SXSWi (South-by-Southwest Interactive) starts this week.
Thousands of digerati from all over the world will gather to discuss tons of topics including the current state of social media, digital marketing, and even two or three sessions on big data. My best guess is that the term "data-driven marketing" will be mentioned often, as this is the "new" new trend that brands and their agencies are counting on to bring desired sales and transactions results.
After all, the kumbaya days of social media are officially over. The rubber has hit the road and CEOs want to (rightly) know how social impacts the bottom line. Now more than ever, targeting customers with the right message at the right point within the purchasing funnel is imperative.
So it's no wonder that CMOs are turning up the pressure on CIOs and IT departments for the keys to unlock the secrets contained within 'big data.' Especially now that social media is producing so much potentially rich business intelligence.
But hold on. According to a study in January 2013 by InfoChimps, 55 percent of big data projects are not completed. Here's why: 58 percent Inaccurate Scope; 41 percent Technical Problems; or 39 percent Siloed Information and Non-Co Operation.
Uh oh. Mars vs. Venus, indeed. But fear not! This perceived impasse is precisely where the opportunity lies for both sides. The next wave of enterprise social will take place on that long walk from the Data Center to the Marketing Department.
The cloud, mobile, social, CRM, analytics, sales, branding, talent acquisition -- the increased productivity within the enterprise is riding on these two opposing sides coming together.
Think of the productivity gains, the job creation, the technology innovation, and the thought-leadership as social business scales. I'm convinced we're up to the task. I'm focused on this on behalf of my clients and students and look forward to sharing my journey with my readers. In fact, Thursday night I joined a large group of women engineers at the Google L.A. campus for a discussion about this and much more.
Beverly Macy is the co-author of The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing. She also teaches Executive Global Marketing and Branding and Social Media Marketing for the UCLA Extension. Email at beverlymacy@gmail.com