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Author: Team Position Squared

  • Position2 Adds Industry Veterans to Board to Accelerate AI-Driven Marketing

    Marketo Co-Founder Jon Miller and Serial Entrepreneur Kumar Ganapathy Join Board of Directors

    Position2, the AI-first growth marketing agency, today announced the appointment of Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo, Engagio, and a new stealth Martech startup, and Kumar Ganapathy, Managing Partner of 3iPartners, to its Board of Directors.

    The appointments come as Position2 scales its Services-as-a-Software model. This approach transforms traditional agency engagement by delivering customized, software-powered experiences for each client, backed by deep domain expertise. AI-led automation manages operational execution while Position2‘s expert teams concentrate on the high-impact strategic work that drives client growth.

    Proven Leadership for AI-First Marketing

    Jon Miller brings 25+ years of experience at disruptive marketing technology platforms. As co-founder of Marketo, he helped achieve IPO and category leadership. Previously, Miller served as CMO at Demandbase following the merger with Engagio, where he was founder and CEO. Miller is a recognized thought leader who authored “The Clear and Complete Guide to ABM” and “The Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation.”

    “Position2 represents the next evolution for modern agencies-a move to a ‘Services-as-a-Software’ model,” Miller explained. “This means clients hire the company for driving results and benefit from AI-enhanced capabilities for faster go-to-market, lower costs, and predictable growth. This precision-focused, AI-driven marketing is what the industry needs.”

    Kumar Ganapathy has founded multiple successful companies over 25 years across telecom, enterprise IT, and AI, including VxTel (acquired by Intel), Virident (acquired by Western Digital), and, through Enterprise Labs (incubator), companies like Akridata (Visual AI), Ampool (acquired by HPE), and Kinara (Edge AI silicon). As Managing Partner of 3iPartners, he has invested in over 50 tech startups.

    “AI-enabled growth marketing requires operational discipline – shorter cycle times, smarter budget allocation, and continuous experimentation with strong governance,” said Ganapathy. “Position2‘s focus on reliable outcomes to improve win rates and clarity in every dollar spent aligns perfectly with what clients in AI, SaaS, Cybersecurity, and Healthcare need.”

    Transforming Marketing Through AI

    Position2’s approach redefines marketing by fusing AI-first methodologies with proven expertise to deliver:

    • Faster Go-to-Market: Accelerated campaign deployment and optimization
    • Continuous Experimentation: Real-time testing across the buyer’s journey
    • Source to Revenue Connection: Every touchpoint is tied to the revenue

    This methodology addresses critical challenges where traditional methods struggle with sluggish GTM, low conversion rates, and unclear ROI attribution.

    The company’s pioneering AI-enabled model gives clients software-level efficiency with human-level strategic thinking, eliminating the traditional trade-off between cost and quality.

    “We’ve fundamentally reimagined how AI-enabled marketing should operate—with precision, accountability, and unwavering focus on revenue impact,” said Rajiv Parikh, CEO of Position2. “Our clients expect complete transparency from marketing spend to revenue generation, along with the speed and agility that only AI can provide. With Jon Miller and Kumar Ganapathy joining our board, we’re positioned to set entirely new standards for the industry.”

    About Position2

    Position2 is a pioneer in AI-led marketing- unifying data, accelerating insight-to-action, and connecting every dollar spent to revenue. We partner with ambitious teams that expect measurable outcomes and enterprise-grade execution.

    With over 20 years of experience and a 200+ person global team, Position2 has served hundreds of brands across B2B Tech, Computing Devices, Healthcare, and Enterprise markets.

  • Protecting your sender/domain reputation is key to your email marketing efforts

    Anyone specializing in email marketing on either the Brand or Agency side knows the importance of sender/domain reputation. A bad domain reputation can have severe consequences for your email marketing campaigns. Here are some of the key consequences:

    • Inbox Placement: Email service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook use sender reputation and domain reputation as major factors in determining whether to deliver an email to the inbox or the spam/junk folder. A good reputation increases the chances of your emails landing in the inbox, leading to higher open and engagement rates.
    • Deliverability: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and email providers may block or bounce emails from senders or domains with poor reputations, significantly impacting your email deliverability rates. Low deliverability means fewer recipients actually receive your messages.
    • Anti-Spam Compliance: Major blacklist providers like Spamhaus and Spamcop use reputation data to identify and block potential spam sources. Maintaining a good reputation helps ensure compliance with anti-spam laws and regulations.

    Let’s dive into how to maintain a good sender/domain reputation. It starts with SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). These play significant roles in email authentication and security to keep your database healthy.

    What are SPF and DKIM?

    SPF and DKIM are internet protocols that ensure:

    • Verification of the sender’s domain and whether emails sent are legitimate or not
    • Allows domain owner to specify email servers allowed to send on their behalf

    However, they both do it in different ways.

    How SPF works:

    The Domain owner creates an SPF record in DNS (Domain Name System). The SPF record is a list of authenticated IP addresses that are allowed to send emails on behalf of that domain. Once an email is sent from a domain with an SPF record, the Recipient server validates the Sender IP address with the SPF record and checks if it’s an invalid list of authentic senders.

    If validation fails due to the address not being listed in the SPF record or misconfiguration and SPF authentication, the recipient server will tag the email as suspicious and reject it.

    How DKIM works

    While sending an email, the Sending server generates (and adds) a unique digital signature for the content. The signature is created using a private key specific to the sender’s domain. The sender domain also posts a public key in its DNS records so that the recipient server can retrieve the sender’s public key from the DNS record based on the sender domain.

