Delivered at MGS Europe 19 by Farhad Divecha, Managing Director, AccuraCast.
Get a first-hand account of how Artificial Intelligence and automation are changing the way digitally mature brands and agencies work. The session will cover the benefits and obstacles businesses face when adopting AI, and case studies of successful AI implementation in cross-device marketing campaigns.
Board members, C-level, and Director+ level executives from retail and ecommerce, technology, media and publishing, and other businesses participated in our ClickZ and Search Engine Watch: Benchmark survey 2020
29.3% marketing leaders thought their current marketing technology stack is average in terms of achieving their marketing goals
46.3% said their marketing budgets are staying the same, while 28.4% said their marketing budgets are increasing
Marketing leaders are planning to increase their marketing technology spends
The top six technology marketers want to evaluate and invest in were – Search and social advertising, ecommerce marketing tools, experience building and management
Lots more to discover in a quick snapshot
We picked the brains of Director+ level executives to bring you juicy data insights on martech spending budgets, the technology they are keen on buying with a further detailed drill-down of each segment. More observations from the industry’s biggest acquisitions in the first quarter.
ClickZ and Search Engine Watch: Benchmark survey 2020
We recently started tracking six core marketing trends to understand what’s brewing in the marketing technology industry and what exactly are marketing leaders thinking.
Board members, C-level execs, and Director+ level participants from professional services, retail and ecommerce, technology, media and publishing, and education businesses across UK, USA, and India participated in our benchmark survey.
Here are results of the ClickZ and Search Engine Watch: Benchmark survey 2020.
46.3% respondents are keeping the same marketing budget
Majority are looking to invest in search and social advertising technology
29.3% marketers thought their current marketing technology stack is average in terms of achieving their marketing goals
Marketers are more focused on maintaining their marketing budgets
46.3% said their marketing budgets are staying the same
28.4% said their marketing budgets are increasing
25.3 said their marketing budgets are decreasing
32% are increasing their spend on marketing technology
45.2% said they are sticking with their current spends on marketing technology, while 32.9% are increasing their marketing technology spends. There was also a smaller segment of 21.9% said they plan on decreasing their marketing technology budget.
How much marketing budget have marketers dedicated to marketing technology?
40% of the marketing budget is dedicated to marketing technology.
What technology are marketers keen on evaluating or purchasing right now?
Content and experience, data, advertising and promotion stood out as the most looked at technology investments.
The next segment gives you a detailed view of these specific technologies.
Top 6 technology marketers want to evaluate or purchase
Our Benchmark survey 2020 further drilled down specifics of technology types marketers are interested in evaluating or purchasing across niches of advertising, sales, management, and more.
Advertising and Promotion
Search and social advertising, mobile marketing, and display and programmatic advertising are the top three in this segment.
Commerce and Sales
Technology related to ecommerce marketing, affiliate marketing, and sales automation stood out as the most sorted after sub-sections that marketers would put their money on.
Content and Experience
Web experience building and management clocks in at numero uno with 50% marketers favouring it for an investment. The other hot favourites were – email marketing, interactive content, and SEO that tie-up at 47.4% each.
Data
Since data serves more like the all-knowing-eye of a business, the quality and technology serve as the make or break factors. Marketers’ most preferred technology investments were:
Mobile and web analytics
Marketing analytics, performance, and attribution
Audience/Marketing data and data enhancement
The least interesting technology platforms were CDP, DMP, iPaas, cloud/data integration and tag management falling in a range of 13% to 15%.
Management
Project and workflow management software got the lion’s share of the lot with 47.2%, the current work from home/remote work situation due to the COVID-19 lockdown could’ve been one.
Coming in second were budgeting and finance, and vector analysis with 38.9%. Collaboration, product management, and talent management software fall in the lowest slab of 33% to 36%.
Social and Relationships
The pandemic has further proven that brand relations and sentiment matter. Which is why 61.5% marketers flocked towards wanting to invest in social media marketing and monitoring tools. Next in line were:
Customer experience (46.2%)
CRM (41%)
Events, meetings and webinars (41%)
Advocacy, loyalty, and referrals (38.5%)
Influencers (38.5%)
Martech M&A deals dropped by less than 60%
Luma’s Q1 2020 Market Report showed that martech which was a hot market for M&As drastically dropped by ~60% both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.
Noteworthy martech M&A deal segments from Q1 2020
Despite the global economy slowdown, these were some marketing technology industry segments that saw acquisition deals complete.
