It’s encouraging to see marketers embracing the power of data analytics and AI. Not only does this adoption produce more accurate and effective creative campaigns, but it also challenges marketers to approach their work more analytically and objectively.
However, with that increase in data dependency comes an increase in workload for a company’s IT department. And in situations where the IT department is overworked and managing projects across the entire company, marketing priorities can get pushed down the list. This prompts a drive in marketers to become less dependent on other departments and a desire for self-sufficiency.
To learn more about this changing relationship between marketers and IT professionals, we sat down with Carina Pologruto, EVP at i.Predictus, a division of Marketsmith Inc., and discussed how new MarTech solutions like their recently announced Ada brings that independence to the marketing team. Here’s what she had to share with us:
Modern Marketing Today (MMT): Tell us a bit about how i.Predictus and your new solution Ada are directly impacting marketing teams.
Carina Pologruto (CP): We find that Ada has been a really critical addition to our services for many of our clients, for three main reasons:
- Their internal IT team is at capacity and the project which is critical to the marketing team may have a wait time of weeks or even months.
- They do not have a robust internal IT team.
- Their internal team is facing a challenge they are not able to navigate through alone.
MMT: Which industries do you think would benefit most from this technology? Why?
CP: We really don’t see a limitation on the types of clients who can benefit, from direct marketers focused on hard goods to CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) to financial services and B2B. We specifically see benefits for companies that understand the value of data, strive to be data-focused, and want to invest marketing dollars in driving specific outcomes.
MMT: Would you say this technology aims to create an independent marketer and reduce dependence on the IT dept? Do you think a solution like Ada would cause marketing and IT teams to drift apart or work more efficiently together?
CP: Marketing teams are already seeking independence from the IT department, with the challenge being that IT has to solve the technology problems of an entire organization. It creates a natural need to prioritize. That’s why the role of CMTO (Chief Marketing Technology Officer) is on the rise.
Solutions like Ada can help marketing teams gain some independence from that queue, with the ability to prioritize solely based on the marketing needs. It does not remove the need for IT, and we find it can in fact help the teams work more efficiently together, particularly when we create an infrastructure or solution for a client and they take over managing that day to day.
MMT: Do you think the adoption of technologies like Ada is indicative of the trend towards more data-savvy and tech-focused marketers?
CP: Absolutely. Data is King – great creative deployed with large advertising budgets can still fall flat if a marketer is not focused on the data behind that advertising. It is imperative for marketers to make connections within their data so they can place that advertising in the most efficient way possible.
That was the impetus of i.Predictus in 2011, the need to automate and synthesize data in minutes rather than days in order to optimize advertising dollars in market. And that’s the heart from which we have continued to evolve and build new solutions.
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