    The recipient server will decrypt the public key and verify a digital signature, matching will ensure the message has not been altered during transmission and the sender’s domain.

    How these help your Email marketing efforts:

    • Prevents spoofing: The recipient will know if the incoming email is legitimate or not, reducing the risk of the recipient receiving spam emails.
    • Improves deliverability: A valid SPF record ensures trust in the sender domain and prevents it from being filtered through ISPs and email filters.
    • Protects Sender’s reputation: Since you will have fewer bounces and spam complaints against your domain, the sender’s reputation will be intact or improved.
    • Ensures Brand integrity: Protecting messages from alteration in transmission and ensuring they have been triggered by a legitimate sender will protect the brand’s reputation and build trust in it.

    DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps protect domain reputations and combat email spoofing and phishing attacks. Here’s how DMARC helps:

    • Email Authentication: DMARC works in conjunction with SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to authenticate the sender’s domain and verify that the email is not forged or spoofed. This authentication process helps email providers identify legitimate emails from your domain.
    • Reputation Protection: By authenticating your domain and preventing spoofing, DMARC helps maintain a positive reputation for your domain. Spoofed or phishing emails sent from your domain can significantly damage your reputation, leading to deliverability issues.
    • Visibility and Reporting: DMARC provides visibility into how your emails are authenticated and handled by receiving email providers. It generates reports that provide insights into authentication failures, which can help identify potential issues and take corrective actions.

    By implementing DMARC, email senders can enhance their domain reputations, improve email deliverability, and protect their brands from potential spoofing and phishing attacks. It’s an essential part of a comprehensive email authentication strategy, alongside SPF and DKIM, and is widely adopted by major email providers and organizations.

    Here’s how the process flow works with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC:

    Bad sender/domain reputation can have severe consequences for email marketing campaigns. To avoid these, it’s crucial to maintain a good domain reputation by following email marketing best practices, monitoring your domain’s reputation, and addressing any issues promptly.

    To maintain a strong reputation, email marketers should follow best practices such as:

    • Using authenticated email protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
    • Maintaining clean, permission-based email lists
    • Monitoring email engagement and complaint rates
    • Promptly addressing any issues that may negatively impact reputation

    By prioritizing sender and domain reputation, email marketers can maximize inbox placement, deliverability, and overall effectiveness of their campaigns.

  • Why Brands Need Preference and Subscription Centers

    What are Preference and Subscription Centers, and how are they different?

    The preference center allows customers to select the specific product categories, communication frequency, and channels they prefer for receiving brand updates. This ensures customers only get relevant information tailored to their interests and preferences.

    The subscription center is a hub where businesses can easily manage their subscriptions, add or remove features, update billing details, and more. It centralizes all subscription information for efficient account management.

    For B2B companies (including SaaS companies), a subscription page is a value add for any customer or administrator portal – it can deliver:

    • Efficient management: Centralized hub to track subscriptions, renewals, billing, and usage.
    • Flexibility: Easily modify plans by adding/removing services as needed.
    • Transparency: Visibility into account details like contracts and billing history.
    • Streamlined support: Self-service access to documentation and assistance requests.

    A subscription center should be integrated as a component of any web-based (or app-based) product or service. Where it differs from the consumer side is that for a subscription center for a SaaS tool – the focus will be on the client administrators or vendor managers. There are cases where the broader user community could benefit from subscription center access.

    Preference centers give consumers choices for what marketing they receive from Brands that can positively impact the bottom line by:

    • Enhancing the experience: Deliver personalized, relevant content based on preferences.
    • Increasing engagement: Customers control the frequency/type of communications.
    • Higher retention: Feeling heard builds loyalty and valued customer relationships.

    On its face, a preference center is a webpage—functionality-wise, it’s a lot more. Your preference center needs to transmit consumer preferences to your customer database / CRM. It should allow consumers to change and update their preferences and update the same customer database on a regular basis. On the preference center page, let your customers know how long changes take to go into effect.

    Ideally, you would collect your customer’s preferences during signups or account creation. More often than not, the B2C preference center will also contain the overall opt-out for marketing (or email marketing) since the data update method is similar. If you’re just creating a preference for the first time – you might want to consider an email campaign or in-app message to encourage them to set their own preferences.

    Not implementing a preference or subscription can cause:

    • The inability to personalize can lead to irrelevant content, which drives lower engagement and potentially opt-outs from any Marketing materials.
    • Privacy violations from unauthorized data access/misuse.
    • Inefficient subscription management and tracking, billing errors.

    Conclusion

    In today’s customer-centric landscape, preference and subscription centers are essential for brands to build strong, lasting relationships. By empowering customers with control over their experiences, brands can deliver personalized value, driving engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty. Neglecting these centers risks alienating customers through poor relevance and lack of transparency. Implementing robust, user-friendly preference and subscription capabilities is a necessity for companies striving to exceed modern consumer expectations and maintain a competitive edge. The investment yields substantial returns through increased customer lifetime value and a positive brand reputation.

  • Beyond the Hype: AI’s Actual Impact on Four Key Industries

    Experts estimate that Artificial Intelligence, or AI, could replace 300 million full-time jobs across the global workforce. For jobs that remain delegated to humans, 80% of the American workforce can expect AI to influence at least 10% of their daily work tasks.

