How has your approach to customer engagement/retention/loyalty changed due to new MarTech Tools and Solutions?
It has made us able to manage the customer journey from end to end. We are technically able to manage each touchpoint along the journey and manage the experience each customer has with us.
With all the new MarTech tools and solutions now available, what’s one of the key pitfalls to avoid in the procurement process?
It’s very tempting to try something new. It’s so easy to set up trial accounts whether it’s something small or big, working on the new project we can easily sign up to use different platforms and that can cause confusion and inefficiencies and increase expenses if we’re not careful.
What MarTech vendors have impressed you with their solutions and understanding of true business needs and challenges?
HubSpot is outstanding. They understand the marketing pain points so well. Shootsta too. They’ve made it very easy for companies to produce videos with some creative direction. They’ve outsourced the post production process and made it easy to produce high quality videos.
How has your organisation / team dealt with the challenge of the marketing industry and wider digital world evolving at such a fast pace?
I look at what the business needs. With the availability of MarTech platforms and availability of info out there today, I look for a blend of people with a huge appetite for learning. I see these challenges as opportunities. But it does require folks to build teams differently in the past.
Currently, what are you primarily looking for in your digital marketing efforts? Awareness or engagement? Why?
Both. We look at the whole journey. From awareness to conversions because it’s end to end.
What is your key takeaway piece of advice that you would give when speaking to others on how to evaluate and select a MarTech stack?
You have to understand your business needs very well because you might have a great MarTech platform but if it doesn’t fit your business need at that point, you could end up making the wrong decision if it’s out of sync with the business development cycle.
How did your MarTech journey begin? Please let us know your top 3 findings and discoveries.
It began 12-13 years ago, driven by a business need. I was at Aviva at the time and I noticed that all the insurers didn’t have any online presence. I was at a challenger brand so we needed to punch above our weight via using the online space which hadn’t been invaded by the giants and create a presence there. I standardized all the websites across the region. We started to push that instead of traditional marketing channels. We moved faster. That’s why Aviva is so well-established now.
For you and your team, which is currently recognised as the larger challenge – MarTech integration or MarTech strategy?
Integration. Strategy is easy to come up with. It’s integrating with our clients which is the challenge.
Which MarTech brands have you found have / are close to best meeting your expectations when it comes to customer experience? Let us know of any brands which have exceeded expectations.
HubSpot. Shootsta. Pipedrive because they have live chat.
What do you predict as being the top MarTech trends for 2020?
With competition for eyeball time on the rise (eg. The streaming wars), interactive and quality content integrated into an omnichannel marketing system will make the headlines this year.
