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Understanding Martech: How to Create Customer Loyalty In a fast-paced digital world where thousands of voices are vying for attention, companies are struggling to make their voices relevant and heard by individual consumers. Success hinges on whether companies can effectively use customer data to cut through the noise and produce meaningful, personalized interactions that will grow and sustain long-term customer relationships. What if there was a way to automatically and sustainably utilize your consumer data to create customer loyalty?

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Page 1: Understanding Martech: How to Create Customer LoyaltyMartech: How to Create Customer Loyalty In a fast-paced digital world where thousands of voices ... The Customer Journey 8 3 Ready

Understanding Martech: How to Create Customer Loyalty

In a fast-paced digital world where thousands of voices

are vying for attention, companies are struggling to

make their voices relevant and heard by individual

consumers. Success hinges on whether companies can

effectively use customer data to cut through the noise

and produce meaningful, personalized interactions

that will grow and sustain long-term customer

relationships.

What if there was a way to automatically and

sustainably utilize your consumer data to create

customer loyalty?

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Contents

Making it Worthwhile: How to Maximize Your Marketing Technology

Key Fundamentals: The Four Cornerstones of Marketing Technology

Why Invest in MarTech?

13

15

18

Understanding Consumers: The Customer Journey 8

3

Ready for Martech? 21

Sources 24

More Than Just a Trend: The Rise of Digital Marketing

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CINEMA

INTERNET

MAGAZINES

NEWS PAPERS

OUTDOOR

RADIO

TELEVISIO N

62. 8%

1.9%0.3%

8.0%

19. 5%

2.3%

5.2%

Just six years ago, digital advertising comprised

only 1.9% of the total market share for advertising

(see Figure 1).1

More Than Just a Trend: The Rise of Digital Marketing

Today, digital advertising holds 38.3% of the total

advertising market share.3 Researchers predict that by

2020, digital’s share of the advertising market will be near

50%, and that mobile advertising will comprise 67.3% of

the digital advertising space.4

Over the next 12 months, social media platforms are

expected to dominate and continue growing in the digital

marketing space. Social media engagement and marketing

are on the rise (see Figure 2).5 The field of engagement for

customers and potential customers has officially moved

to the digital world.6

Figure 1: Global Ad Spending, Nielsen 2

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With rapidly changing consumer preferences and

technology platforms, how will traditional marketing’s paper

and television approach secure lifelong customers?

It won’t.

While the proliferation of digital devices is a clear driver

of this shift to digital marketing, the rise of marketing

technology (MarTech) also plays a key role. Marketing

technology, an emerging field, is rushing to replace the

traditional marketing approach with higher customer

satisfaction, targeted revenue growth, automation, and a

much better ROI.

Figure 2: Social and Advertising Spending Growth, Marketing Land 7

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MarTech, the New Face of Marketing

But what exactly is MarTech? How does it affect you as a

consumer, and as a strategic business decision maker?

Though the exact definition of marketing technology is

widely debated, it is simply the blending of marketing and

technology. The term “MarTech” refers to the applications

and platforms that allow marketers to engage with their

potential customers in the digital space at every stage of the

customer journey.8

Marketing technology has become increasingly relevant

and necessary, as 80% of customer journeys span multiple

channels (i.e., internet, mobile, television, music streaming

services, billboards, etc.). Companies interact with their

customers on smart phones, laptops, and in-store. MarTech

gives businesses a way to identify, track, and act on each

customer’s preferred channel.

The modern consumer experience is increasingly prone to

complexity and fragmentation, dividing consumers from

comprehensive, personalized service.9 Businesses who

formerly had a clear path to customer satisfaction now find

themselves struggling to connect the numerous, scattered

dots in each customer’s journey. More significantly, they are

unable to create a comprehensive profile of every consumer

with whom they interact.

While traditional marketing has been effective for

centuries, it now lacks the tools to make modern customer

experiences meaningful across all their preferred channels.

“MarTech” refers to the applications

and platforms that allow marketers to

engage with their potential customers

in the digital space at every stage of the

customer journey.

