Personalized CX, Digital Transformation, and Coronavirus: Our Top 20 2020 Blogs

What were the most popular topics for data-driven marketers, data scientists, and forward-thinking C-suiters in 2020? Treasure Data’s top blogs give some strong indications of what was on their minds with the themes of personalized customer experience (CX), digital transformation, and the impact of the coronavirus gaining the most attention.

The Treasure Data 20 in 2020 Top Blogs (Plus 5 ‘Bonus Blogs’)

1. New Study Finds Data Key to Unlocking Superior Customer Experience
2. How Data Drives Emotion in Marketing
3. Martech Skills 2020: 10 Top Skills Your Digital Marketing Team Needs
4. The Top 10 Best Coronavirus Data Visualizations We’ve Found
5. High Performance SQL: AWS Graviton2 Benchmarks with Presto and Treasure Data
6. What’s the Difference? Data Management Platform (DMP) vs. Customer Data Platform (CDP)
7. 14 Essential Customer Experience Books to Help You Rethink Your CX
8. NRF 2020: From Goop to Godiva, the Next Retail Battleground is Personalized CX
9. NVIDIA to Acquire Arm
10. Why DTC is the Next Step for CPG Brands
11. 5G’s Finally Here—5 Ways It Will Change Digital Marketing in 2020 and Beyond
12. Lessons Learned WFH—5 Tips to Make It Work for You
13. Treasure Data CDP a ‘Strong Performer’ in Forrester Wave™ Customer Analytics Tech Evaluation
14. 3 CPG Companies Embracing DTC and Customer Data
15. Six Ways Your Brand Can Connect with Customers in the Current Crisis
16. Customer Data How Brands Can Prep for the Post-COVID Consumer
17. How to Boost Customer Retention, Reduce Attrition Rates with Martech
18. B2B Marketers, Here’s How Customer Data Platforms Make Personalization and Selling Easier
19. Boost ROI, Find New Customers with CDP Insights & Data Analytics
20. Win or Learn—What Marketing Experts Learned from Their Mistakes
21. 5 Brands that Excel at Omnichannel Customer Experience
22. Customer Data Analytics and Insights Key to Post-Pandemic CPG Success
23. 2020 Martech Trends for Modern Marketers
24. First Time a CDP Wins ‘Best Marketing Solution’ CODiE Award: What That Means
25. Frost & Sullivan Names Treasure Data ‘Global Company of the Year’ in CDPs

Top Takeaways for Marketers in 2021

#1. Focus on Personalized Customer Experiences

Everyone wants to learn how to create better personalized customer experiences (CX) for each and every customer, depending on their behavior, segment, and demographics. The title of our eighth most popular article last year, the January NRF 2020 wrap-up, says it all: NRF 2020: From Goop to Godiva, the Next Retail Battleground is Personalized CX.

Our most popular article summarized joint research by Forbes Insights and Treasure Data on how companies are using personalization to enhance customer experience today and investing in personalization technology for growth in the future. A related article, How Data Drives Emotion in Marketing, took the second-place slot.

And as companies moved to revamp and personalize CX, they turned to important books to do so, propelling our blog 14 Essential Customer Experience Books to Help You Rethink Your CX into the Treasure Data Top 10. We also have an in-depth post about CX analytics to help you improve visibility.

#2. Know Your Niche–and the Digital Marketing Profession

A few niche topics did well. For example, a blog about how to plan for the marketing skills required in 2020 and beyond was extremely popular, taking the third slot. Professional development clearly motivated the heavy response to Win or Learn—What Marketing Experts Learned from Their Mistakes. And an article benchmarking high-performance SQL on the AWS Graviton2 benchmarks with Presto and Treasure Data, came in fifth position, indicating the intense interest in these technologies.

#3. Invest in Award-winning Tech

Awards and accolades featured prominently in this year’s top blogs. An article about Frost & Sullivan’s recognition of Treasure Data as Global Company of the Year made the top 25. So did the announcement of the first time Treasure Data CDP took away a CODiE in the overall Best Marketing Solution category. And Forrester’s placement of Treasure Data CDP in the ‘Strong Performer’ category in its customer analytics tech evaluation came in at 11 for the year.

#4. Coronavirus Continues to Push Digital Transformation

The pandemic—and the digital transformation that followed as businesses did their best to respond to rapidly changing customer needs—was a hugely popular topic. Coming in at number four was our early-pandemic blog on the progression of the disease, The Top 10 Best Coronavirus Data Visualizations We’ve Found. Marketers worried about losing customers as different channels were disrupted read Six Ways Your Brand Can Connect with Customers in the Current Crisis, which came in at number 15 on our list. It was probably some of the same readers who made Customer Data Analytics and Insights Key to Post-Pandemic CPG Success one of our top articles for the year.

Later in the pandemic, there was more interest in digital transformation and developing new channels and lines of business, sending Why DTC is the Next Step for CPG Brands to the Top 10, as well as another blog on the same theme, 3 CPG Companies Embracing DTC and Customer Data.

The appeal of Lessons Learned WFH—5 Tips to Make It Work for You is obvious. And as the pandemic progressed, people became more interested in the future, making Customer Data How Brands Can Prep for the Post-COVID Consumer a popular read.

#5. Marketers Are Always Learning More about Martech

Marketers continue to be interested in learning more about the martech we all use to do our jobs. The difference between CDPs and DMPs is a popular topic, with the infographic What’s the Difference? Data Management Platform (DMP) vs. Customer Data Platform (CDP) coming in sixth. A blog on 5G, 5G’s Finally Here—5 Ways It Will Change Digital Marketing in 2020 and Beyond, and the future of marketing also did well.

And when we interviewed seven top marketing experts on hot marketing trends, our readers responded, making the blog number 23 on our list. Also popular was the topic of building better personalized customer journeys—check out How to Boost Customer Retention, Reduce Attrition Rates with Martech to learn how. An article on martech for B2B marketers explained How Customer Data Platforms Make Personalization and Selling Easier, and the final article in this group explained how to Boost ROI, Find New Customers with CDP Insights & Data Analytics.

For more insight on how to improve marketing efficiency and deliver better digital experiences in the year ahead, check out The Data-Driven Marketer’s Guides.