How does a modern marketing organization create a holistic customer experience? Jochen Breuer-Steinbach (RIWOspine), Jakob Goik (SAP Germany), and Saskia Cempel (Sybit) explored this question and many others at the 2023 Expert Talk Marketing event.
From the very start, the 30+ guests learned the critical importance of an initial assessment when reimagining marketing and customer experience within digital frameworks. For many companies, particularly in the B2B midmarket, email still stands as the primary customer outreach channel. This means companies must first focus on data quality, organizing, and enriching customer data. Only then can they strategize how — and with what content — customers should be addressed. A distinction between solution-oriented and industry-specific content is recommended, alongside a clear plan for the channels to be used, how customers prefer to be approached, and identifying new points of contact.
Many companies still run campaigns with a “spray-and-pray” approach, partly due to insufficiently digitized processes. The data foundation is crucial here. The strategy should be to offer valuable content, gather data, and generate leads. Only then can contacts later be segmented and targeted more effectively. For data collection to succeed, a solid communication strategy is essential. Key questions for companies include: What is being sold — a product, a solution, or knowledge? Tools and content must align with a strategy that reflects the target audience. With this as a basis, companies can more easily select the right tools, digitize processes, manage communities, and communicate effectively.
A practical tip came from Jochen Breuer-Steinbach, Director of Global Marketing at RIWOspine GmbH: The company has integrated LinkedIn with its CRM, enabling more targeted customer outreach across Europe. Additionally, community management has become a central component of their marketing approach. Marketing is never just a one-way street; ideally, it is about becoming the moderator of an active, engaging community. RIWOspine offers digital platforms to foster this exchange, for example on LinkedIn or YouTube and with external tools. Not only does this provide strong value for the target audience, but it also enables further data collection.
The advantage of digitizing processes, including community management, is measurability. How successful was a campaign or an event? Who attended, and what interested them? Sharing this information with Sales is incredibly valuable. In this and other areas —such as integrating social media into the sales process— marketing acts as a critical driver, but it also needs to communicate intensively within the company. Marketing and Sales must function as one team, and data should also be accessible to the service department and vice versa. Shared objectives are key to team success, underpinned by an overarching strategy and tools that provide a unified data foundation.
But which tools best support cross-departmental digitalization? Not every solution needs to be extensive at the outset. The essential thing is to start taking those initial steps. A strong data platform that captures and segments leads can go a long way. With social media tools and platforms like Google Analytics, a lot can already be measured and optimized. The next phase involves connected CX platforms and intelligent CRM solutions. And looking forward: AI-supported lead scoring, pipeline management, and generative AI capable of summarizing ticket histories and drafting emails.
Check out the Expert Talk Marketing event yourself! You can find the complete recording in our CX World!