I once worked for the marketing department at a company that had little communication with our sales staff. Upon starting the job, I quickly noticed tension between the two departments. When I asked why our departments didn’t work together more closely, no one could definitively answer my question. Our failure to collaborate was problematic. We were never on the same page, we operated under different objectives, executed different strategies (sometimes in conflict with each other) and never leaned on each other for advisement or expertise. It’s no surprise that the few successes we tallied were often in spite of each other.

A CRM (“Customer Relationship Management”) is essentially a database of transactions with your contacts and the companies that they work for. CRMs can track calls, meetings, and even potential deals.

Two years from twenty. Two years from forty. Millennials are an expansive range of individuals who are as easy to comprehend as a Gordan Ramsay cooking video. Deciphering how to talk to them? Now, you’re adding yet another layer to the hazelnut meringue.

Chatbots. Facial recognition. Artificial intelligence. These days, marketing feels less like Mad Men and more like the handiwork of mad scientists. Our connected gizmos vacuum up data so marketers can target us with eerie precision. Am I the only one who doesn't want my TV watching me? Alas, I digress.

In a world that increasingly resembles Minority Report, an old-school marketing technology still reigns supreme. You guessed it. I'm talking about email. According to a survey of US marketers conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Demand Metric, the median ROI of email marketing is 122%.

In the era of plentiful data, how does the Creative Professional — who relies on her taste, skill and instinct to make things that other people will consume — navigate a world in which insightful data is every bit as important as her intuition?

It used to be the case that, as a creative professional, her goal was to create something that was both beautiful and effective. Is it good? Does is work? If she could answer “yes” to both of those questions, she’d done her job.

Congratulations on your new promotion as the marketing manager. Time for your first assignment: identifying a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for the bank. It’s a big first task, so we wanted to provide a few hints for you to become a CRM pro.

We are all aware that data is everywhere – especially throughout a marketing campaign. We have the opportunity to allow for data-driven marketing to influence every facet of our campaign from the goals, objectives and strategies to optimizations and reporting.

Storytelling has always been known to have the power to engage users. But what we failed to realize along the way is that it can also be a powerful way to teach organizations more about their customers.

Contrary to popular belief, I actually know that I don’t know everything. That’s the first step to realizing you need a higher power in marketing. That higher power? Research. Research findings are like the marketing gods handing you a how-to guide for reaching your target audience.

Utilities have the blessing and the curse of being in fairly constant communication with their customers.

Is research overrated?

Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. It keeps your team aligned and working toward the same objectives. Without one, your marketing is likely to be ineffective and inefficient.