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Customer Centricity is Key

Customer expectations are changing in the online era.

79% of customers want personalized offers based on

purchase history 10, and 88% of customers today expect

a personalized shopping experience.11 Meanwhile,

businesses are struggling to meet those expectations due

to investments in established systems which focus on

operations rather than intelligent customer engagement. To

remain competitive, retailers must change their marketing

approach by centering it on the customer.

Solving this problem in the digital era requires MarTech.

The strategic decision maker faces a real challenge: first, to

provide customer-centric engagement, and second, to mend

the growing divide between suppliers and purchasers. This

need has sparked the growth of the marketing technology

landscape from 150 solutions in 2011 to 7,040 solutions in

2019 (see Figure 3).12

Figure 3: Marketing Technology Landscape, Scott Brinker 13

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How Does It Work?

Marketers can use technology stacks to collect customer

data, create distinct profiles, communicate with customers,

distribute customer data across multiple platforms, identify

and nurture leads, monitor customer service and feedback,

and track campaign success to predict key segments for

strategic focus.14 These tools can be combined together

to formulate a unique approach and integrate every step

of the customer journey into one seamless, data-centered

marketing process. In order for MarTech to be effective in

accurately tracking a customer journey, companies need a

rich and replete variety of online and offline customer data,

including first-party and third-party data across a sufficient

timespan. Some businesses, such as grocery stores, will

receive this customer data every week; others, such as

tire shops, will receive customer data every four years and

consequently will need much more time to build an accurate

and actionable data set. A MarTech stack is only as good

as the underlying customer data. Unified and accurate

customer data provides an actionable set of customer

insights and predictive next-best actions.

Each company markets to a unique audience with distinctive

needs. While marketing technology provides powerful

tools, it is not a plugin marketing solution. MarTech is the

way to enable, optimize, automate, orchestrate, and scale

a company’s marketing strategy. Companies must first

understand their marketing strategy, reflect on customer

trends and behaviors, and map their customer’s journey

in order to understand how to configure their MarTech

stack to maximize the impact on their customers. MarTech

is the tool that enables deeper understanding of customer

attitudes and behaviors in order to shape those attitudes

and behaviors. Before you can leverage the power of

MarTech, however, you need to develop a detailed

understanding of your customer journey.

MarTech is the way to enable,

optimize, automate, orchestrate, and

scale a company’s marketing strategy.

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A customer’s journey is more than just a

purchasing decision; it represents the customer’s

emotional journey toward trust in the brand and

belief in the product.

The Customer Journey

RAPP, a partner agency with Credera, illustrates how a

simple transaction can push a customer toward or away

from brand loyalty (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Affinity Loop, RAPP 15

Affinity Loop

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Without Marketing Technology

Consider this example. Suppose Tom is training for a

marathon and wants to find shoes that will provide

maximum support and durability for high mileage running.

Similar to 81% of consumers who research online before

making an in-store purchase, Tom researches several shoe

manufacturers before landing on the Asics website.16

Research

Since Asics doesn’t offer customer loyalty accounts, Tom

does not log in to the website and the Asics customer

database does not know Tom or his preferences. It does,

however, track third-party cookie data. After browsing the

Asics website for a few minutes, Tom discovers a “shoe

finder” tool and inputs preferences. The Asics Metarun shoe

most closely meets his preferences, but the shoes retail at a

relatively steep price. Tom decides to think about the shoes

before investing in them.

After leaving the Asics site, Tom notices advertisements

for the Metarun shoes on his web browser, Facebook,

Instagram, and Twitter accounts. He receives social media

ads because Asics’s third-party cookie data tracked Tom’s

impression of the Metarun shoes. Retargeting allows Asics

to consistently remarket their brand in front of bounced

traffic, or customers like Tom who browse a website but exit

the page before completing a purchase. For most websites,

only 2% of web traffic converts on the first visit. In order to

reach the other 98% of users and increase the likelihood

of new sales, Asics must retarget individuals who visit its

website but do not make a purchase.17 Though he doesn’t

necessarily realize it, the retargeting ads for Metarun shoes

leave Tom feeling understood, known, and catered to by

Asics.

