Designing an Integrated Methodology for Data- Driven Marketing Strategic Planning

The ever-increasing expansion of the volume and variety of data and their role in the creation of strategic insights has made the use of analytical tools and the implementation of data-driven marketing in marketing as a priority for chief marketing officers (CMOs). Despite increasing interest toward data-driven marketing (DDM) approach by practetionares and academics, the implementation of these analytical initiatives does not achieve the promised results. One of the reasons for the failure of analytical efforts is the lack of a roadmap and a DDM strategic planning methodology that assissts CMOs in implementing and aligning such emerging initiatives with business strategies. However, limited studies have addressed strategic topics and especially strategic planning in the field of data-driven marketing. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to design an integrated and novel methodology for strategic planning of data-driven marketing. To achieve the goal of the research, a qualitative approach has been used. Along with the comprehensive litrature review, the focus group was used to explore the dimensions and activities of the proposed methodology. The findings of this study show that the main phases of the data-oriented marketing strategic planning methodology include Determine Strategic position, Strategic contextualization for DDM, Strategy development, Action plan development, Performance management. In the proposed methodology, the main phases and activities related to each of the phases and the sequence of their implementation are presented in a coherent roadmap for applying DDM with a strategic perspective to leverage analytics tools in realizing the long-term promises of analytical initiatives.