Thanks to the rapid pace of technological change, just 12 months can take an organisation from following to leading. So what should your business do to pull ahead in 2020?

With 2020 just around the corner, now is an ideal time for organisational leaders to get together and plot out the steps they need to take to achieve maximum business results in the New Year.

So what should organisations be considering? The experts at krunch.co offer their advice.

1. Look into AI

AI has the power to increase New Zealand’s GDP by up to $54 billion by 2035. It is a hugely powerful tool, and while it still has a long way to go, there are many highly intelligent AI solutions already available on the market.

Organisations should look into AI and how it can improve their customer experience and drive new revenue.

– Steve Fast, chief financial officer

2. Invest in data

Data, data, data – it’s key!

Good data is the heart and soul of good customer experience. It forms the bedrock of a raft of digital transformation efforts (think personalisation, automation, customer loyalty) to the point of which without data, these things simply aren’t achievable.

Any organisation that can’t gather, protect and harness customer data in 2020 will soon find itself lagging behind its peers.

 – Abi Cooke, head of client services

3. Audit your digital transformation plan

Organisations must ensure they conduct an annual review of their long term transformation plan, specifically identifying whether and where they need to make any course corrections.

Additionally, if I were to call out one thing for leaders to do in early 2020 it would be an audit of the key digital building blocks of their plan. Whether focused on content, media or technology, these audits help benchmark where a business is and how far it’s come since the inception of the original plan, and give direction on what an organisation needs to improve in order to stay on track.

– Nick Licence, director of ad tech

4. Review your customer journey, social media and tech stack

First, businesses should map out their customer journey and funnel in full, then match up their current marketing/channels against it. It’s a fast way to see where there are gaps in a strategy, and gather some quick wins marketing wise.

Second, technology officers should take an honest look at their tech stack, and see what’s really stopping their business from using it to its full potential. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that ‘X tech stack we’re using doesn’t work/integrate’ when the actual issue was around their marketing/business process, or not investing on improving integrations between all their different tools.

 – Holly Adkins, senior marketing automation consultant

5. Step into your customer’s shoes

If you haven’t already, take a step back from tactical campaigns to have a good hard look at how your customers experience your brand. Spend the time to map out audience personas and truly get to know your customers, and then map out their experience with a customer journey map.

These exercises don’t have to be a massive undertaking – even high level mapping can identify pain points that are easy and cheap to fix, and can have a massive impact on the overall perception of your brand.

 – Amanda Gross, head of digital experience

6. Don’t give up on the sales funnel

Most firms will already know of the importance of building an effective sales funnel. But there may be a danger that some marketers fear that the traditional sales funnel is a little old hat – however, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The sales funnel is alive and well, and, from top to bottom, remains an invaluable tool in digital marketing. It’s not just about sales, either – a quality sales funnel will nurture long-lasting relationships that could ensure a customer returns for years to come.

– Shane Roberts, production manager

7. Check your marketing operations and always-on campaigns

2020 should start with a marketing operations health-check. Organisations should look at things like an eDM deliverability assessment, and how well their audience databases support high-relevancy segmentations and personalisation.

Next, they must optimise their always-on campaigns, like detecting and correcting low engagement. It’s easy to get into the habit of setting up an always-on initiative and letting it run its course, especially if it’s delivering results, however leaders should always check and tweak these campaigns to ensure maximum cost efficiency.

– Richard Nelson, senior marketing automation consult