Purchase

Tom finds himself leaning more toward the Metarun shoes,

but wants to try them on to verify whether they’re the right

choice. After taking a few minutes to walk around in the

shoes at an Asics store, Tom buys them. He drives away as a

satisfied customer, with a positive feeling about his decision.

Asics sends Tom a thank-you email with a promotional code

for his next order.

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Post-Purchase

Unfortunately, Asics has no way of connecting Tom’s in-

store purchase with his previous online research. Asics uses

a customer data warehouse to store digital information

about Tom. Since his in-store experience was not digitally

transcribed, the Metarun shoe purchase is never recorded

under Tom’s profile.

Later the same day, Tom opens his web browser and

continues to receive retargeting ads for the Metarun shoes.

Since Asics’ customer data warehouse doesn’t know about

Tom’s shoe purchase, the re-targeting campaign continues

until it expires. In two weeks, he continues to see ads for the

Metarun shoes which are now offered at a 40% discount.

Rather than feeling affirmed about the purchase, Tom

begins to feel buyer’s remorse, and he associates the new

shoes with feelings of frustration (see Figure 5).

Customer Journey without Martech

Figure 5: Customer Journey without MarTech

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With Marketing Technology

Fortunately, there is a solution to this fragmented customer

experience. Enter MarTech.

Marketing technology offers solutions to this challenge of

disconnected customer information. One key component

to these solutions can be the Customer Data Platform

(CDP). A CDP pulls data from multiple sources such as the

data warehouse and in-store cash registers, cleaning and

combining this data to create a single, structured customer

view of Tom. By implementing a CDP, Asics completely

transforms their understanding of Tom as a customer. They

now have a unified customer database for understanding all

customer and potential customer activity; that information

is accessible to other systems and is managed by the

marketing department.

Stitching in-store and online data together through a CDP

allows Asics to give Tom a consistent, relevant experience

with their brand which results in higher customer

satisfaction and an increase in cross-sell purchase orders.

Research

Now when Tom visits the Asics website, he is prompted

to sign up for a special Asics account. Asics tracks Tom’s

interactions with their website and “shoe finder” tool,

noting his preferences for the Metarun shoe and storing

that information under his CDP customer profile.

Purchase

When Tom visits the store, an Asics representative asks

for his Asics loyalty number and offers to show him the

Metarun shoes. At checkout, Tom is asked again for his

loyalty number and he receives a 10% new customer

discount, affirming his decision to buy the Metarun shoes.

Asics uses Tom’s loyalty number to connect his in-store and

online activities in the CDP, creating a coherent customer

profile. Tom receives an email from Asics with a promotional

code for his next order.

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Post-Purchase

The next time Tom checks his Facebook and Twitter feeds,

he no longer receives Metarun shoe ads or updates about

Metarun shoe sales. Instead, he sees Asics cross-selling

advertisements for running socks and realizes that he needs

new socks for his upcoming marathon. Using marketing

technology, Asics was able to transform Tom’s shoe

purchase from a transactional experience to a relational

experience, completely customized to his needs and

preferences (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Customer Journey with MarTech

Customer Journey with MarTech

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The traditional customer journey is linear and ends

with a purchase, concluding the interaction until

the customer actively decides to pursue another

purchase. Over the last few decades however,

customers have diversified their purchasing across

in-store, phone, online, and mobile channels.

Companies like Amazon have created customer

demand for immediate delivery, encouraging

customer engagement along a fluid purchasing

journey. This concept completely transformed a

customer’s journey from a singular purchasing

experience to a dynamic relationship with the seller.

Rather than requiring customers to initiate their

next purchase, the new customer journey follows an

infinity loop model, where companies gather data

about a customer’s personal preferences and use

data about past purchases to cater messages and future

purchasing recommendations. Progressive marketers no

longer passively wait for customers to re-engage; they

proactively procure personal and relevant content to

nurture ongoing engagement with their customers.