    From agriculture to zoology, AI is transforming a wide range of industries. If you’re feeling a bit shaken up by rapid AI developments and concerning predictions being shared around the digital water cooler, you’re not alone. Nearly a quarter of all workers are worried AI will make their jobs obsolete.

    Let’s get past the hype and look at the reality of AI’s impact on the workforce in four key industries: finance, healthcare, computing, and cybersecurity. We break down the data to see if AI is more likely to replace or refine these jobs, highlighting the evolving nature of human and machine collaboration.

    Fintech

    The fintech industry employs over 300,000 worldwide, with North America being the biggest employer in the industry. A recent survey found that nearly a quarter of American tech workers are worried AI will make their jobs obsolete. The concern isn’t entirely unwarranted, with thousands of layoffs in the tech arena linked directly to AI.

    But when it comes to fintech roles such as financial advisor, risk analyst, or even chief financial officer, how dark and looming is the threat? Some predict that AI’s data analysis, personalization, and process automation capabilities could render human advisors obsolete. The most extreme view is that emerging AI could wholly displace financial advisors within the next decade.

    This prediction leads to the question of whether consumers are ready and willing to trust AI with their financial needs. Recent data reveals that only 37% of US adults are currently interested in using AI tools to manage their money, suggesting that the widespread adoption of AI in financial advisory services may be a gradual process.

    “AI will change the game, but it is unlikely to replace financial advisors…I think the world in 2030, the majority of wealth management clients are kind of expecting a data-driven, hyper-personalized advice delivery ecosystem but still with a human connection, human interface because we’re dealing with people’s livelihood – their nest eggs, their kids’ college funds,” says Lee Davidson, chief analytics officer at Morningstar.

    The truth is that rather than replace, AI is set to empower human financial advisors and others in the fintech arena by enhancing their analytical capabilities and automating routine tasks. While AI excels in data analysis and personalization, humans will continue to play a crucial role in interpreting insights, building trust, and offering strategic guidance on complex financial decisions.

    Cybersecurity

    AI is playing an increasingly important role in cybersecurity, for good and bad. The rise in cyberattacks, many AI-powered, has created a massive demand for AI-based security products. In 2021, the market was valued at $14.9 billion. However, projections estimate it will reach an astounding $133.8 billion by 2030.

    Does this mean AI-based security products will replace cybersecurity analysts, ethical hackers, and CISOs? The younger cybersecurity workforce certainly has their concerns. Over half of cybersecurity professionals aged 45 or under view AI and machine learning as a threat to their job security. And they’re not entirely wrong.

    When asked about AI in cybersecurity, Rohit Ghai, CEO of RSA Security, said, “We must accept that many jobs will disappear, many will change, and some will be created.”

    The US Bureau of Labor and Services backs this up, expecting the demand for Information Security Analysts to increase by nearly 35% by 2031, adding 56,500 open positions to the cybersecurity job pool.

    While the hype isn’t completely unwarranted, the truth is that while AI is great at handling routine and repetitive tasks, human cybersecurity specialists bring experience, creativity, and problem-solving skills to the table.

    While AI may change some aspects of cybersecurity roles, it can’t replace the human touch in overseeing and implementing security processes. However, to stay relevant, cybersecurity specialists must stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends while learning how to work effectively and side-by-side with AI technologies.

    Healthcare

    In 2016, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton stated that society should stop training radiologists, as it was obvious that software would replace the healthcare position in the next five years. Yet, we’re years past the deadline, and there’s a high demand for radiologists, with job postings on the American College of Radiology job board reaching a record high in 2021.

    While radiologists are in the clear (for now), there are other jobs in the healthcare industry that experts predict could be displaced by AI, including medical coders and pharmacy technicians. But while rumors of layoffs flutter during shift changeovers, the truth is that a hospital filled with robots instead of RNs isn’t likely anytime soon.

    It’s not all doom and gloom, AI is also aiding medical professionals, helping them do their jobs with more speed, precision, and personalized care. As an extreme example, AI-driven surgical robots work in collaboration with human surgeons. They allow surgeons to focus on the intricate aspects of a procedure while handling more mundane tasks with remarkable precision and stability, making them an asset in complex surgeries, certainly not a threat.

    In addition to aiding surgical procedures, AI is proving its worth in diagnosing diseases. Alex’s journey highlights how AI, specifically ChatGPT, helped identify his tethered cord syndrome after 17 doctors over three years couldn’t. AI is also helping with medical research, writing, and education.

    One interesting prediction about how AI will improve the healthcare arena deals with, of all things, humanity. As Dr. Eric Topol, renowned cardiologist and expert in the field of digital medicine, says in his book Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again, “The greatest opportunity offered by AI is not reducing errors or workloads, or even curing cancer: it is the opportunity to restore the precious and time-honored connection and trust—the human touch—between patients and doctors.”

    Computing

    The computing industry gave rise to AI, and now AI is giving rise to changes in the industry. Tasks that once required human intervention, like data entry and basic IT support, are now being efficiently handled by algorithms. Recent data underscores this shift: data entry jobs are at risk of being entirely replaced by AI.

    Still, it’s important to see the bigger picture with AI in computing. Take a programmer’s ongoing plight of sifting through lines of code to find that one pesky bug. AI can automate this process, freeing up developers to focus on more complex and innovative tasks.

    Software testing is also undergoing an AI-fueled renaissance. Algorithms can quickly simulate thousands of user interactions and scenarios, ensuring software is robust and ready for deployment much faster than with human testers.

