The Stages of Building a Mature IMM Environment

Is your organization a leader in implementing Integrated Marketing Management or is it still in the early stages of the journey to IMM? This paper describes how an assessment of your company’s IMM maturity can help you determine how you’re doing.

The IMM Journey

The goal of every organization should be an optimized Integrated Marketing Management (IMM) framework that takes full advantage of the strengths of IMM in addressing today’s sophisticated marketing challenges. The increase in digital channels and the changing customer engagement process has created a more complex marketing atmosphere where IMM is no longer a valued-added extra, but an essential component of any marketing environment.

However, evolving to a fully realized IMM implementation is a journey. It consists of a variety of steps that can differ depending upon the culture, structure and commitment of an organization.

Properly understood, IMM is not an out-of-the-box product that neatly dispenses cookie-cutter solutions to generic pain points. Instead, IMM is a systematic framework; an aspirational set of tools, standards and practices that marketing organizations can implement to systematically address areas that might be integrated, automated and improved for better outcomes.

Here are some common scenarios that might put an organization on the road to an IMM implementation:

• A company experiencing customer attrition or lower-than-desired response rates could seek out a Campaign Management solution.
• Marketers wanting to broaden their focus to more effectively reach and engage with customers through new and emerging channels might embrace a Digital Marketing solution.
• Organizations seeking higher ROMI or enhanced accountability for marketing budgets could implement Marketing Operations tools to help streamline processes or better control marketing spend.

Regardless of where you begin to implement IMM, more users and more capabilities are invariably involved over time. Eventually, an integration process is required to maintain and nurture a smoothly run marketing ecosystem.

Companies that choose point solutions over integrated solutions can experience challenges as they try to coordinate disjointed systems when building out marketing capabilities. Integrated solutions, by contrast, are designed to grow and evolve together, letting marketers painlessly add functionality as their needs and growth dictate.

Mapping Your Organisation on the IMM Continuum

It’s established that IMM is a process of growth and evolution, with companies at various stages of maturity in their systems and practices. So where does your organization stand on this marketing continuum? How do you even know if you’re on the right track?

This Teradata White Paper will examine the various stages within each of the primary pillars of IMM, including: Marketing Operations; Multi-channel Campaign Management/Digital Marketing; Analytics/Reporting; and Data Management. We’ll also illustrate some of the activities companies are implementing as they progress from basic IMM functionality to a more advanced level of sophistication with their IMM realization. Finally, we’ll point out some of the ways Teradata can assist you in your assessment and implementation of a total IMM framework.

The goal is to help you achieve a better understanding of where to pinpoint your marketing organization in terms of its overall IMM maturity. With this information, you’ll have some clear next steps on the best ways to continue to build out your IMM environment and fully leverage your capabilities.

Stages of IMM Maturity

There are four evolutionary phases on the road to full organizational maturity in implementing an optimized IMM environment. How far along your company has advanced on this journey can depend on such factors as:

• Degree of commitment from management
• Whether a marketing roadmap or business plan is in place
• Whether clear responsibilities have been identified and assigned within a culture of accountability

Maturity Level 1: Ad Hoc

This is the most basic and simple level of marketing functionality. It is reactive rather than proactive, sporadic in approach, and often relies on manual processes and systems. Marketing efforts here are often fragmented and not coordinated across departments.

• Results can vary depending upon who is analyzing the data and where the data originated
• Lacks a formal system of record, with multiple sources of data leading to skepticism about results
• Could potentially result in lower levels of customer satisfaction due to non-synchronized processes, disjointed activities, over-communication and lack of personalization

Companies that fit the Ad Hoc/Emerging category have no sponsor or champion for IMM in the organization’s leadership. They also generally have no IMM business plan or roadmap, and limited accountability pertaining to marketing results

Maturity Level 2: Repeatable

At this level, some processes are documented and defined, however, marketing efforts may not be optimized across departments or channels. The Campaign Management pillar of IMM has begun to show the advantages of some automation and resource responsibilities. However, improvements are still called for.

• Manual processes are still used for many procedures, for example in tracking projects and budgets during Marketing Operations
• Although there may be well-defined marketing budgets, clear annual goals and a planning process in place, these marketing elements are not necessarily tied to the company’s overall objectives

Companies in the Repeatable/Developed category begin to have limited IMM buy-in with management, along with a high level roadmap that guides phases, milestones and key deliverables. However, accountability tends to be basic, with no individual obligation and no requirements for reporting or follow-up.

Maturity Level 3: Managed

Companies at this level are practicing a consistent approach when defining projects and processes. Marketing efforts are managed and coordinated across departments. List pulls are automated, testing is common and segments are well defined. Automation of marketing processes in the creation and review of programs and activities are also formalized. Marketing is starting to align better with overall company objectives.

• From a roles perspective, these companies most likely have a marketing operations director
• From a reporting and analysis aspect, disparate systems are being consolidated to provide a more comprehensive view of customer data and behaviors from online and offline channels
• By not integrating all aspects of their marketing processes, these companies may still be losing valuable efficiencies

At the Managed/Practicing level of IMM maturity, management is beginning to get on board with clear leadership and the sponsorship of a dedicated team of practitioners. Marketing roadmaps now extend to an 18- 24 month timeframe and are kept on track. Accountability is a key driver and now includes comprehensible responsibilities, a measured escalation process for critical issues and compensation tied to performance.

Maturity Level 4: Optimised

Companies at this level are well positioned to be the leaders in their industry because they understand the importance of integrating their systems to keep a continuous closed-loop process running. Marketing efforts here are coordinated across products, offers and channels. Campaigns that use sophisticated segmentation and multi-step, multi-channel campaigns are the norm. And marketing has a seat at the executive table and is well aligned with overall corporate objectives.