Making It Worthwhile: How to Maximize Your Marketing Technology

Figure 7: The Traditional Funnel, McKinsey 18

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In the infinity loop, the customer experience is a set of

perceptions that a customer carries throughout their

awareness, acquisition, development, and retention with a

company (see Figure 8).

• Awareness is identifying you as a customer.

• Acquisition is winning you as a customer.

• Development is engaging you as a customer over time.

• Retention is ultimately keeping you as a repeat customer.

Positive customer experiences enable businesses to attract

and retain more customers, increasing revenue.

So how can you use MarTech to create this type of

engagement?

Figure 8: Customer Journey Infinity Model

Customer Journey Infinity Model

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While you can have the best MarTech stack in

the market, the value of that software cannot be

realized without the right data, people, processes,

and measurement. Mastery of these four areas is

integral to the execution of a successful marketing

technology strategy that keeps customers flowing

through the stages of awareness, acquisition,

development, and retention.

The Four Cornerstones of Marketing Technology

1. People

People are critical to maintaining the effectiveness

of marketing technology software over time. As

customer preferences change, a firm must adapt the

way its software reaches and tracks its customers.

While MarTech software can be customized to

behavioral trends, it doesn’t do this automatically;

human insight is required to observe these changes

and then act on them. Though MarTech personnel

need to have experience in both technology and

marketing, customer-centric creativity within the

software stack sets high-performing marketing

technologists apart. Innovative digital solutions are

fostered by a unique left and right brain balance.

Effective MarTech managers seamlessly combine an

understanding of the market with contagiously agile

and iterative methodology. Lastly, companies need

a sufficient volume of marketing technologists who

have bandwidth to analyze customer interactions

with the software.

2. Process

Modern marketing demands processes that reach

customers across all channels, whether online,

in-store, or on a phone. With multiple and at times

simultaneous sales campaigns, targeted email

marketing, and web browser tags, firms can no

longer be campaign-centric. They must account

for external factors that affect a customer’s buying

preferences. Modern marketing strategy prioritizes

customer-centricity over campaign- or channel-

centricity.

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Optimizing focus on customer needs and the

customer journey requires tightening the analytic

loop of A/B testing insights actionable

changes. By testing insights and changes through

a continuous analytic loop, marketers can receive

feedback closer to real-time. Having touchpoints

and KPIs along that analytic loop is critical to

ensure that customer insights do not compromise

quality for speed. Automation plays a critical role

in maintaining the balance between quality and

speed, enabling technology to do the busy work so

people can focus energy on the areas that “move

the dial” in a customer journey. Companies must

discern which steps in the customer journey can and

should be automated with technology, and which

steps deserve the time and effort of skilled staff. By

creating an automated analytic loop that iterates on

feedback in real-time, MarTech processes become

efficient and scalable, enabling companies to manage

multiple campaigns and channels for each customer.

It is also critical to define and document processes

around planning, reporting, request submissions,

customer journey mapping, content creation,

request reviews and approvals, etc., before

asking teams and technology to implement those

processes.19 Teams must also have a common

understanding of their company’s goal with MarTech

implementation, whether that goal is raising

customer retention by 30% or increasing marketing

ROI by 20%. In order to create an effective process

for marketing technology, companies need to

establish a common platform for knowledge sharing

and communication. Team members need to be able

to share insights in real-time through a feedback

loop to ensure that information is getting to the right

people.20

“Marketers are seeing ROI from

most MarTech tools. For instance,

conversion rate optimization

(CRO) solutions show an average

ROI of 223.7%.” 22

3. Data

The best way to increase customer centricity

is by gathering quality data on individual

customers. While time consuming, customizing

the data categories gathered is critical to having

a foundational, 360-degree understanding of

customers. To learn more about the data you should

be gathering on individual customers, see Credera’s

“A New Era of Customer Analytics” blog post, which

details different approaches.21

While quality data is a key priority, quantity

significantly shapes the data-gathering strategy.

