Tracking Digital Evolution and Maturity

Several years ago, marketing and social media guru Brian Solis dubbed the phrase “Digital Darwinism” to establish a stance that those who do not continue to evolve their ability to refine, reach and engage with customers through digital channels would be left behind, stuck in an age where the only opportunity in digital was less expensive media buying. Digital has provided an unparalleled ability to target, track and measure, allowing us to leave the age of “Spray and Pray” messaging. But just as it is important to understand how these new tactics and tools can optimize digital marketing performance, the next evolutionary leap is upon us. 

Enter the age of programmatic marketing—the application of data, intelligence and technology in order to automate the ability to identify relevant consumers and deliver highly relevant messaging. From real-time bidding (RTB) platforms and ad exchanges to dynamic creative optimization, shopping cart abandonment campaigns and real time product recommendations, the age of programmatic marketing offers the marriage between intelligent engagement and digital optimization. Yet many early campaigns have lost sight of key strategic imperatives: that the analytics behind the algorithm defining engagement automation must include intelligence around both content and context that can deliver an optimized, relevant, personalized experience for an individual consumer that is of value to the brand. 

To identify where the next digital evolution will impact digital marketing performance, The CMO Council, in partnership with DataXu, embarked on a benchmark of where and how marketers are applying programmatic marketing solutions and strategies to further advance customer engagements online. The study uncovered where and how these new tools and technologies have been embraced by leading brand advertisers, the key challenges to applying programmatic marketing, and how leading senior marketing executives rate their organizations’ ability to identify, reach and engage the right customer through a meaningful, omni-channel approach.

Adform’s Q1 RTB Trend Report 2013 highlights the improving health of programmatic advertising across all devices, with a 66% increase in RTB spend by advertisers in March 2013 alone. - ExchangeWire, June 2013

In a recent IBM study, though 90% of consumers said they visited a physical store before making their last purchase, 35% of these shoppers were unsure whether they'd make their next purchase in a store or online. And 9% of in-store shoppers used a mobile device during their visit to compare prices and read customer reviews. - MarketingProfs, April 2013

According to a CEI Survey, 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience.  But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. - Forbes, January 2013

Customer service provided over online means such as company websites, social media, and online chat is expected to grow by 53% in 2013. Social media as a whole will grow 37%. - Bluewolf, July 2012

Macy's has trained more than 140,000 associates in how they can recognize customers and optimize their shopping experience every day, the single greatest training effort in Macy's 102-year history. - Retail Online Integration, January 2012

Omni-Channel Customer Experience: An Investigation Into the Level of Omni-Channel Approach on the UK Highstreet and Insight Into How and Why Brands Should Adopt and Omni-Channel Strategy - Webcredible

June 2013 - Optimizing the Customer Experience: Four Key Principles for Understanding—and Meeting—the Needs of Omni-Channel Customers - Real Results Magazine

June 2013 - Data-Driven Marketing: How to Turn Customer Information Into Business Value - Business 2 Community

June 2013 - Why Content Marketers Should Love Programmatic Marketing - AdExchanger

June 2013 - B2B Marketers Must Improve Relevance and Performance of Digital Content - Marketwire

May 2013 - Programmatic Marketing in the Age of Digital Darwinism - ClickZ

April 2013 - The Omni-Channel Retail Revolution: Changing the Customer Experience - NAHFA

April 2013 - Making Programmatic Buying More Targeted and Efficient - Direct Marketing News

April 2013 - The Omni-Channel Retail Experience, or How Kay and Jared Jewelers Upped Sales 49% - Marketing Profs

March 2013 - Data-Driven Marketing Is More Important Than Ever - Direct Marketing News

March 2013 - How Different Types of Omni-Channel Services Can Improve the Customer Experience - Smart Insights 

February 2013 - How Far Should Programmatic Marketing Go? - Econsultancy.com 

February 2013 - Why Do Big Data & Programmatic Marketing Actually Matter? - Search Engine Land

February 2013 - The CMO's Guide to Performance Marketing - PerformanceIn.com

January 2013 - Customer Experience: Is It the Chicken or the Egg? - Forbes

January 2013 - Making Omni-Channel Retailing a Reality - Forbes 

January 2013 - Why You Can’t Ignore Programmatic Marketing - Econsultancy

Big Data Creates Big Differences in Digital Marketing Efforts - Blogs.Gartner.com

Programmatic Marketing Introduced at the 4th NexTargeting Summit - XPlus Blog

How to Reach New and Old Customers Through Programmatic Marketing - LiveRamp Blog

Beyond Multi-Channel: The Rise of the Omni-Channel Consumer Experience - Customer Think

RTB Just the Tip of the Programmatic Marketing Spear - Right Media Blog

The Rise of Programmatic Marketing - MediaPost Blogs

Omni-Channel: The Marketing Evolution That Changes Everything

Data-Driven Marketing: The 15 Metrics Everyone in Marketing Should Know 

Taming The Big Data Tidal Wave: Finding Opportunities in Huge Data Streams with Advanced Analytics