Today's companies touch their customers through multiple challenges, and through various areas of the organisation, Gerald Naidoo, CEO of Logikal Consulting. However, up till now, there hasn't been a single system that can provide a comprehensive view of these channels and interactions.
Naidoo says this is where enterprise marketing management (EMM) comes in. "EMM is not a CRM system, and doesn't pretend to be. It takes all the disjointed communications and unites them to allow continuous communication with the customer across all of the businesses' marketing initiatives."
He says this is a huge plus for marketing departments, because in the past, they were unable to accurately quantify ROI as marketing spend and success could never be properly accounted for. "By the time the marketing initiative has run, it was so far into the future that ROI was no longer accurate. In this way, with a single EMM solution to monitor marketing across the board, at its lowest denominator, EMM effectively becomes a ROI management system."
Naidoo says over 2 500 organisations globally use IBM Enterprise Marketing Management solutions. "IBM's solutions are recognised as best-in-market by leading industry analyst reports which cover multi-channel campaign management, integrated marketing management and Web analytics."
A good EMM solution will have several capabilities, says Ravi Bhat, COO at Logikal Consulting. "Firstly, omni-channel marketing, which delivers seamless personalised experiences across channels to increase customer engagement, satisfaction and sales. In addition, it will feature omni-channel merchandise optimisation that allows businesses to quantify consumer behaviour to make predictive merchandising and marketing decisions that can boost sales, profitability and loyalty."
Another feature, digital marketing optimisation, orchestrates digital interactions to attract and retain new visitors and grow revenue. "Finally, customer experience management helps to better the digital experience to turn visitors into repeat customers and loyal advocates."
Bhat adds that IBM's EMM solution provides one experience to its clients through continuous communication at various stages of interaction from understanding needs and engaging with clients, to managing all client experiences.
Naidoo says EMM technologies can forever change the individual processes making up the spine of any organisation. "Marketing, particularly within a large organisation, requires creating different methods for each promotional medium. Measurable results will help the business to pinpoint what works most effectively, and will highlight where changes or adjustments need to be made."
Marketing initiates work on different levels and through different mediums, adds Bhat. "There is print, television, radio, and online, all which work differently and are measured differently. By aligning all channels into one company-wide standard, a single view of the data can be attained, allowing the marketing department to plan and implement powerful strategies."
Finally, he says EMM offers several immediate and long-term benefits. "Firstly, businesses can generate ROI through cost savings and recognised revenue, as well as run their marketing systems with fewer staff and overheads. Secondly, marketing initiatives can be streamlined and integrated, and customer interactions and behaviours can be thoroughly tracked, ensuring new customers are attracted, and existing ones retained."
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