    However, while AI can process, analyze, and even predict, there’s an element it lacks: the human touch. As American computer scientist Fei-Fei Li says, “Artificial intelligence is not a substitute for human intelligence; it is a tool to amplify human creativity and ingenuity.”

    AI’s role in computing is undeniably transformative, but it’s not solely about replacement. It’s about partnership. As AI takes on more of the heavy lifting, humans can focus on what they do best: imagining, innovating, and instilling a touch of humanity into the digital world.

    Don’t panic, it’s just progress

    When the first automobiles hit America’s roads in the late 1800s, the horse and buggy began its descent into history. Yes, some roles faded, but the auto industry eventually paved the way for millions of new jobs.

    Similarly, while AI might reshape certain professions, history has shown us that technological progress often opens doors to fresh opportunities. As AI advances, we should remember that new technology doesn’t just take away; it also gives. As we navigate this digital evolution, the horizon holds new roles, innovations, and possibilities we’ve yet to imagine.

  • Top 5 Barriers to Proactive AI Adoption

    92% of large companies achieve notable returns on their investment in artificial intelligence. Businesses often adopt AI for simple reasons: it reduces human error, automates repetitive tasks, and improves the customer experience with deep personalized insights. The effort pays off—more than 80% of IT professionals worldwide in marketing and sales believe that AI leads to cost reductions for their organizations. To reap these benefits, a strategic, holistic approach is key.

    However, in the wake of fierce competition, new regulations, and rapid-fire developments like ChatGPT, organizations are scrambling to figure out AI. Understanding the top five barriers to AI adoption will help your organization prepare to deploy AI successfully.

    1. 79% of respondents only have some exposure to artificial intelligence

      When you type a sentence in an email, sometimes your email composer will suggest the end of a word or a sentence. Based on context clues, natural rhythms, and the language used, there are only so many words that could logically follow the last one you typed. By typing an ordinary email, you just interacted with AI.

      Whether you’re composing an email, generating keywords for an SEO article, or creating an automated email workflow, AI has likely touched some part of your work life. However, when it comes to organization-wide implementation, it’s easy to feel lost and overwhelmed.

      Artificial intelligence provides an endless sandbox for experimentation—which is paralyzing enough to stop many organizations before they begin. AI technology is complex, expensive, and incredibly powerful—which means that organizations must understand what’s right for them before making an investment.

      The barrier of not knowing enough about AI or its deployment is only overcome through knowledge and experience. Many experts recommend conferences where you can network with other companies that use AI, learn from subject matter experts, and connect with AI specialistsor vendors.

    2. 70% of organization-wide change efforts fail

      According to Harvard, change management strategies often fail because leaders focus on technology instead of people. In fact, behavior at the top is a primary indicator of whether organization-wide change will be successful. Employees need hands-on guidance through big changes, with a focus on anticipating consequences and minimal disruption.

      The mantra for most technological advancement is simple: machines do it better. Whatever ‘it’ may be, technology does it in less time, for less money, with higher accuracy. When implementing artificial intelligence, workers are rightfully worried that their jobs are disappearing.

      The ramifications of new technology are real. After all, repairing fax machines or making cassette tapes aren’t popular careers anymore. New technology has replaced those jobs—but it’s also created even more new jobs in their wake.

      Implementing AI is equivalent to implementing a change management strategy. It requires education, support, consistency, and a thoroughly considered transition plan that prioritizes people first.

    3. Companies must implement at least 25% of the AI tools available to them

      The cost of deploying AI is prohibitive for many organizations. After all, it requires a significant investment in new hardware and software, education for existing employees, new hires, and more. To counteract this huge expense, many experts recommend that companies start small and scale gradually.

      Start by selecting a single department or business as your test subject. Deploying a pilot AI program can ease corporate anxieties about budget, uncover opportunities to correct course, and provide small wins that justify investment on a larger scale.

      However, big results often require an equal investment. In a recent McKinsey survey, 63% of respondents reported a 5% annual revenue increase thanks to AI adoption. As organizations evolve, new capabilities that save money and boost productivity are increasing revenue. However, an article by Kiplinger suggests that limited AI adoption doesn’t translate to significant measurable growth in the real world. Instead, companies must make a real commitment to see a return by using at least 25% of the AI tools available to them.

      While the scale necessary for this approach can be intimidating, remember that small investments can pave the way for a larger one. But if your results aren’t as impressive as previously hoped, remember that holistic AI adoption is the key to seeing more impressive results. Partnering with a reputable AI vendor is another way to cut costs, too.

    4. 62% of consumers will submit their data to AI for an improved customer experience

      Artificial intelligence exists because of data. Most of it revolves around consumer data which means that AI is a high-stakes game. If your systems are hacked, or customer information is exposed, your organization’s image will suffer. Depending on federal or state regulations, you may also face legal or criminal penalties. When dealing with massive amounts of data, theft, illegal access, and cybercrime are big risks.

      Consumers—in fact, 62% of them—want to give you their data if it means they’ll get an improved digital experience. Of course, transparency with consumers is the first step. How are you using, processing, and storing consumer data?

      To protect the data necessary for successful AI adoption, ensure compliance with relevant data protection rules and regulations. Data encryption, access limits, and recurring security audits are a great place to start. Implementing an audit, risk, and compliance process is also critical to make sure your bases are covered–and may even be necessary to comply with regulations and industry standards.

