Chart of the Day: McKinsey Analysis rates machine learning marketing applications highly

I thought this was an interesting chart and article from McKinsey on 'What’s now and next in analytics, AI, and automation'. McKinsey outline the range of opportunities for applying artificial intelligence in their article. They say: 'For companies, successful adoption of these evolving technologies will significantly enhance performance. Some of the gains will come from labor substitution, but automation also has the potential to enhance productivity, raise throughput, improve predictions, outcomes, accuracy, and optimization, as well expand the discovery of new solutions in massively complex areas such as synthetic biology and material science'. At Smart Insights, we've been looking beyond the hype to look at specific practical applications for applying AI in marketing. Our recommendation is that the best marketing applications are in machine learning where predictive analytics is applied to learn from historic data to deliver more relevant personalization, both on site, using email…

The 14 top rated digital marketing techniques for 2017 according to Smart Insights readers

[Editor's note: Dave Chaffey has now updated his predictions for 2018: Read Digital Marketing Trends to act on in 2018] In this article, I'll take an in-depth look at what I see as the most significant trends in digital marketing for the year ahead. But, it's not only my view, since I have 'crowdsourced' the importance of the different trends rated by the popularity of each trend. For all members of Smart Insights, we also have a more detailed free download of the marketing megatrends for 2017, which are 9 digital marketing and martech megatrends will help give you an edge in 2017. In the download we discuss machine learning and artificial intelligence, which for me is the biggest trend in marketing right now. Machine learning techniques apply across many of the techniques we discuss in this post including Big Data,…

Key lessons from the Strategy and Innovation World Forum

Robert Jones, our research analyst and I headed off to London last week to go to the Strategy and Innovation World Forum, set up by World Forum Disrupt.  The Innovation Directors were attending in force, and with talks from the global heads of innovation from Santander, BT, UNICEF, Vodaphone and other world leading businesses there were plenty of interesting lessons to be gleaned. With over 32 different speakers over the two days of the forum, it would be a bit of an information overload, if I tried to convey everything that was discussed at the event. But it did offer some great insights into the cutting edge of innovation strategy, so I've tried to distil the top 8 talks into just a few bite-sized takeaways that you can learn from and implement when developing your own innovation strategy.

Setting Strategies for uncertain times - …

Key Findings from a survey of 500 European fashion retailers

Retailers are undoubtedly enthusiastic about innovation, with more than half viewing it as a priority for their business. But when it comes to actually delivering innovation, retailers face a variety of challenges. To find out how retailers are approaching innovation in 2017 and beyond, we surveyed 500 retailers from across Europe. Here, in a summary of our full report, we share five key findings.

9 in 10 retailers take innovation seriously

Almost all retailers surveyed recognise the value of innovation, highlighting the growing importance of innovating in order to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market. UK retailers in particular, place great emphasis on innovation, with 76% of respondents saying that it is a priority for their business.

A lack of time is the #1 barrier to innovation

Fashion retailers cite several barriers to…

Plan your use of new marketing technologies to future-proof your business

Digital Marketing is constantly playing catch up with the latest new tech trends. This means that the only way to get great results from digital marketing and execute a successful digital marketing strategy is to be aware of the latest technology and be actively innovating by putting cutting-edge techniques into practice. Not doing so is a sure fire way to fall behind the competition. The pace of technological change is not just relentless, it is constantly increasing. Where once it may have taken 10 years for a platform to achieve 50% adoption, now it may only be two or three- as you can see from the chart below. As these trends accelerate we could soon enter a time well new technologies decelerate so fast we measure the time for them to reach the masses in weeks and months rather than years and decades. …

On average only one-third of businesses have a process for funding tech innovation across the whole business

Our quarterly focus on digital transformation is soon to end, as we pivot to a new focus on eCommerce marketing. But whilst we're on the subject I thought it was important to highlight the lack of process in place for even larger businesses when funding technology innovation. Technology innovation will be what brings in the customers of tomorrow. Those businesses who've used the latest tech to create the best products and the most seamless customer journeys will be the ones winning in the years ahead. [si_monthly_campaign_blog_cta_banner id=154882] Yet only a minority of businesses actually have a formal process in place across the business for funding technological innovation. The best performers were businesses with a turnover of over 250 million dollars, but even they had only a minority of 45% that were using formal processes established across the business. Smaller businesses…

5 reasons to develop a Skunkworks

As organisations embark on the journey to digital transformation, they may find their organisational structures limit innovation if they are more akin to a company geared to compete and survive in the industrial revolution era.

The problem of digital silos

A common problem in many larger organisations is that given the importance of digital marketing, digital skills are centralised in one or more locations, so creating digital silos. So pockets of digital knowledge become dispersed internally rather than creating a joined up structure with different marketing teams working on marketing activities which integrate digital marketing.

In the long-term, integrating your digital marketing team is an essential requirement for organisations wanting ro re-invent their proposition to a changing digital world, being led by disruptive digital technology and new ways to reach new audiences and new channels.

But at the same time, businesses need to stay agile and review the latest…

Does your business need a Head of Growth Hacking?

Have you noticed the emergence of the term “growth hacking” for describing a marketing approach. I did and dismissed it as a fad most relevant for SaaS (Software as a Service) / single product startup businesses. But recently, I’ve noticed some new job descriptions in this area which prompted me to take another look. In particular, I noticed that The Guardian is currently advertising for a Head of Growth Hacking... “The Guardian is committed to a “digital-first” strategy and in order to support this, we are seeking a Head of Growth Hacking to manage a virtual, cross functional team focused on GNM’s growth hacking plan. This role is responsible for finding innovative ways to accelerate adoption, use, and retention to drive up audiences to the Guardian’s digital product portfolio”. There are other jobs available too in UK-based startups such as Gumtree, MyBuilder and…

Our look at the latest trends in digital media and technology and how they will impact marketing in 2016

At the start of each year, there is always a lot of interest in predictions for the year ahead and the latest marketing trends."What's Hot?" and "What's Next?" are always the most common questions when I give webinars and talks!

What are the latest digital marketing trends for 2017?

I originally wrote this post in early 2016 and, as you'll know, the digital marketing world moves fast, so in a new post, I have recommendations on key trends for 2017. Hopefully, you'll find different ideas there. This post looks at integration and the challenges of digital transformation, the new post looks at 5 different types of trends each business should consider and specific trends that should change your approach. Digital Marketing trends for 2017 : 8 megatrends affecting every business [si_guide_block id="43709" title="Download free resource – Managing…

The self-proclaimed "world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies", CES 2016 has been as popular as ever. Here's our roundup of the most important new tech innovations relevant to marketers.

More marketers than ever from across industries are now attending the huge Consumer-Electronics show, CES which takes place every January in Las Vegas. Marketers now account for more than 15% of the attendees (26,587 to be precise, according to the CES), so we thought we'd take a look at the latest innovations which we could be using in the year(s) ahead. An increase of 9% attendance from between 2013 and 2015, points towards a trend and highlights the rising importance of digital platforms for engaging consumers. So much so that it lead AdAge to suggest that the “Future of CES Belongs to Marketers”.

"Digital isn't a destination. It's a foundation. What…