The Potential of IoT Data in Marketing: Words of Wisdom from 9 Industry Thought Leaders
The Potential of IoT Data in Marketing: Words of Wisdom from 9 Industry Thought Leaders
The Potential of IoT Data in Marketing: Words of Wisdom from 9 Industry Thought Leaders
It’s the age of data—lots of data. And marketers know that data holds the key to unlocking the hearts and minds of their customers and prospects. After all, as consumer expectations for better on-demand, personalized experiences intensify, what better way to reach consumers on their level than using data to create thoughtful, tailored marketing messages?
But, let’s be honest marketers. The amount of data at your disposal is overwhelming—and you may be struggling to find the time or tools to make sense of it all. And to add to the complexity, there’s a relatively new kid on the data block: IoT data.
It’s complex. It’s sensitive. But it’s also unique and powerful; no one can deny the marketing potential IoT data holds when combined with existing customer profiles. And when used responsibly, this enriched data can help create a fantastic customer experience—one that is welcome and effective.
But don’t just take our word for it. From IoT experts to marketing gurus to tech enthusiasts, IoT, personalization, customer experience and respectful data usage are top of mind for many industry thought leaders. In this piece, we share some insightful tidbits from several of these leaders—tidbits that really resonated with us under the IoT-in-marketing lens.
Read on to get food for thought on the current landscape of IoT, how you should wield your data, and where you may need to give yourself a reality check.
The IoT & IoT Data Landscape
Chuck Martin
Keynote Speaker & Author
Who is Chuck? For the last two decades, Chuck has been a leader in emerging technologies. He’s an in-demand keynote speaker as well as a New York Times bestselling author.
“While consumers see the value in IoT services, they also are concerned about the security of their data and how it’s being used. … The majority (70%) of consumers want more control over what personal data is being collected and shared through the IoT service they use. Smart companies will be paying attention to that stat.” – Chuck Martin, Keynote Speaker & Author | Source
Tom Raftery
Global Vice President, Futurist & Innovation Evangelist, SAP
Who is Tom? Tom is an innovation evangelist and futurist. He’s a regular keynote at industry conferences and he’s also the host of a weekly IoT podcast called “IoT Heroes.”
“The IoT hype is over – but the trough of disillusionment typically precedes mainstream adoption. Customers have by now generally accepted IoT as a main driver of digital transformation, however, in 2018, they will be looking for business value and outcomes in every project. There is no doubt that all newly released products and installed assets will be connected with an increasing amount of sensors and intelligence embedded.” – Tom Raftery
Global Vice President, Futurist & Innovation Evangelist, SAP | Source
Our Takeaways
IoT technologies—and the data they collect—are being increasingly embraced by consumers. But take note, marketers. If you jump on the IoT bandwagon, transparency in how you’re using their data is more important than ever and you’ll need to prove the value to your customers.
The Personalization Imperative
Michael Donner
Chief Marketing, eCommerce and Digital Officer, Competitive Marketing Advantager
Who is Michael? Michael is a veteran digital marketing executive, with expertise in retail, eCommerce, high-tech, healthcare and cybersecurity.
“Consumers unsubscribe when brands overwhelm them with irrelevant marketing and eCommerce digital offers. If it’s not personalized there’s a fine line between being effective and being annoying.” – Michael Donner, Chief Marketing, eCommerce and Digital Officer, Competitive Marketing Advantage | Source
Andy Mauro
Co-Founder & CEO, Automat.ai
Who is Andy? Andy has spent nearly two decades working on conversational interfaces—from phone-based speech recognition to his work now on messaging and bots in the marketing realm.
“Once you’ve opened a bi-directional conversation with someone, if you send them relevant, personalized, and contextual content you earn the right to continue the conversation. Messaging applications nearly always have push notifications enabled, and we’ve found that very few consumers block the messages you send when you take an interest in them, send them information they care about, and don’t abuse the privilege.” – Andy Mauro, Co-Founder & CEO, Automat.ai | Source
Our Takeaways
Personalization enables connection. It fosters engagement. It builds relationships. It shows you understand your audience. It helps earn you the right to keep the conversation going. And IoT data offers you the opportunity to take personalization and connection to the next level.
Engaging Your Internal and External Audiences
Tamara McCleary
CEO, Thulium.co
Who is Tamara? Tamara is an international branding expert, technology futurist, and marketing and digital strategy consultant. She’s also been ranked on several prestigious industry influencer lists for AI, big data, digital transformation, and others.
“Engaging an audience, a target market, and a workforce is probably the best super power when it comes to getting ahead of the pack in our distracted world. How are you capturing the attention of your target market? How are you connecting with, inspiring, and moving your workforce? What tools are you utilizing to streamline your effort at communicating effectively with your internal and external stakeholders?” – Tamara McCleary, CEO, Thulium.co | Source
Ken Herron
Chief Marketing Officer, Unified Inbox
Who is Ken? Ken describes himself as a technology-fueled marketing alchemist. He helps brands grow revenue and market share though the use of technology to develop emotional connections between companies and their customers.
“The first step in transforming your business is engaging your people.” – Ken Herron, Chief Marketing Officer, Unified Inbox | Source
Andrew McFarland
Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer, Black Box
Who is Andrew? Andrew is a customer service and experience expert who leads organizational transformation through client-focused solutions, spending most of his career working for communications and technology companies.
“Customer experience design must be intentional to focus on how customers respond emotionally to what you’ve designed. When customers react positively to your experience, their engagement increases, likelihood to recommend improves, and financial performance will follow.” – Andrew McFarland, Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer, Black Box | Source
Our Takeaways
It’s time to take stock of your marketing strategy, data and tools if you want to connect and engage with your internal and external audiences. Engagement can be your brand’s super power and you need to be intentional if you want to build emotional connections with your customers and prospects. And IoT data, when used right, can help you do just that.
Accepting Reality
Penny Baldwin
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Qualcomm
Who is Penny? Penny has more than 30 years of marketing experience and has worked for large technology companies such as Intel, McAfee and Yahoo!. Currently, she serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Qualcomm, a wireless technology and innovation company.
“CMOs should understand that AI is no longer a future technology, it’s a today technology.” – Penny Baldwin, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Qualcomm | Source
Daniel Elizalde
IoT Product Management Coach & Advisor, DanielElizalde.com
Who is Daniel? IoT is not only Daniel’s area of expertise, but it’s also his passion. As an IoT coach, he’s trained more than 800 product professionals to develop cohesive IoT product strategies. In addition, he’s the host of “The IoT Product Leadership” podcast and an avid blogger.
“People don’t buy IoT, they buy a solution to a problem.” – Daniel Elizalde, IoT Product Management Coach & Advisor, DanielElizalde.com | Source
Our Takeaways
The future is now and it’s time to embrace the technology it’s brought. But don’t get lost in the data shuffle. Remember to always your audience’s intent and needs at the forefront of any marketing strategy, especially when it comes to IoT.
Shine a Light on IoT
In the age of data, there are challenges and opportunities in front of marketers—and IoT takes both to a new level. IoT data is complicated and requires the right tools and strategy to harness it to its full potential.
But if you want to maximize the potential of your marketing efforts to create one-to-one connections with your audience, the notion of adding IoT data to your data arsenal is worth exploring.
Learn more about Treasure Data’s IoT data solutions.