    5. 52% of employees trust artificial intelligence in their workplace

      It can be tempting to trust artificial intelligence over human intellect. After all, ‘human error’ is responsible for more mistakes than an automated algorithm. But it’s crucial to remember that artificial intelligence is only as good as the people creating, feeding, and using it. When using AI, the accuracy of the original information, context clues, and implicit bias must be accounted for. Nothing should be implicitly trusted. In fact, only half of employees fully trust AI in their professional lives.

    Primary solutions to mitigate AI risk and overcome barriers

    Successfully implementing AI can take many forms, especially when tackling big problems on a limited budget. Some vital solutions include:

    • Implementing existing security measures and cyber controls
    • Investing in complementary technology, such as big data capabilities and cloud computing
    • Educating and training staff members
    • Investing in a change management strategy
    • Hiring legal experts
    • Openly communicating with stakeholders
    • Enhancing interpretability
    • Oversight and governance
    • Addressing discrimination in AI

    If you enjoyed this article, add a comment below or continue the conversation on LinkedIn.

  • Making sense of the cybersecurity landscape: is digital marketing to explode or implode based on adopting AI and machine learning?

    3 out of 4 C-Suite executives believe that if they don’t scale artificial intelligence in the next five years, they risk going out of business entirely. Artificial intelligence is the future—for legitimate organizations and threat actors alike. In 2023, malicious actors are leveraging attack vehicles that are more sophisticated than ever. For instance, malicious exploitation of vulnerable systems (such as IoT devices, cloud servers, and mobile applications) can be automated via algorithms. For every tool that saves time, boosts revenue, and protects your organization, there is a feature that allows hackers to potentially access your systems.

    In particular, digital marketing teams benefit from artificial intelligence. In fact, the “AI for digital marketers” industry is projected to increase to more than $107.5 billion in the next five years. However, without proper attention to cybersecurity practices, many digital marketing teams may engineer their own doom as they race to adopt these tools at an unsustainable pace.

    Given the cybersecurity concerns at hand, is digital marketing poised to explode or implode based on the adoption of AI and machine learning?

    AI, cybersecurity, and digital marketing

    AI and machine learning empowers digital marketing teams in a few ways. Often, teams leverage these tools to accomplish the following:

    • Sales forecasting
    • Digital ad placement
    • Predict media trends
    • Manage customer conversations
    • Generate written, image, and video content
    • Transcribe speech to text
    • Conduct predictive lead generation and personalization

    To conduct these tasks, however, AI and machine learning models must be trained. The accuracy of these tasks depends on how well this has been done, which requires massive datasets to do correctly. Once accomplished, these tools can drive programmatic buying, sales propensity models, e-commerce recommendation engines, and more.

    Unfortunately, these massive datasets equal an unprecedented attack surface for hackers to use advanced tools to spot and penetrate weaknesses. If digital marketers are to succeed, AI and cybersecurity must combine to prevent hackers from accessing and manipulating this data.

    AI for digital marketers is a long-term investment

    76% of business executives are struggling to scale AI across their organizations. Complex data sets, technologies, and IAM strategies must be implemented properly for digital marketers to proceed. However, the sheer mass of these assets exposes vulnerabilities if AI and machine learning tools, digital marketing goals, and cybersecurity protocols are not equally weighted. Pairing these elements requires a balance of trust, data security, transparency, and control.

    This incremental process is necessary when it comes to reaping the benefits of AI and machine learning for digital marketers, which include:

    • End-to-end efficiency. AI automates repetitive tasks that require time, energy, and brainpower—but no emotional intelligence.
    • Improved accuracy. Human error is responsible for 9 out of 10 data breaches. Automation is a fantastic safeguard for your organization’s cybersecurity.
    • Improved decision-making. Poor decisions often result from poor data. With infinite data available through AI, decision-making becomes easier and more accurate.
    • Intelligent offerings. What do your customers want? AI can predict the market, forecast sales trends, and produce detailed profiles of your target audience.
    • Empowered employees. Employees need access to the right tools to do their jobs. By taking away repetitive tasks that suck up time and energy, they can pour that passion into their careers.
    • Superior customer service. Top-notch customer service is a mix of data and interpersonal strengths. AI can manage the former, and human representatives can deal with the latter.

    What steps can I implement toward a robust approach to AI/machine learning in digital marketing?

    Start by leveraging AI to process copious amounts of data from various sources quickly. This produces more accurate insights into customer behavior. Now, your digital marketing team can precisely target potential customers and create tailor-made campaigns.

    As technology changes and AI capability skyrockets, it is important to monitor changes and make regular tweaks. Make sure you track how search results rank and adjust strategies accordingly.

    Remember to quantify your investments, too. Start by measuring ROI with metrics such as:

    • Customer engagement rate
    • Lead conversation rate
    • Cost per acquisition

    This highlights areas for improvement, ensures efficient resource utilization, and justifies any investments your department has made in AI.

    Without cybersecurity practices to shield all these new developments, your efforts may be wasted. It is critical to invest in cybersecurity training and solutions to offset risks that are inherent to the adoption of new technology. This includes employee training, regular vulnerability scans, intrusion detection systems, and strong authentication protocols.

    Prioritize scalable, long-term growth over unsustainable wins

    Every one of your competitors is likely leveraging AI, machine learning, and data analytics in their marketing efforts and media platforms. Adapting your strategies to remain competitive is necessary to stay relevant in your industry—and invest in your own organization’s growth journey.

