With the end of the year in sight, the final Brisbane Networx wrapped up 2018 with one of it’s best events yet. This November edition was focused on looking forward into the new year, with the theme ‘Strategy and Innovation for 2019’. As always, it was a fantastic night that left the audience with plenty of ideas and insights into how they should be approaching their planning for the next twelve months.
This month’s panel included Jenny Williams, the Chief Marketing Office of Compare the Market, Nigel Dawson, Chief Inventor of REA Group and John Cosgrove, Partner – Salesforce Einstein, Khemistry (a GrowthOps business). It was facilitated by James Gauci. The combined knowledge of this speaking meant that there were plenty of takeouts from the evening. Here are a few that we thought were key when looking ahead to 2019:
Look to Improve Your Data Systems
Jenny Williams CMO of https://t.co/Pb0n7xwEZx on our #innovation panel for #nxbris #loftwestend https://t.co/BoM7fGWuaB pic.twitter.com/rlAuG6PnOV
— Networx Brisbane (@NetworxEvents) November 27, 2018
Australian businesses need to work on data. It’s imperative that the way you collect, analyse and act on data is streamlined. Ensure that whatever systems you are using for each of these stages of the process, are talking to each other. However, working with data in 2019 goes far beyond just getting the technology right. The panel’s consensus was that data consolidation and data privacy is still something that, generally speaking, Australian businesses can improve on.
Jenny Williams highlighted how getting privacy right is not just about the technical side of things, but also understanding your customers’ attitudes towards privacy and segmenting your database accordingly – ‘the creepy grey line that marketers shouldn’t cross is different for different people’.
Knowing Your Customer is ‘Mission Critical’ When it Comes to A.I
Conversational AI is the future! Customers will expect to be able to interact with brands using audio interfaces… but are your systems, and content, ready for that?#nxbris
— Sahlia Painter (@Sahlia) November 27, 2018
It’s been a throughline across many conferences, meetups and discussions worldwide this year, but still, we keep coming back to it – conversational A.I is the future. Customers do and will expect to be able to interact with brands through chat and audio interfaces (think instant, around the clock access to brands). To deliver on these expectations, brands need to build their AI on an understanding of the humans that they are engaging with to be able to deliver a truly rewarding experience.
John Cosgrove’s three key points for finding success with AI was making sure that you understand the intent, persona and dialogue behind your customer to create a strong conversational architecture. This allows marketers to be the custodian of the technology conversation.
It All Comes Back to the Basics
#nxbris slide: Nigel Dalton of @rea_group @nxdnz says to read more books – pick 4 and read them or get the audiobook! https://t.co/RUPOSpCYjB pic.twitter.com/ohUpwpCZYD
— Networx Brisbane (@NetworxEvents) November 27, 2018
No matter the developments in technology or new channels that arise, the basic principles of marketing remain the same; you need to know who your customers are and what their purchase journey looks like. It still all boils down to understanding what the customer needs to hear, and how to get that message to them at the right time. You can, and should, start to get clever about the way you capture, store and interpret that data, as well as how you can optimise the channels you use to reach your customers – but the core marketing principles remain the same.
This was hammered home by Nigel Dawson, with his top tip for the marketers in the room being simply, ‘read more in 2019. People have thought through the complexities of what you face, they’ve joined the dots and they’ll leave you thinking about how you can bring a whole new mindset and approach to your job’.
So that’s a wrap on Networx in 2018! It’s been another great year for the marketing community in Brisbane with this great networking and knowledge resource available. Reload would like to once again thank Networx for allowing us to be a part of their monthly events. Based on the success of this year, we’re already looking forward to what 2019 will bring.
Until then, make sure you follow Reload Media on Twitter, for everything you need to know about Digital Marketing in 2019 and beyond.