Personalization and CDP: Salesforce’s acquisition of personalization and CDP company
CRM: Evergage and CRM tool developer Vlocity for $1.3 billion
M&A deal counts fell in Q1 2020 which was lower than the expected when compared to Q1 2019:
Adtech M&As: Dropped from 13 to 7 transactions
Martech M&As: Dropped from 38 to 15
Digital content M&As: Dropped from 23 to 18
However, M&As in the D2C sector rose from two to six transactions in Q1 2020. This is a positive indicator that the D2C sector would be better placed as consumers will be more comfortable to make the shift from brick-and-mortar retailers to online purchasing post the pandemic.
Top picks of topics our readers loved this week / Top picks for this week / Readers’ choice for this week
Steps to prepare for the business world past COVID-19. The weekly key insights articles continued to pique marketers’ interest.
A breath of fresh air was that our readers were also keen on non-COVID content which dealt with mastering competitor analysis for digital marketing success.
The next five years will see an enormous increase in digitisation within the logistics industry. The logistics sector has, until recently, been slow on the uptake of latest digital technologies.
Logistics organisations spend on advanced change to broaden effectiveness, improvement, and speed and timing of calculated administrations, along these lines, expanding consumer loyalty and income. Among an assortment of quick mechanical development and in an inexorably computerised condition where advanced changes are influencing the business, the vast majority of the CEOs of transport & logistics companies.
Digitalisation Applied to Logistics Industry
With modern IoT, AI, and significant data innovations, logistics stands an opportunity of being almost completely reformed. Even the way it’s, it’s apparent that the sector needs digital reforms. With the expansion of self-driving tech and Vehicle-to-Vehicle innovations, logistics industry must evaluate these possibilities and adapt to them. Consistent with Transparency Market Research Report, the worldwide digital transformation spending in logistics market is anticipated to succeed in US$ 94,972.3 Million by 2026 at a CAGR of 10.7% during 2018-2026.
6 Key Technology Trends of Digitalization in Logistics
The customer needs in logistics and travel increase because the number of providers grows per annum. Now both B2B and B2C companies need to compete for delivering maximal satisfaction, which is now influenced by more factors than ever.
Let’s take a glance at what makes up successful digitalization, and what should be the critical points in building a digitalization strategy. It defined six key technology trends of successful logistics digitalization.
1. e-AWB
The electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB) is that the initiative to industry digitalisation. it’s a standardised digital version of the prevailing paper Air Waybill which follows cargo from shipper to delivery.
The e-AWB hugely improves efficiencies in tracking and processing cargo data also as increasing transparency, improving security and reducing costs and delays. it’s thus far received an honest uptake, with the International air transportation Association (IATA) declaring the e-AWB its default contract of carriage earlier this year. Big airlines like Lufthansa and Emirates have already implemented it et al. like Delta Airlines and United Airlines are expected to follow soon, meaning an expected 80 per cent industry adoption by 2020.
2. AI and machine learning
The potential for AI and ML in logistics is huge: a supply chain may be a veritable goldmine of structured and unstructured data, and by harnessing and analysing it, identifying patterns and generating insight into every link of the availability chain, logistics companies can dramatically transform operations.
ML can help companies uncover patterns in supply chain data using algorithms that pinpoint the most factors influencing their supply network’s success, while learning continuously and simultaneously. These patterns can relate to inventory levels, supplier quality, forecasting demand, production planning, transportation management and more, and provides companies the knowledge and insights to scale back freight costs, improve supplier performance and minimize supplier risk.
3. Cloud Logistics
Cloud logistics is accepting fast appropriation with 60 percent of logistics suppliers previously utilizing cloud administrations and another 30 percent anticipating doing as such.
As data shifts to the cloud, logistics IT services are getting available on a versatile, on-demand, pay-per-use model. this suggests smaller businesses not got to hand over on monolithic IT structures, paying just for what they have once they need it.
Services like Shipwire and Freight already provide real-time cloud-based transport management systems that cover all logistics processes from procurement to billing, making the entire process easier and cheaper for SMEs.
4. Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT are going to be subsequent game changer. Combined with cutting edge availability and sensors, it’ll leave for all intents and purposes any article to be associated with the web any place it’s, which means full discernibility and straightforwardness from shipper to conveyance. No wonder it’s expected to get a possible $1.9 trillion for the logistics industry.
IoT-connected sensors will monitor temperature and humidity for sensitive cargo like food and pharmaceuticals. Near Field Communication (NFC) tags will provide product authentication with the faucet of a smartphone, thus protecting against counterfeiting and theft.
5. Blockchain
Further away but with huge potential is blockchain. This blockchain technology decentralises information, expanding straightforwardness and detectability by giving each member inside the chain the keys to imperative data on an item’s excursion. By reducing complexity and breaking down trade barriers, it could lead on to a 5 per cent increase in global GDP and 15 per cent in global trade.
