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How Some Industry Bigwigs Are Approaching the Data Management Challenge

Many industry decision-makers say data management, which is becoming more complex, is a major challenge.

Industry vendors are responding with data management platforms and some decision-makers are advocating that firms create chief analytic officer (CAO) positions to help address the problem.

In a recent survey of 154 marketers by Adestra and Ascend2, data management and marketing technology were identified as the most difficult digital marketing tactics, according to an article from eMarketer.

Nearly half of survey respondents said they find data management to be challenging. Many marketers who completed the survey added that data management challenges exist because they don’t have adequate in-house resources. Only 5% of respondents said they managed data entirely in house.

Data management is becoming increasingly complicated. Marketers must understand how to manage data gathered from numerous social media platforms, email systems, websites, the internet of things, and traditional channels, such as telephone service centers. In addition to analyzing data for pitching customized advertisements and emails to individuals, marketers must also understand how to use data to assess the ROI of their campaigns.

To make things even more complicated, data may reside in multiple internally-developed systems as well as on cloud-based systems, writes TDWI The Upside.

In Europe, meanwhile, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which seeks to protect individuals’ privacy by regulating the use of data, is creating additional complexity. The regulation applies not only to firms based in Europe but also to other firms that operate there. Brands are also growing increasingly concerned over data security.

Because of the diverse nature of data, many enterprises have found they need to use a variety of vendor supplied tools because no single platform can be optimized for the diverse types of data that exist. That requires that brands have clear strategies for managing data, according to TDWI The Upside.

With those concerns in mind, some marketers advocate that brands create CAO and data translator positions, reports Forbes.

Without a CAO, analytics can be handled by numerous departments, which means the functions can result in silos. Data engineers and scientists, furthermore, may be called upon for creating architecture, but a CAO can go a step further by analyzing and interpreting data.

A CAO is also appealing because most C-level executives have multiple focuses, but a CAO focuses solely on data. A data interpreter can also be helpful by providing meaningful insight into data and by helping individual business units determine what type of data they need for their unique goals.

Tech firms, meanwhile, are touting capabilities of their products to manage data. Just recently, for example, B2B data intelligence firms Radius and Leadspace announced that they have merged under the Radius brand, reports MarTechSeries.

The firms maintain that the merger will allow Radius to improve the services that it provides to more than 200 clients, including American Express, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, and MetLife.

Veeam is also promoting its technology for managing data. It maintains that its Veeam Hyper-Availability Platform helps clients manage data and move from policy-based to behavior-based to make it "smarter" and self-governing. The company also says its technology makes data from any application and across any cloud resources easily available.

Amazon.com’s marketing company, Alexa.com, meanwhile, maintains that its analysis of clients’ data often provides new insights for marketers, according to MarTechSeries.

In some instances, clients believe they already have a deep understanding of customers, but Alexa.com’s data-driven exploration discovers new insights regarding engagement and individuals’ consumption of content. In some instances, insights gleaned from data analysis result in brands changing their content. 

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