Modern Marketing: A Framework for Success

When the pandemic brought on the near-immediate halt to in-person HCP access, many marketing teams faced an unwelcome reality: They weren’t equipped – technologically or ideologically – to create digital-first experiences that delivered timely, relevant messages at scale. And modern customers expect that now; there is no going back. To define a clear path to digital transformation, organizations can look to the framework of modern marketing. Let’s talk about what that means and how to get there.

First, what’s a “modern customer”?

A modern customer is “plugged in” – they have broadband, a smartphone, and likely more than one social media account. For the most part, they’d rather rely on themselves than on experts to find information, but they still expect brands to figure out what they need and to experience personalized interactions.

What is modern marketing?

Modern marketing is centered around the concept of building flexible foundations. An organization that has achieved “modern marketing maturity” is one that enables its teams to predict change and continually provide valuable customer experiences that demonstrate care and anticipate customer needs. When thinking about modern marketing, three components – and their levels of maturity – are key to success: data relevance, customer experience, and applied technology.

1. Data Relevance
   If an “immature” organization collects data but doesn’t leverage it to engage with customers in a personalized way, it might as well stop collecting data. A “mature” organization, on the other hand, uses data to strategically target its audiences while also using that data to drive strategy, uncover insights, and anticipate customer needs, ad infinitum.
2. Customer Experience
   In an “immature” organization, a marketing team executes against channel-specific best practices. Creating a “mature” customer experience means ensuring your audience receives tailored messaging – across channels – based on real-time data collection that’s supported by artificial intelligence and predictive analysis.
3. Applied Technology
   Without the ability to scale marketing processes; to quickly determine strategies for adoption and maintenance of a system’s integrity; and to develop an approach to integration and implementation, providing the personalized interactions customers crave will remain out of reach. “Mature” organizations understand that technology has the power to support and improve every part of the brand development and maintenance journey, but only if we recognize that tech is a resource whose growth and value must be regularly revisited and nurtured.

How your brand can benefit from a modern marketing assessment

Taking an honest look at your organization’s approach might feel intimidating, but the outcome can be empowering. Understanding your brand’s “maturity” level is the first step toward transformational change. To learn more about such an assessment, we encourage brands and their organizations to spend a few minutes with our Modern Marketing Visionary tool, and to reach out to Intouch account leads to set up an assessment workshop.