Supply chains will become more efficient as all parties involved can track the progress and standing of products. Digitalisation of important documents just like the e-AWB and bill of lading, opens these up to the likelihood of blockchain adoption, allowing the first document to be issued, transferred and received on distributed ledgers that are visible to all or any participants within the process, increasing efficiency and security across the availability chain.
6. Autonomous vehicles and platooning
Autonomous forklifts are as of now very ordinary in present day stockrooms, air terminals, ports and other gracefully chain areas. And that we will soon see autonomous trucks on the roads, delivering goods to be unloaded by autonomous forklifts and put in warehouses by automated conveyor belts and robotic arms.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communications will allow autonomous trucks to platoon, whereby multiple trucks drive bumper to bumper to scale back costs. The improved drag and reduced concertina from slowing down and accelerating means less fuel is employed, which makes up 30 percent of the entire operating costs of a truck.
Conclusion
With developing client desires and creating rivalry, logistics organizations got the chance to get before advancements and digitalize their key business forms. Using samples of Amazon and Walmart and applying main technologies may be a place to start out. To frame the development progressively maintainable, it’s basic to help out different logistics suppliers, put resources into basic computerised stages and trade understanding.
Most importantly, each implemented innovation should be assessed supported customer’s feedback. Additionally, it ought to establish clear metrics which will evaluate the value and efficiency of a specific process after the technology was implemented. taking note of feedback is that the only thanks to reckon on the proper track.
The coronavirus crisis is taking its toll on the creative community. As clients cancel projects and whole businesses go bust the trickle-down effect is hurting creators in both direct and indirect ways – from the composer scoring music for ad agencies to the Instagram influencer promoting the latest fashion line, new revenue streams are needed to make up for the shortfall.
Enter the ‘passion economy’, in which a growing number of people are using digital platforms to monetise their unique skills. This is cutting out the intermediary – the record label, online school, film studio, newspaper – as creators build their own channels, grow their own followings. In any case, these intermediaries have in recent years merely become the distribution and marketing function anyway, and that’s something that anyone with access to social media can do themselves now.
Think of a calligrapher sharing their techniques on Skillshare, a gamer playing through their favourite video game on Twitch, a journalist publishing articles directly on Substack or a musician releasing new folk-pop tracks to their paying Patreon supporters.
The world is, as NPR’s Adam Davidson, author of The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century posits, moving from a ‘widget economy’ of one-size-fits all products for everyone, brought to you by multinational companies and their cookie-cutter staff, to a ‘passion economy’ in which we shed the limiting job titles of the 20th century and turn our real passions and natural skills into a self-made cottage industry.
In these uncertain times, overshadowed by COVID-19, this shift is now accelerating at a rate of knots. As ‘normal’ jobs lack the certainty we once sought in them, more of us than ever are taking a fun side hustle and wondering how to turn it into a full-blown career.
The benefits of this new model are many. It’s not just about keeping all the revenue, but also about direct and unmediated access to the audience, and to their data. That provides complete control and creative freedom, as well as unfiltered access to invaluable customer insights on which creative and commercial decisions can be based to best serve the end user. Additionally, this direct relationship offers a far more authentic experience for the audience.
Today’s consumer understands perfectly how that works. At one time such a boldly commercial framework around artistic creation would have seemed crass, and at odds with pure creative values. But in an era where the most sought after career by kids today is ‘YouTuber’, and your average 7-year-old understands exactly how those influencers earn a crust, we’re happier than ever to support the people we admire to make more of the stuff we love.
Love changes everything
March 2020 saw creator sponsorship platform Patreon having its busiest month on record, with over 30,000 new signups in the first three weeks of that month alone. Meanwhile Substack, the fast-growing subscription newsletter/blog/podcast platform boasts around 100,000 paying subscribers to its creators there. Substack’s 12 top-earning writers make an average of more than $160,000 each, the company told BuzzFeed News. It’s clear from these metrics that today’s creative sees their pay check increasingly coming from fans.
Streaming sites like Twitch, IGTV and YouTube are booming too, as people look for both entertainment and self-improvement during a quarantine. Creators are stepping up to offer value – from Joe Wicks’ daily live PE classes on YouTube to Italian chef Massimo Bottura offering cooking classes on Instagram, from artist Matt Fussell’s hours-long art tutorials to Laura Marling offering free guitar lessons on Instagram.
Even before this unprecedented time of upheaval, consumers of media were becoming happier to pay for quality content from people they respect, directly from them rather than through a platform or publisher. After all, advertising revenue barely covers the bills for most creators, and the publishers who traditionally act as gatekeepers are losing their exclusive control over that reach.