Gathering many categories of data is unhelpful

if those categories don’t have a high fill rate and

therefore aren’t actionable. In other words, it’s

better to ask for only two or three items of

information and receive a 95% response rate from

customers than to ask for 12 items of information

and receive a 25% response rate. Figuring out the

balance between response rate and requested

information can be difficult but is critical to inform

business decisions. Test this process, track your

customer conversion rate, and iterate on the

categories of customer data you’re collecting to

ensure the data is actionable and relevant. Always

keep in mind, people will choose to opt out if you ask

for too much information.

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Thoughtful data collection and

activation is key to unlocking

opportunities for cost savings,

increase cross-selling, and

marketing campaigns.

Once the people and processes are in place to

support customer-centric data gathering, that

data must be connected to the MarTech tool and

activated to personalize the marketing messages

sent to each customer. Customer data needs to be

gathered across different channels so information

from in-store experiences, online web browsing,

and mobile app usage can be integrated to create a

holistic view of each customer’s preferences, buying

habits, and interactions.

4. Measurement

Once the data on individual customers and their

responses have been gathered, many firms struggle

with knowing which step in the customer journey

should “get credit” for a customer’s decision to buy

or not to buy. Measurement and attribution within

MarTech are especially tricky because marketing

technology enables interaction with customers at

every step of the customer journey, producing many

variables that could each be partially responsible for

a customer’s progress along the customer journey.

Knowing where to attribute success and how much

weight a certain step in the customer journey should

be given for a customer’s success requires intensive,

multi-variable regression analysis. Fortunately,

several tools exist that automate this process

of analysis. Neustar, Optimine, and Marketing

Evolution are all MarTech tools that specialize

in attribution measurement and consistently

deliver high performance in data ingestion, unified

measurement, insights visualization, integrations,

and account services. Clearcode, a trusted AdTech

and MarTech development firm, provides detailed

recommendations of MarTech software, suggesting

KissMetrics, PiwikPRO, and BrightFunnel for

attribution and analytics.23 Measuring and correctly

attributing success is critical because it enables

evaluation of payback over time.

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Implementing marketing technology provides

significant benefits for customers who receive a

richer, customized experience, but what tangible

benefit does it have for the strategic business

decision maker? Four results compel an investment

in marketing technology software:

1. Customer Satisfaction

First and perhaps most intuitively,

marketing technology improves customer

satisfaction. By helping companies create

a 360-degree customer view, MarTech

enables personalization at an individual level,

enriching the interactions customers have

with a company’s brand and service. When

Why Invest In MarTech?

customers perceive their interactions and

purchases positively, they’re more likely

to exercise brand loyalty when making

buying decisions. Marketing technology

platforms have been known to raise customer

satisfaction by as much as 35%, indicating a

significantly increased loyalty and retention

rate.24 It’s no accident that providing

customized interactions improves customer

perception of one’s brand.

Companies that automate lead

management see a 10% or more

bump in revenue in six to nine

months’ time. 25

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2. Revenue Stream

Investing in marketing technology directly impacts

a company’s revenue stream. When customers are

affirmed and feel catered to, they are more likely

to buy and are often willing to pay a little extra for

that service. MarTech is so effective at facilitating

personalized customer experiences that 56%

of companies who use a major CRM tool saw an

increase in their sales revenue as a direct result

of implementing the software. An 11% increase in

purchases was attributed to personalized customer

emails, while personalized web recommendations

drove up purchases by 21%.26 Personalization has

an impact not only on the consumer, but on the

business owner too.

3. Smarter Spending

Profit maximization is not only a consequence of

increasing revenue; it also follows a reduction in

expenses. MarTech enables smarter spending of

marketing costs and budget by allowing companies

to glean more value for every marketing dollar.

MarTech can also help solve puzzling problems

like cart abandonment—when a customer finds an

item they want online, puts it in their virtual cart,

but doesn’t complete the checkout process. After

strategically gathering and analyzing customer data

using Marketo, a MarTech platform, Rackspace was

able to decrease its shopping cart abandonment

by 10%, capturing lost revenue at the click of a

button.27 If the data exists to inform strategic

marketing decisions, it would be wasteful not to

gather that data and analyze it on a granular level,

applying it to every customer within reach.

