Q2 • 2021


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26 different versions of its home page. Each one was uniquely customized for a different segment, for its named accounts that were current or prospective customers by industry visitors, such as travel. It’s one thing to rely on data to deliver the right


message at the right time to your intended target audience. It’s quite another to use this data you’ve acquired to create a new product. That’s what Netflix has done, and Hinderliter says this type of action is the Holy Grail or eureka moment of data- driven experiences. “This is the future, platforms using data to


improve itself for the user,” he explains. “Brands like Netflix have moved in this direction, using data points from their users’ viewing habits to know what type of content to create and what kind of content users will watch next.”


For marketing leaders, the increased importance of data will require making difficult choices about how their modern marketing organizations are structured.


Before you get too carried away thinking data should rule every single decision you make, Hinderliter cautions that he is not advocating for brands to make decisions based on social media metrics such as likes, hearts, shares, or comments. “Likes, shares, and comments are 100 percent


vanity metrics because no organization can exchange those metrics for money,” he says. “That is part of the trap we fell into as marketers, always trying to go viral to reach new audiences, instead of focusing on what converts.” Algorithms on social platforms constantly


change and often reward users with exposure when they use the newest tools, so it’s important to remember that social platforms such as Instagram build new features such as Stories or Reels not for organizations, but for their users. “We know that, by design, major platforms limit the reach of organic content from organizations in favor of user-generated content,” Hinderliter explains. “This is another reason why it’s important for organizations to build their own data-driven experiences that are not reliant on other platforms for reaching consumers.” For marketing leaders, the increased


importance of data will require making difficult choices about how their modern marketing organizations are structured. Hinderliter believes that, in the same way computer skills became crucial to organizational success in the latter part of the last century, analytical skills to deal with large and complex data sets will become must- haves in the marketing field over the next decade. “Every organization is restricted by two


constants which are universal—time and resources,” he points out. “Neither is unlimited. Therefore, priorities must be established to focus on what is going to convert the audience to a consumer of the product or service. It allows organizations to understand what activity produces better results.”


All this use of data begs the question of how


people feel about brands knowing exactly what they want to see and when they want to see it. After all, who among us hasn’t been a little freaked out by a targeted Facebook ad that seems to relate to a conversation we’ve just had with


a friend? Hinderliter admits that privacy is the greatest challenge to the personalized data-driven experience. In The Death of Content as King, he writes about privacy missteps from brands such as Target and Facebook as well as some strategies to mitigate those risks. He also outlines a number of ways that organizations of various sizes can use data without scaring people. Consumer trust, he says, varies from person to person across different cultures, and what scares away some people will help others or go completely unnoticed elsewhere. “We are already seeing a more concentrated backlash against data collection by governments, like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act,” Hinderliter says. “While at the same time platforms like Apple iOS and Google Chrome are moving to block third-party tracking by default. In the end, this will only make unprepared organizations more reliant on the major platforms, compared to the well-prepared organizations that have already built a treasure trove of first-party data.”


Hinderliter doesn’t see a winner to be crowned king in the battle between content and data. He sees a healthy working relationship. The content that speaks to the needs and wants of our audiences will be informed by the voice and vote of the consumer, which will be informed by data. “Creative will always be important because people can’t read ones and zeros,” Hinderliter says. “The balance is about understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each. This can’t be done if the content is always considered king in the relationship.” 


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