Coronavirus is driving this burgeoning passion economy into the mainstream much faster than expected, and it’s a beacon of light for everyone stuck at home right now, whether as a vital income stream or a welcome distraction from the angst-ridden news cycle.
The chief executive of the Advertising Association, Stephen Woodford and M&C Saatchi managing director, Tom Firth have discussed the longer-term impact that the industry’s response to the Coronavirus will have on advertising as a sector.
Financial organisations can benefit immensely from a user-friendly, sophisticated, and secure IT strategy. It is crucial to manage and safeguard customers’ data, which is possible only by eliminating risks and minimising downtime as well as security breaches. Most financial organisations need help in this regard. It is best to work with an experienced managed IT, service provider. Taking this step can help financial firms free up key resources, lower IT costs, protect data, and enhance functional and operational efficiency.
It’s no secret that the modern economic landscape is abound with volatility and unpredictability. Financial institutions are regularly required to traverse it while mitigating risks and maintaining compliance. These firms also have the responsibility of securely managing sensitive business and customer data. This is where hiring a reliable managed IT services provider can pay off.
Adopting managed services makes perfect sense as they empower financial institutions to respond more strategically to threats and breaches. These services also enable firms to better organize, operate, and protect their business.
It is best to tie up with a local managed IT services provider as only such a partner will understand all the compliance elements applicable in your region. So, a financial firm offering services in Detroit should engage in managed IT services in Detroit for its needs. Ensuring this is crucial.
Before finding out how managed service providers help financial companies, let’s take a look at some of the most pressing problems plaguing them currently.
1. Challenges Faced by Financial Firms
Financial institutions deal with several operational challenges, which make them turn to managed IT service providers. Here are some of the main ones.
Maintaining Regulatory Compliance
Continuously changing compliance needs to be tracked and adhered to by financial institutions when collecting customer data. Regulatory compliance dictates how these institutes collect, store, and use not only this data but also their cash reserves, and determines how they make loan decisions.
Keeping up with the changing guidelines while deploying user-friendly and compliant tools that help fulfill regulatory requirements can be immensely challenging for financial organisations.
Working with Legacy Systems
Several financial institutions work with legacy systems, databases, and applications. While these frameworks are crucial to the functioning of businesses, they can impair their ability to respond to fluctuating market conditions and to adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. Upgrading/modernizing systems can be costly and disrupt day-to-day business operations.
Modern financial markets are as competitive as they are volatile. Revenues are threatened by traditional and contemporary players, which is why financial institutions need to work out ways to maximize revenue per customer. Enhancing investments by swapping capital expenses with flexible operating expenses while curtailing hiring costs and garnering higher ROI can be extremely complex.
Maintaining Customer Loyalty
Thanks to the internet’s widespread reach, financial organizations can enter new markets spread across geographies. Customers are no longer constricted by financial institutions within their city. Modern financial firms need to constantly work towards retaining customers and present them with new products that meet their needs. In the process, it is crucial to foster innovation and ensure constant improvement in service delivery, which can be perplexing.
2. How Managed IT Services Help
Managed IT service providers that have experience in working with financial companies can be strong allies in fortifying IT systems for user-friendliness, security, compliance, and more. Let’s learn how.
Partnering with a managed IT service provider can help financial firms save money in the long term due to their pricing plans. These firms will never have to worry about building a contingency fund for IT emergencies as all IT needs will be covered by the provider at no extra cost.
Companies will not have to worry about financial risks in case of an industry-wide data breach as the provider will be in charge of protecting the data. The managed IT service provider will also update the organization’s IT infrastructure in a timely manner. Overall, the managed services provider will take care of all the IT needs, enabling the leadership to focus on the strategic aspects of their business.
Access the Latest Technology
Financial organisations that work with managed IT providers get access to the most advanced technology without worrying about its maintenance. This can be especially helpful in modern times as customers expect to be able to access their accounts safely from anywhere at any time.
Managed service providers can upgrade and modernize IT systems without disrupting day-to-day business operations. They can instate the best communication channels, thereby enhancing customer experiences and improving business productivity. They can also take care of VoIP requirements to engender extraordinary customer service.
Have Experts At Your Service
By hiring managed IT service providers, financial institutions work with the best talent in the industry. Trained and experienced IT professionals manage every IT need, regardless of the complexity.
While in-house IT departments have the manpower that’s enough only to manage everyday tasks, managed service providers take a more proactive and holistic approach. They constantly work to prevent downtime rather than fix issues when they occur.