A) First-party data: Technology helps companies

save money through maximizing first-party

data. Many companies struggle with effectively

understanding, organizing, and using the

data gathered from first-hand customer

interactions with their website and services.

These companies often feel forced into paying

a third party for mined and organized customer

data in order to glean a few actionable but

static insights about their own customer base.

Through marketing technology software,

companies can harvest meaningful insights

in real-time using the data they’ve already

collected, saving them the money and time

spent in chasing down third-party data. When

effectively gathered and organized, first-

party data enables cross-channel and content

customization, as well as delivery customization.

B) Cross-channel and content customization:

By integrating customer data across multiple

customer channels, marketing technology

enables companies to develop a comprehensive

view of each customer across mobile devices,

tablets, computers, and the telephone. The

software gathers data across channels to

Businesses who nurture leads make

50% more sales at a cost 33% less

than non-nurtured prospects.” 28

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discern other products, trends, or qualities the

customer likes and customize messaging content

accordingly. Companies such as Angie’s List have

witnessed the impact of this effective technique,

experiencing an 18% increase in cross-channel

activations and an average 5-12% lift in return

on ad spend since using marketing technology.29

MarTech helps companies find, effectively connect

with, and satisfy their customers.

C) Delivery customization: MarTech also reveals

insights about each customer’s preferred method

of communication, allowing companies to

customize delivery along with content. MyBuys

reports that consumers purchase 300% more often

with retailers who use customer-centric marketing

practices (MyBuys, January 2010 – Dec 2012).30

That statistic presents staggering opportunity. By

using marketing technology to identify customers

who do not convert through a channel such as

paper catalogs, companies can stop wasting money

by sending magazines to people who will throw

them away anyway. Instead, they can try marketing

through a different channel, such as email or text

messages, to find which method of communication

the customer prefers. Customer centricity is key

to strong loyalty, retention, smart spending, and

strategic growth.

D) Customer Churn: Companies who don’t embrace

customer centricity witness a much steeper churn

rate. New customers are expensive: Harvard

Business Review reports that the cost of acquiring

a new customer can be anywhere from five to 25

times as expensive as retaining an old customer.31

By finding smart ways to engage with customers

through the right channels, marketing technology

can increase customer retention by 34%.32 Since

a 5% increase in customer retention translates

to more than a whopping 25% increase in profit,

MarTech can potentially increase profits by more

than 125%.33 Retaining existing customers truly is

critical. Marketing technology isn’t a trendy new

idea; it’s a relevant and necessary strategy for

smart business.

4. Automated Processes

This leads directly into the fourth compelling

reason to implement marketing technology:

automated processes.

Marketing technology allows companies to direct

their time and energy toward processes that truly

require manual, human decision making to add

value. The software is programmed to run analytics

on customer data using iterative algorithms,

highlighting subjective points in the customer

journey where human interpretation is required

to guide the company’s marketing strategy. 64% of

ecommerce marketers claim that email marketing

and marketing automation contributes to more

sales, providing customized content to consumers

while freeing up employees’ time.34

MarTech is not only worth the investment; it is

critical to compete for customers today. Case

studies show that companies experience an

average of 60% ROI within just 12 months of

implementing marketing technology.35 In retrospect,

saving money and increasing revenue has a

dramatic impact on ROI. MarTech simply empowers

companies to put that logic to practice. The

numbers tell a clear story—marketing technology

pays for itself.36

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Ready for MarTech?

21

Intelligent customer engagement in today’s digitally

charged world is more critical now than ever before.

Customer satisfaction is key, but the days of traditional

paper and television marketing just won’t cut it anymore. To

remain competitive, companies must address consumers on

a more personal level.

