The Marketing Technologist

The Marketing Technologist: The Marketing role in a digital age

In this blog, posted almost a year ago by Gerard van den Bogaart, Managing Director of our partner in The Netherlands, he talks about the Marketing Technologist. A position that no one had heard of a few years ago, but it’s a function that we’ve seen evolve rapidly by the digitisation of our field and which is becoming more and more prevalent.

Which competencies does a marketer need to have today?

What skills are still relevant?

Will a mismatch arise between marketing competencies sought by companies and the supply provided by the labour market?

Everyone with responsibility in the field of marketing and sales should think carefully about the above questions. I also speak about sales here because the dividing line between marketing and sales is becoming increasingly blurred as a result of digital innovations.

Working for a digitally innovative company

Randstad research shows that only 1/3 of the Dutch workforce wants to work for digitally innovative companies and that no less than 46 % thinks that automation will not affect their work. Back in 2012, Gartner predicted that in 2017 the chief marketing officer would spend more on technology than previously the chief information officer.

While in the past marketing was mainly a creative field for many, an essential part of our work is now inextricably linked to technology. The digitisation of marketing activity is only going to rise. You can not, therefore, see modern marketing and digital innovation separately and for that, you need the right people: People who want to work in a digitally innovative environment.

The Marketing Technologist

The modern marketing department can no longer do without technology. Marketing and IT are already inextricably linked by competencies like online marketing, marketing intelligence, CRM or marketing automation. For several years we have employed specialists who fulfil the function of the marketing technologist, the one that bridges the gap between marketing, sales and technology. They speak the language of the marketer, the account manager and the IT employee and in fact, they need to be on the cutting edge of marketing, IT and sales and they have to think strategically, prepare tactically and perform operations.

Strategic

The marketing technologist is already contributing to the marketing strategy. On the one hand, he tests the technical feasibility and effectiveness of a proposed approach, and on the other hand, he gives essential input to design strategic options from a technical point of view. He always pays attention to the latest techniques and insights.

Tactical

On a tactical level, he contributes, for example, by introducing data analyses, business intelligence options, the integration between applications, the assurance of measurability and the result orientation and feasibility of roadmaps.

Operationally

Operationally, the marketing technologist is the specialist for:

• implementation and use of tooling such as marketing automation, CRM and CMS
• execution of data analyses, exposing data logging, establishing connections
  the smart expansion of customer insights by using a variety of data sources
• lead scoring models
• the technical organisation of reporting tools such as google analytics,
• closed-loop reporting
• the cleaning up and enrichment of databases
• create links between different applications
• program work in various fields
• sales enablement

The marketing channels are extensive: mail, telephone, advertisements and the doorbell supplements the search engines, the website, the e-mail inbox, social media, and so on. Because modern people are increasingly moving online, marketing has to move towards technology.

A good campaign uses both offline and online channels and requires knowledge. Marketing is no longer just science where theories and models are discovered and applied. The ‘woolly approach’ of the past makes room for insight and demonstrable results. An increasingly important part of the modern marketing function is a technical field in which all kinds of technologies together have to form one whole. Without the proper support of a modern marketing team, sales will increasingly become an inefficient and less productive activity. The good news is that there will be less and less of a gap between marketing and sales if you have the right competencies.

Thanks for the Photo by Dose Media on Unsplash