All modern organizations are harnessing cloud technology as a secure and accessible data storage solution and financial organisations are no exception.
A managed IT service provider can help financial companies migrate their business-critical data to the cloud or cloud servers in the most secure manner. Further, the provider also ensures that this technology stringently conforms to current industry regulations.
Enhance Your Cyber Security
Certified managed service providers can help financial institutes keep their IT infrastructure truly secure by implementing steps that are in line with industry regulations. This is crucial because customers trust financial organisations with confidential information, and this trust needs to be upheld.
The Federal Financial Institution Examination Council has put in place cybersecurity policies and protocols that need to be followed mandatorily. A managed service provider will perform risk assessments and make sure that customers’ data is gathered ethically and that it remains safe.
It is necessary for financial organisations to have a foolproof and reliable IT infrastructure so that customers are not bothered by interruptions when transacting.
In the event of a security breach, equipment failure or natural disaster, a managed service provider will be able to respond proactively and prudently to the crisis, thereby minimizing the prospects of downtime and interruption in services to customers.
Enhance Employee Productivity
Employees in financial organisations work with technology all the time. Network downtime or slow, unresponsive computers can greatly hinder their efficiency.
A managed service provider can expertly maintain your IT infrastructure so that it never hampers employee productivity. The provider will have a watertight plan of action in place that will help sustain your network and ensure it is in peak working condition. This, in turn, will service delivery so they get exactly what they’re looking forward to.
Mitch Kahn is the co-founder of Grassroots Cannabis which began operations in 2014. Through his leadership as CEO, the company has since grown to have 61 licenses and operations in 11states with more than 800 employees. Mitch recently led his company into a merger with Massachusett-based company, Curaleaf, in a stock and cash deal worth $875 million.
Have you ever started a business that almost everyone thought was a terrible idea? What about a business with a questionable reputation? How do you even get started with it in the first place?
Mitch Kahn of Grassroots Cannabis and his partners defied the odds and started a business that didn’t sound too great at the beginning but is now America’s largest medical and adult-use cannabis company. They took a leap of faith and braved the initial resistance they faced from starting the business, getting the funding, and convincing people that what they were doing made sense.
Tune in on today’s episode where Mitch shares with Jeremy how Grassroots Cannabis began and everything that has happened between then and now. Mitch talks about his business model, his leadership style, and the kind of grit you need to start a business that you believe in even when nobody else does.
Remember the first time you decided to throw a party? You did everything right—from building a bangin’ playlist to putting out the best snacks to stocking the fridge with beer and soda. But despite all of your best efforts, in the back of your mind, you still wonder: is anyone going to show up?
You’re a cool guy or gal, and you feel confident, but things come up. People get busy. The weather is unpredictable. Well, these concerns are universal and not necessarily unique to throwing parties.
If collecting survey responses was like hosting a party
There’s a lot that goes into building out a robust industry survey focused on bringing a community together to build benchmarks and lessons for all of us to reflect on—much like hosting a party. While this post is certainly a shameless plug for you to take our 2020 Customer Experience Industry Survey, let’s have fun with it.
Coming up with a theme
Like some of the best parties, your survey needs a clear theme that helps to uncover key insights that will be valuable to your audience. In our case, we’re continuing with our theme of the longest-running survey of the experience industry, and that your responses to shape the future of the CX.
Here are just a few things we’d like to learn from you:
How does customer research impact your organization?
How do you use human insights to make better product and experience decisions?
Who is empowered to gather customer feedback in your organization?
Building the guest list
What’s a party without guests? Building a guest list can be tricky, you want to make sure everyone will have a good time, engage with one other, and encourage the spirit of your theme. It’s more easily said than done.
That’s why we’re calling marketers, product teams, designers, researchers, executives, and all creators and influencers of experiences to take our Customer Experience Industry Survey. We know that all of these roles have unique contributions that shape the experience for your customers at your business.
Are goodie bags cool anymore?
Beyond Frozen-themed parties for children, giveaways might not be a huge hit at your house party. However, in exchange for about 10 minutes of your time filling out our survey, you’ll be entered to win a pair of Apple AirPods Pro headphones!
Not taking our survey is a #partyfoul
Once the results are in, we’ll release a report on the state of the industry, and you’ll be among the first to receive it. We take your responses very seriously, and look forward to seeing the themes that emerge!
No need to be fashionably late, take our 2020 Customer Experience Survey today and automatically be entered to win a pair of Apple AirPods Pro!
About the author:
Steven is a Content Marketing Manager at UserTesting. When he’s not inserting oxford commas where they belong, you can find him shooting pool at a local dive or laughing at his own jokes.