    If you enjoyed this article, add a comment below or continue the conversation on LinkedIn. Learn more about what Tina is working on here.

  • Privacy and Compliance for Digital Marketers in 2023

    5.16 billion people use the Internet daily. These activities produce a trail of data that must be safely processed, handled, and stored. But after an onslaught of breaches, scandals, and lawsuits, Internet users no longer trust how organizations deal with their data.

    To combat this, users do what they can to protect themselves. This includes browsing in private mode, deploying ad blockers, or avoiding web presences they are unsure of. This is bad news for digital marketers since audience identifiers are created when people interact with ads, use public browsers, and interact with new web presences. Without these identifiers, 80% of the addressable market will quickly become unknown audiences.

    These new developments limit the information digital marketing teams have. As a result, their ability to launch high-performing paid ads, conduct accurate targeting, develop lucrative paid search strategies, or craft audience-specific content is curtailed.

    Substantial fines are associated with privacy and compliance violations

    Browser updates also represent a challenge for marketers gathering data. For instance, Apple and Mozilla implemented browser updates that enhance consumer privacy and limit third- and first-party cookies. (Google will likely follow suit in 2024.) These updates make it more challenging for digital marketers to access and gather the data they rely on. What is the reasonable solution? Start demonstrating privacy and compliance in a way that bolsters user trust.

    Of course, the stakes of privacy and compliance have never been higher. It starts with users: if they don’t trust your organization, you can expect a loss in revenue, reputation, and more. But if users have a reason for these suspicions—in other words, if there’s lawsuit material at hand—the authorities step in. For example, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (along with other legislative bodies) leverages substantial fines for privacy and compliance violations. Fines usually equal 20 million pounds or 4% of your firm’s worldwide annual revenue from the preceding financial year.

    The shifting state of privacy and compliance is a major challenge

    The implementation of regulations like the GDPR or CCPA protects consumers and keeps data safe. However, as different laws pass and new standards are set, organizations must navigate a maze of high-stakes, conflicting guidance. The shifting state of legislature surrounding privacy and compliance requires a nuanced, incremental approach.

    Prioritize transparency, choice, and control

    Privacy and compliance for digital marketers require a two-pronged approach: building user trust and taking practical steps to comply with legal standards. Start by disclosing and explaining how data will be used—and that information will be deleted, modified, or altered if requested. In today’s tech climate, user expectations are rising as they demand transparency, privacy, and control over how their information is used. Once users trust you, they are more likely to share data, interact with your ads, and so forth.

    Build an incremental privacy and compliance strategy

    For legal, ethical, and interpersonal reasons, it is crucial to implement a robust approach toward privacy and compliance in digital marketing. Here’s how to start.

    Minimize the collection and use of personally identifiable information by distinguishing between zero-party data and first-party data. First-party data comes from user behavior in a browsing situation that provides clues about their intent and priorities. This approach generates insights—without capturing unnecessary personal data. Instead, it relies on making the most of the technical information at your disposal. When surveying data from a browsing session, this includes:

    • Device, language, and operating system being used
    • General location
    • Time of customer interaction
    • What they were looking at
    • The path they took to arrive at a certain location or experience

    On the other hand, zero-party data comes directly from your audience. Filling out a contact form, signing up for an e-newsletter, or taking a survey all generate zero-party data since it’s offered voluntarily. This data gives marketers the opportunity to provide highly tailored messaging.

    When you do end up acquiring data, focus on transparency. Make sure consumers stay well-informed on how your organization collects, uses, and stores data. It’s also important to remember that this data is subject to deletion upon request, per regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA.

    Ensure these data collection processes are compliant with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Prioritize data being stored securely, handled responsibly, and used only within the scope of consent given. Once data is responsibly stored, your organization must keep it safe—which requires an investment in robust cybersecurity measures. Start by prioritizing:

    • Intrusion detection systems
    • Strong authentication protocols
    • Regular vulnerability scans

    Minimize the acquisition of personal data

    Privacy and compliance for digital marketers in 2023 requires balance: getting what you need to inform a solid marketing strategy while minimizing your acquisition of personal data. Start by pursuing tactics that focus on patterns and trends. When you do acquire data, focus on collaborative strategies, such as data clean rooms.

    Remember to plan for conflicting imperatives from different legislative bodies. For instance, many laws require that you delete data when users request it. However, other guidelines require that you retain certain data for certain time periods. In these tricky situations, it is important to pursue legal advice, maintain flexibility, and prioritize compliance.

    From a cybersecurity perspective, it is critical to remain aware of current threats and regularly monitor your organization’s systems. Refusing to trust piecemeal protocols is necessary for your organization’s long-term investment in privacy and compliance for your digital marketing teams.

    If you enjoyed this article, add a comment below or continue the conversation on LinkedIn.

    Learn more about what Tina is working on here.

  • Not connecting with customers? Leverage analytics to up-level your customer journey map

    We get it, content is king. That said, why are so many businesses getting content wrong? It’s time we acknowledged the not-so-little elephant in the room. 57 percent of marketing executives admit they don’t know how to leverage their data to understand customers or anticipate their needs.

    We know there’s a significant upside to delivering quality content experiences. Businesses that create and share high-quality content can attract new customers, build relationships with existing customers, and boost their bottom line. However, even the best content strategy can fail if it’s not aligned with the customer journey. Here, we’ll discuss the customer journey, how to create a customer journey map, and how analytics can position your content strategy for success.

