Building the Right Foundation for Data Activation and Growth

To pull it off you’ll need the perfect balance of solid tech, a dream team, and the right strategy. In this post we’ll detail our 3 components to building a rock solid foundation for data activation that drives growth.

Step 1: Right team

It all starts with having the right people with diverse skill sets. Data activation depends on growth-focused teams that can operate cross-functionally. A great ratio to work with is 1 Business Lead to 1 Application Lead to 1 Design Lead, to 2 Data Leads. Additionally, your dream team should meet regularly to keep the creative juices flowing. Open collaboration is key. When the team hits their stride working to achieve the same goal, the result will be incredibly powerful.

Step 2: Right strategy

With the right team in place, determine what exactly you want to achieve with data activation. How will it improve the customer experience? How are you going to use your data? Which channels will you begin impacting and how will you continue to build out the customer experience? What data guidelines are required? Make objectives clear, and understood by everyone involved. This will further empower your team to crush their overall vision — they’ll feel invested.

Step 3: Right technology

Now it’s time to assess whether your current and planned technologies are set up to deliver on your strategies. Even “best-in-class” technologies can’t support all use cases. Many were built on architectures that can’t scale with today’s data and customer engagement needs. As a team, determine what are the gaps in your data and marketing execution. Then, lay out what you need to make your strategies work. Finally, work through the processes needed to have systems execute effectively within the unique requirements of your organization.