Credera has deep experience improving our client’s

competitiveness in the MarTech space. Recently, Chili’s

wanted to improve their digital guest experience and grow

revenue with re-designed mobile apps. After reviewing

their goals, Credera recognized an opportunity for Chili’s

to pair a re-designed online ordering platform with mobile

apps tailored to members of the My Chili’s Rewards

loyalty program. We worked alongside Chili’s to align their

technology platforms with digital marketing and operations

strategies resulting in sustained double-digit growth in

online sales, improved operational processes including

curbside pickup and delivery, omnichannel personalization

and a 4.8 star rating in the App Store.

Another Credera client and online retailer needed to

replatform their ecommerce with a comprehensive content

management system, integrated fulfillment process, and

advanced analytics tracking. We helped our client create a

seamless user experience across marketing and ecommerce

pages, and integrated analytics tracking and engagement

tracking during each stage of development. This enabled

our client to successfully sell their products with more

relevance and personalization.

Now that you know more about how marketing technology

revolutionizes the customer experience, you have the

power to discover insights and strategies unique to your

business. MarTech provides critical information and

analysis that enables you to focus efforts on marketing

activities that deliver the highest value. You know how to

gather actionable customer data, drive deeper engagement

across consumer channels, customize content and delivery,

and measure each step of a customer’s 360-degree

journey. Most importantly, you can personalize and tailor

MarTech tools toward your business needs using the four

cornerstones that guide successful marketing technology

implementation.

Now is the time to take customer engagement at your

company to the next level. You can’t afford to continue

engaging with customers using old practices. Take full

advantage of your customer data to make sustainable,

iterative learning a reality at your company today.

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22

Phil Lockhart

Phil Lockhart is a Vice President and Partner at Credera and holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from

Iowa State University. Phil has an extensive background in consumer facing websites and eCommerce

ranging from platform/feature development, operational definition, website performance optimization,

analytics, a/b testing, and SEO/SEM best practices. Phil has experience in consulting across many major

eCommerce and operational functions including supply chain management, customer service, in-store

operations, merchandising, and marketing. Phil recently oversaw the strategy and execution of building

an eCommerce channel from the ground up to over $250 million in annual revenue in just a few years.

About the Authors

Credera is a full-service management consulting, user experience design, and technology solutions firm.

We work with Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, government organizations and clients across a broad range

of industries, and we give them the experience and perspective to solve today’s toughest business and technology challenges. 

Founded in 1999, we currently have office locations in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Chicago, and New York.

F I R M H I G H L I G H T S

Credera possesses a unique combination of deep technical expertise with extensive business backgrounds. Our innovation,

analytics and owner’s mindset separates us from our competitors. Our rigorous recruiting and selection processes provide top

talent at every position – all modeling our core values of integrity, humility, professionalism and excellence.

Greg Gough

Greg Gough is a Principal in the Analytics & Business Intelligence Practice in Dallas. His specialty is

helping Fortune 500 clients unlock and apply customer insights to drive growth. Prior to joining Credera,

Greg held leadership positions with Hitachi Consulting and Accenture, worked in the CPG industry at

Dean Foods, and helped create a customer insights startup. He has focused on the Retail/CPG industry

and served clients including At Home, JC Penney, Fossil, Pier 1, General Mills, Neiman Marcus and

Harley-Davidson. Greg has a Bachelor of Business Administration, Management Information Systems

from Texas A&M University. Greg lives in Dallas and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.

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23

Hannah Falkenberg

Hannah is a Consultant in Credera’s Management Consulting practice. She has experience in program

management both as an Agile Scrum Master and as the lead Business Analyst. Hannah has led multiple

product development workstreams, including leading a 20+ person development team in building a new

Telecomm Billing system, and also has experience defining and managing a website redesign. Prior to

joining Credera, she spent two years as an investment analyst for the Baylor Angel Network, providing

buy-side due diligence for accredited investors seeking to invest seed capital in young ventures. During

her time at Baylor, Hannah represented over 17,000 students in her role as Student Regent to the

Board of Regents, and served as a member of AEI’s Executive Council through the Baugh Center for

Free Enterprise. She graduated from the University Scholar Honors Program at Baylor University with

concentrations in political science, finance, and data science. Her honors thesis applied regression

analysis in studying the correlation between indigent defense appointments and criminal case outcomes.