    What is the customer journey map?

    A customer journey map is a visual representation of the customer journey. It guides and influences the steps that a customer takes from the moment they first become aware of your business to the moment they make a purchase.

    Why is it so important?

    A customer journey map can help you identify the content that your customers need at each stage of the buying process. Think of it as a knowledgeable sherpa that quietly guides a customer toward a buying decision. When done well, you gain satisfied and loyal customers. Fortunately designing a customer journey map does not have to be left up to chance. To increase your chances for success, leverage analytics within your customer journey map to bolster your content strategy.

    How Analytics Improves the Customer Journey

    Analytics can improve the customer journey in several ways. For example, analytics can be used to:

    • Identify the most important touchpoints in the customer journey.
    • Measure customer satisfaction at each touchpoint.
    • Identify areas where customers are having trouble.
    • Develop strategies to improve the customer experience at each touchpoint.

    By using analytics to improve the customer journey, you can:

    • Increase customer satisfaction.
    • Reduce customer churn.
    • Increase sales.

    To create a customer journey map, you’ll need to:

    Identify your target audience:

    Who are you trying to reach with your content? What are their needs and interests?

    Map out the customer journey:

    What are the different stages that your customers go through from the moment they first become aware of your business to the moment they make a purchase?

    Identify the content that your customers need at each stage:

    What kind of content will help them learn more about your business, solve their problems, and make a purchase?

    By understanding the customer journey, you can identify the touchpoints that are most important to your customers and make sure that you are providing them with a positive experience at every stage. This will help you to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.

    Not sure where to start? Here are some tips for creating a positive customer journey:

    • Make it easy for customers to find information about your products or services.
    • Provide clear and concise pricing information.
    • Make it easy for customers to contact you with questions or concerns.
    • Deliver on your promises.
    • Go above and beyond to exceed customer expectations.

    Once you have created your customer journey map, use it to improve the customer experience at every stage. In doing so, you increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.

    Bottom Line

    Standing out amongst competitors is an ever-growing challenge. The customer journey is an important concept that businesses must conceptualize. By understanding the different stages of the customer journey and the emotions that customers experience at each stage, businesses can improve the customer experience and increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. Don’t go it alone, analytics can significantly raise your level of success. Not sure you can tackle this on your own. Find out how Position2 can help you uplevel your customer journey, taking prospective customers into loyal buyers.

  • Content’s Primary Role In The Customer Decision Journey

    Putting the Customer First

    Now, more than ever, today’s customers are more discerning and it’s not just about your competitors. They have access to a wide variety of information at their fingertips and can easily compare products and services from different businesses. With limited time, budget, and attention, businesses need to do more than just offer a good product or service. One of the most important aspects of a great customer experience is content. Content can be used to educate customers, build relationships, and drive sales. It can also be used to shape the customer journey. Failing to do so could result in lost revenue and growth. So, how do you manage to capture your audience while transforming them into your customers? You put their needs first.

    The best way for a business to position itself is to solve the needs of its customers. That said, in order to achieve optimal positioning, it’s vital for a company to effectively articulate the pain points that it solves. This is where content comes into play, as marketing efforts help or hinder brand awareness. It’s one thing to drive audiences to your content. But to convert readers into customers, that takes fine-tuning and understanding the customer journey.

    The customer journey is the path that a customer takes from first learning about your business to becoming a loyal customer. We break it into five stages: awareness, consideration, purchase, use, and advocacy.

    Leverage content at each stage of the customer journey to:

    • Attain awareness: Content can be used to introduce your business and its products or services to potential customers. This can be done through blog posts, articles, social media posts, and other forms of content.
    • Generate interest: Now that potential customers are aware of your business, use content to generate interest in your products or services. For example, highlight information about the benefits of your products or services, or by sharing customer testimonials.
    • Drive consideration: As potential customers journey through the pipeline, considering your products or services, deliver content experiences to help them make a decision. Case studies are a phenomenal method for highlighting customer challenges while positioning a business as the solution.
    • Close the sale: Once potential customers are ready to buy, it’s time to sign on the dotted line. And, content is key to getting to the finish line. Design your content to deliver clear and concise information about your business and how it can fulfill a need.
    • Nurture relationships: After the sale is closed, leverage content to nurture relationships with customers. We’re not talking about spamming them with emails, but rather sharing targeted content that speaks to their needs. For example, providing customer support, sharing educational content, or simply staying in touch with customers up-levels the customer experience.
    • Drive advocacy: Happy customers make the best evangelists. The ultimate goal of any customer journey is to drive advocacy and when customers are so happy with your business, they are willing to recommend you to their friends and colleagues. In this stage, use content to drive advocacy by sharing customer testimonials, offering referral bonuses, or simply making it easy for customers to share your content with others by adopting social media.

    Effective content strategy shapes and influences the customer journey, creating a positive experience that will lead to repeat business and referrals.

    Not sure where to start? Here are some tips for using content to shape the customer journey:

    • Be relevant. The content you create should be relevant to the interests and needs of your target audience. This will help you to capture their attention and keep them engaged.
    • Make your content easy to find. Your content should be easy to find on your website and social media channels. You can use search engine optimization (SEO) to make your content more visible in search results. Make sure you’re using best practices in website design to drive visibility on your site.
    • Promote your content. Once you have created compelling content, you need to promote it to generate viewership. Automate your content through social media, email marketing, and other channels. Let technology do the heavy lifting by highlighting your content.
    • Measure results and impact. In order to improve, It is important to measure the results of your content marketing efforts to see what is working and what is not. You can use analytics tools to track website traffic, social media engagement, and other metrics. By knowing where you’ve been and how you’ve done, you can significantly improve your roadmap for the future.

