Key decision factors in selecting customer marketing technology platforms
Editor’s note: The Customer Strategy Network (CSN) is a global network of leading independent consumer loyalty practitioners all of whom are passionate about customer engagement and seek to promote innovation within an ever-changing marketplace through partner collaboration and knowledge sharing. Nick Chambers is the CEO of Mobile Loyalty Technologies in the UK and Managing Director of CSN. Nick is a Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional™ and serves as a guest lecturer at The Loyalty Academy.
If you’re a brand marketer, you understand that choosing the right technology platforms and tools is critical to bringing your well-planned strategy to life. Today, you enjoy a multitude of options in marketing technology as you march forward to grab market share and build competitive advantage.
Whatever your goal, from personalising the customer experience to driving ongoing commercial value from your best customers, your procurement process likely seeks to match the ever-changing needs of consumers with the specific benefits of built-for-purpose software that allow you to express your strategy to its fullest.
But what are the most important features of these built-for-purpose software packages valued by the decision makers tasked to choose between such options?
The Customer Strategy Network (CSN) conducted research amongst its global partners to discover what decision makers in North America, APAC, and EMEA value most in their selection of new marketing technology.
Among other factors, we wanted to investigate if buyers made decisions based on intuitive workflows and ease of use, vendor credentials, or industry awards. Is an open architecture more important than price and, given the increasing pressures on internal resources, just how highly do they consider a need for a fully managed service?
The highest priority decision factors varied significantly by region. Here is a summary of the research findings by region:
United States:
- Client references and industry recognition, such as inclusion in Forrester and Gartner reports form key elements within the decision-making process.
- The ability to work in partnership, rather than in strict accordance with a Master Service Agreement, and the capacity to provide input into consumer strategy are also key buying considerations.
- A growing requirement is to demonstrate how privacy and cyber security have been addressed throughout the underlying technology stack.
EMEA region:
- The need for an open architecture and existing connectivity or plugins with leading ecommerce, point of sale and ERP platforms register the highest value in the decision-making process.
- Marketing automation packaged with highly intuitive workflows, reducing training needs whilst providing greater optimisation of the technology itself, is another highly rated feature by decision makers.
APAC region:
- The greatest focus remains on price, both for the licenses and initial set up and configuration process.
- The availability of advanced capabilities relating to gamification, data visualisation, and predictive modelling also carry a great deal of weight for decision markers within the region.
These are the high points of the study completed by CSN. For more details on what brands are looking in each of these regions, please contact the individual CSN partners for additional insights.