Hannah brings experience in oral presentations, legal research and argumentation, startup analysis,

process engineering, and commercial lending.

Lauren Glick

Lauren is a Consultant in Credera’s Management Consulting Practice. Serving clients from biotech to the

airline industry, Lauren has gained experience developing and delivering both Program Management and

Organizational Change Management strategy and implementation projects. Prior to joining the Credera

team, she developed experience in global logistics and supply planning through her work at various

organizations including Levi Straus & Co., Columbia Sportswear, and Nike Inc. Lauren graduated from

Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business with a BBA in Finance and Supply Chain Management.

She has a desire to learn, serve, and problem solve.

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24

1 https://www.nielsen.com/content/corporate/us/en/

newswire/2013/the-small-screen-captured-big-ad-revenue-

in-2012.html

2 Ibid.

3 https://vizzlo.com/gallery/100percent-stacked-bar-chart/example/

share-of-global-advertising-spend-by-media-2016-2018

4 https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-ad-spending

5 https://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2016/03/

Marketing-Dollars-Salesforce-report.png

6 https://clearcode.cc/blog/what-is-martech

7 https://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2016/03/

Marketing-Dollars-Salesforce-report.png

8 https://clearcode.cc/blog/what-is-martech

9 https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/modules/marketing-and-

service-for-cc/units/get-started-with-unified-commerce

10 https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/modules/marketing-and-

service-for-cc/units/get-started-with-unified-commerce

11 http://www.evergage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2016-

Trends-in-Personalization-Survey-Report-Evergage-final.pdf

12 https://chiefmartec.com/2019/04/marketing-technology-

landscape-supergraphic-2019

13 Ibid.

14 https://www.forbes.com/sites/

forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/04/27/the-origin-

of-the-martech-stack-and-how-to-build-one-that-drives-

growth/#524b31e34524

15 https://www.rapp.com/about

16 https://thornleyfallis.com/81-of-shoppers-research-online-

before-buying

17 https://retargeter.com/what-is-retargeting-and-how-does-

it-work/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_

campaign=what-is-retargeting&utm_keyword=%2Bwhat%20

%2Bretargeting&gclid=CjwKCAjw2rjcBRBuEiwAheKeL_

18 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-

sales/our-insights/the-consumer-decision-journey

19 https://visionedgemarketing.com/three-proven-practices-to-

overcome-martech-failure

20 https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/marketing-automation-

2/3-ways-to-futureproof-your-martech-stack

21 https://www.credera.com/blog/business-intelligence/new-era-

customer-analytics

22 https://venturebeat.com/2015/12/23/the-fortune-500-martech-

solutions-the-fortune-30-million-cant-afford-to-miss-webinar-

recap

23 https://clearcode.cc/blog/what-is-martech/

24 https://www.salesforce.com/ca/form/demo/1-crm-service.jsp

25 https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics

26 http://www.telnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Voice-of-

the-Customer-Survey-Results-May-2013-PDF-customer-facing.

pdf

27 https://www.marketo.com/customers/rackspace/

28 https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics

Sources

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25

29 https://a.sfdcstatic.com/content/dam/www/ocms/assets/pdf/

datasheets/mc-marketing-fieldguide-customer-trailblazer.pdf

30 MyBuys, January 2010 – December 2012

31 https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-

customers

32 http://www.telnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Voice-of-

the-Customer-Survey-Results-May-2013-PDF-customer-facing.

pdf

33 http://www2.bain.com/Images/BB_Prescription_cutting_costs.pdf

34 https://www.emailmonday.com/marketing-automation-statistics-

overview/

35 http://www.telnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Voice-of-

the-Customer-Survey-Results-May-2013-PDF-customer-facing.

pdf

36 https://nucleusresearch.com/research/single/salesforce-

marketing-cloud-roi-case-study-life-time-fitness/

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