    Content has always been a mechanism for creating satisfied and repeat customers. But in order to tap into its benefits, you have to put the customer first, which starts with the customer journey. To achieve great results, the customer journey strategy has to be enveloped within your content strategy. Create targeted content campaigns for each stage of the customer journey. In doing so, content is at the helm of the customer journey shaping a positive experience that will lead to repeat business and referrals.

  • How do you protect identities and privileges for cloud infrastructure?

    The average data breach costs an organization $5MM—a potentially fatal blow to any cybersec firm. In response, businesses are adopting cloud infrastructure at an unprecedented rate. This “done fast is better than done right” mentality often results in high-risk identity and access management, and here’s why:

    1. COVID-19’s ripple effect continues. The pandemic forced immediate WFH policies, and businesses often granted global access and excessive privileges as a Band-Aid solution.
    2. Traditional solutions became a trap. As the digital economy grows and WFH becomes the standard, on-prem and geofencing solutions just don’t work.
    3. Managing access to cloud-based infrastructure got complicated. 87% of senior business leaders are prioritizing digital transformation in the upcoming year. To match these priorities, cloud infrastructure adoption is spiking. However, a spike in adoption produces equal risk, especially when it happens too fast.

    1 cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds—which means that delaying digital transformation is no longer an option.

    Cloud infrastructure stakes have never been higher

    90% of all cloud security failures are the result of a customer not adopting a proper cloud security posture. That posture is heavily reliant on a robust identity and access management strategy—and the tools, team, and infrastructure to support it. Without this strategy, executive leaders may experience million-dollar losses, reduced revenue, a tarnished reputation, and lost customer trust.

    Given the stakes, inaction makes no sense. But the numbers say otherwise: 49% of executives cite complexity as the biggest roadblock to an effective security organization.

    According to Akash Agarwal, Chief Business Officer at Procyon, “Before the proliferation of cloud, there were only a handful of privileged users … fast-forward to today, with the rapid [adoption] of cloud and with CI/CD, you can argue that every developer is a privileged user. Now, you need a frictionless PAM system to manage access without compromising security and productivity.”

    The payoff is too good to ignore—organizations with the most mature cloud security practices (which includes a robust identity and access management strategy) outperform their peers by 2x.

    What steps can I implement towards a robust approach to identity and access management?

    Avoid the temptation to forge a new path without assessing your organization’s history. What decisions, automations, and strategies produced your current IAM situation? Take the time to ask the following questions in order to structure a plan for the future.

    Has my organization identified and reduced excess privileges?

    The digital economy can pivot in seconds. In this volatile environment, many organizations react by granting global access or excessive privileges, ‘just for now.’ Start by assessing what resources are being regularly accessed by each department, team, and individual. If someone isn’t accessing a resource regularly, the privilege to do so will be revoked.

    Of course, take the time to host conversations to ensure you’re aware of your team’s needs. You don’t want to cut access and later realize the ability to process payroll, for instance, was tied to your hasty decision.

    Has my organization identified cloud misconfigurations connected to excessive privileges?

    Misconfigured privileges come with profound consequences. If an attacker gains access to an environment with misconfigured privileges, they can escalate quickly. Think of it this way: if an attacker can access an account, they can open all the doors that the approved user could under normal circumstances. When you limit the number of doors that each user has the keys to, you reduce unnecessary risk and exposure.

    According to Akash Agarwal, Chief Business Officer at Procyon, “…82% of data breaches involve a human element … increasing the impetus for companies to build towards a zero-trust security posture.” That’s why it is important to invest in automated tools. These tools can seamlessly detect misconfigurations and excess privileges. Then, remediation can occur once these issues are detected. (Automations aren’t a silver bullet, either. Absolute security is a goal, not an actual destination—and any service that promises otherwise is selling a myth.)

    What are your top three priorities when it comes to remediating privileges/misconfigurations that present the biggest security risks?

    Let’s recap.

    1. Start by prioritizing identity-based access threats to cloud storage buckets. This will serve as a strong preventative measure to combat the risk of data breaches.
    2. Monitoring for configuration errors through excessive or default permissions should also be prioritized.
    3. Invest in automated tools to detect misconfigurations/excessive privileges and take steps to remediate once detected.

    What happens next? You’ve put in the hard work of protecting identities and privileges for cloud infrastructure, which includes investing in new tools, educating your internal teams, and building a long-term strategy. However, it’s crucial to showcase your IAM strategy to new users or customers, too—we can help.

    Why you should shift security left

    A robust identity and access management strategy supports easy, secure access to government benefits and services, resilient communication networks, and fresh opportunities for contracts and payment. systems.

    To achieve a future supported by such a strategy, it’s critical to shift security left. What does this mean? When your organization is designing products and services, security must be an integral piece of design, instead of being treated like an afterthought. The future of cloud security relies on this paradigm shift—moving from security-minded development to developer-minded security.

    If you enjoyed this article, add a comment below or continue the conversation on LinkedIn. Learn more about what Akash and his Procyon team are working on here.

    Is your agency delivering the right return on your marketing investment? We combine strategy, execution, and knowledge into award-winning marketing solutions. Contact us today and find out how Position2 can help you grow.