, including the proliferation of digital channels, the growth of big data, and the increasing demand for measurable ROI to the marketer’s CFO.
Digital Channels and Big Data
The rise of digital channels, such as social media, search engines, and e-commerce platforms, has contributed significantly to the increased measurability of marketing efforts. These channels offer marketers an unparalleled opportunity to gather vast amounts of data on consumer behavior, preferences, and the journey they take in discovering and buying a brand. This data, when analyzed and interpreted with scientific rigor, enables marketers to make more informed decisions, optimize campaigns, and ultimately achieve better results.
The CMO x CFO Partnership And The Demand For The Best Returns
CFOs need every dollar invested to deliver the most optimal return. Because every dollar is fungible to a CFO, spending a dollar in marketing, building a factory, or hiring new talent is one in the same, until one delivers a better return than the others. Therefore, marketers must not ask the CFO, “What is my budget?” Instead, marketers must take the business goals of the enterprise and prove to the CFO why the proposed level of investment is the best way for the business to achieve those goals.
This demand for optimal returns has further fueled the shift toward more measurable and scientific marketing practices. Through incrementality testing, marketers can now quantify the impact of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions to allocate resources more effectively and maximize ROI.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing
One of the key challenges in making marketing more scientific is the sheer volume of data that needs to be processed and analyzed. AI-powered tools and algorithms can automate much of this analysis, freeing marketers from the burden of manual data crunching and enabling them to focus on strategy and creative execution. By automating data analysis, AI helps marketers uncover deeper insights, identify patterns, and make more informed decisions.
AI is also instrumental in driving personalization in marketing, which has become a critical factor in achieving measurable results. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze consumer data and predict their preferences, behaviors, and needs. This information allows marketers to create highly targeted and personalized campaigns that resonate with consumers, leading to better engagement, conversion rates, and ultimately, a higher ROI.
Finally, AI is augmenting marketing’s measurability and scientific nature through the optimization of campaign performance. AI-powered tools can analyze real-time data from various sources, such as social media, search engines, and e-commerce platforms, to identify trends and make recommendations on how to improve campaign performance.
Excellence in marketing is no longer defined by great storyboards and clever ideas. Excellence is now defined by the test, learn, and optimize strategy, the ability to deliver insights to improve results, and the ability to prove the value of marketing’s investment as delivering a better return than any other potential investment in the enterprise.
I hope you enjoyed this article. We intimately understand the pain points of the modern marketer and have designed CvE to help solve your most complex challenges. Contact us to discover how we can help you upgrade your marketing sophistication.