• Processes are automated throughout the marketing functions both internally and externally (agencies, partners and other third-party support) creating a total marketing eco-system
• Real-time analysis allows for marketing dashboards and reporting to intervene if necessary
• - Real-time offer optimization increases average order size and customer satisfaction
• The data management layer is consolidated into a single repository so there is one system of record minimizing or eliminating data latency issues

The Pillars of IMM Functionality

Integrated Marketing Management is a closed-loop marketing process that combines the operational, executional and analytical pillars of marketing into one integrated process. In addition to these three pillars of functionality, IMM also relies on a strong data management strategy that can accommodate multiple data sources within an organization rather than simply a single marketing data mart.

Let’s examine each of these IMM pillars, exploring some examples of the processes that take place within each stage that help determine where a company’s practices might place them on the IMM maturity continuum.

The Operational Pillar: Marketing Operations

Using Marketing Operations, teams can better plan, create and execute on their campaigns. Process management for Marketing Operations is a systematic approach to improving the organization’s business processes. Managing the operational processes makes marketing more effective, more efficient and more capable of adapting to organizational and environmental changes.

Below are examples of practices within the operational pillar of IMM to help companies determine where they are in terms of marketing operations maturity.

[Download PDF to see Table of IMM Pillars]

The Executional Pillar: Campaign Management and Digital Marketing

Marketing is all about crafting the right message and offer to the right customer, at the right time by sifting through your database and segmenting your audience based on the criteria you feel will produce the most likely prospects for successful sales. Campaign Management allows marketers to extend their marketing process and campaign control to include planning, financial tracking, project management, asset management, interactive marketing, and reporting and measurement. Adding Digital Marketing, you can reach your customers when and where it’s most convenient for them by using digital channels such as websites, email and social networks.

Below is an example of the types of processes in the Executional pillar that one would use in determining where your company’s execution practices would fall on a total IMM continuum.

[Download PDF to see Table]

The Analytical Pillar: Analysis and Reporting

Information from real-time dashboards lets marketers use IMM tools to explore data that can influence and predict customer behavior. The result is more effective messaging and offers, as well as an enhanced customer experience.

Are your marketing analytics letting you see every data point that can add to an understanding of customer behavior? See how you might position your organization’s growth using the IMM continuum examples below.

[Download PDF to see Table]

The Foundational Layer: Data Management

Dynamic data management adds power and flexibility to an IMM framework by simplifying integration with any existing data infrastructure and supporting the creation and analysis of complex campaigns.

Shown below is an example of some of the functional attributes that Data Management brings as the foundation of IMM. Are your data management processes evolved to the point that they are giving your marketing the best opportunities for segmentation, integration and the most complete customer view available?

[Download PDF to see Table]

Below are some excerpts from the Gartner report, titled: Integrated Marketing Management Aligns Executional, Operational and Analytical Processes in a Closed-Loop Process 2010

The following are key benefits associated with each of the IMM pillars:

Executional Processes (Multi-channel Campaign Management) - Benefits: Drive revenue growth, improve customer experience and increase operational efficiency of targeted campaigns

Operational Processes (Marketing Resource Management) - Benefits: Improved accountability and cost tracking, decreased costs, reduced waste, and stronger brand

Analytical Processes (Marketing Performance Management) - Benefits: Ability to measure and compare marketing performance across the marketing mix, ability to calculate ROMI

Where is Your Business Today?

As you’ve reviewed the IMM rankings in this document, you’ve probably come to some conclusions about where your organization stands on the roadmap to building a more effective IMM framework. Maybe you’ve already created a “Leading” position for your company in the areas that matter most to you.

What is more likely, however, is that you’ve identified a number of IMM pillars and areas of functionality that can be improved — perhaps drastically. That puts you in the majority of marketers who are constantly seeking new ways to add effectiveness and accountability to their efforts.

As you move toward greater IMM maturity on the fourstage continuum described is this paper, you should also see greater success with the multi-channel, real-time customer interactions that have become the new normal.

Using Teradata to Help Evolve to a Position of IMM Leadership

Teradata Professional Services can help you audit your current marketing environment and determine the optimum steps for your journey to a more mature IMM framework for your organization. Why rely on Teradata for IMM guidance?

The Gartner 2012 Magic Quadrant for Integrated Marketing Management placed Teradata firmly in the “Leaders” category, outperforming competitors in terms of “completeness of vision.” The report also ranked Teradata highest for usage within marketing organizations (80% vs. 58% for the next highest vendor).

There are many starting points in which to begin your journey towards adopting an IMM strategy. And, there are numerous dimensions on which to evaluate your IMM readiness and maturity. To learn more about this maturity assessment, contact your Teradata representative and put your company’s marketing on the road to IMM leadership.

Conclusion

Integrated Marketing Management (IMM) promises to bring enhanced operations, better execution and actionable data analysis to marketers of every size and in every industry. But achieving the kind of structural maturity your organization’s IMM framework needs for optimal effectiveness requires company leadership, a culture of responsibility for a future of growth, and a straightforward roadmap pointing the way forward.

The first step is identifying where you stand on the IMM continuum, and then taking the steps to advance your position ever closer to true IMM leadership. Teradata has helped many other companies move toward a fuller realization of what IMM can accomplish. They are ready to help your team as well.

About Teradata

Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), is the world’s leading analytic data solutions company, focused on integrated data warehousing, big data analytics, and business applications. Teradata’s innovative products and services deliver data integration and business insight to empower organizations to make the best decisions possible and achieve competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.Teradata.com.