🤖 Marketing Bytes: 5 Common Tools, Architecture, & Security
🤖 Marketing Bytes: 5 Common Tools, Architecture, & Security
A marketer's guide to how computers process and share information
Welcome to the third part of our three-part series on the modern data fundamentals that every business owner or marketer should know:
Data representations and storage: shows how a computer sees and remembers the world
Processing and transfer: shows how a computer can crunch numbers and share them with others
[This one] ➡️ 5 Common tools, architecture, and security: shows how a computer can keep info safe from hackers and how more complex systems are structured
These concepts are the bedrock of the data world, and understanding them is crucial to making informed decisions around data projects.
In this post, you’ll learn about the basics of how common business systems are structured and how to keep your data safe from prying eyes. 👀
I’ll add 💡 to show memory tips and 🚨 to show common places where mistakes happen
In the last post, we covered:
How computers get sensory data
Through data input ‘senses’ that depend on your application
How computers think
(Historically) linearly—like a human—but now can think in parallel for faster operations
How computers share info
ELT or ETL processes move and load data between different end consumers
In this post, we’ll discuss:
5 Common tools and systems
The modern MarTech architecture design
Basic computer security principles
By understanding various digital elements, designs, and security principles, you can ensure your data initiatives are both powerful and safe.
5 Common Digital Tools
The cloud is not a single entity—it’s a collection of technologies that provide different services.
Having the right tools can keep your team focused on driving results—not wrestling a Gordian knot of tools.
Here’s a straightforward breakdown of 5 common digital tools every business owner should be familiar with.
1. CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
💡 Memory Tip: A CRM is meant to CReate Memories about your customers
Function: CRM systems are designed to record and manage your customer relationships. They hold crucial information like customer contact details, interaction history, and purchase records, which helps in personalizing customer service and increasing sales effectiveness.
Common Examples: Salesforce, HubSpot
2. Data Warehouse (a.k.a. EDW)
Function: A data warehouse is a centralized place where information from different sources is stored together. It's designed for query and analysis rather than processing.
Examples: Snowflake, Oracle, Teradata
Related Terms: Data Lake, Data Mesh, Delta Lake
3. Digital Asset Management (DAM)
💡 Memory Tip: In 1998, Pixar accidentally deleted Toy Story 2 from their servers—a lucky WFH employee had the only copy left to restore it. Instead of saying ‘Damn’, they should have used a DAM
Function: Digital asset management systems help organizations store, organize, and retrieve media. These systems are essential for managing large volumes of digital assets like photos, videos, and music.
Examples: Adobe Experience Manager, Bynder
4. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Function: ERP software integrates internal business functions into one complete system to streamline processes across an entire organization. This includes integrating accounting, human resources, supply chain, customer service, and more into one system.
Examples: SAP, Oracle ERP Cloud
5. Business Intelligence (BI)
Function: Business intelligence tools analyze data sets and provide actionable1 insights through reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, dashboard development, and data mining. BI tools help organizations know how their business is doing.
Examples: Tableau, Microsoft Power BI
🚨 Common Pitfall: Double check your dashboards’ data quality before drawing conclusions! GIGO
Summary
Understanding these tools and their functions can dramatically improve how you manage data, interact with customers, and ultimately run your business. Each tool offers core business benefits and can help your team perform at the highest level.
Exploring The Modern MarTech Architecture
Business systems have gotten more complex—marketing and IT teams have adapted. Before, each department might have their own set of their own tools. Now, its shared.2
Many companies—across all industries—have found success using the ‘Modern MarTech Architecture’.3
Not a static or prescriptive set of tools and connections, the modern MarTech architecture is a set of core processes that are grouped and connected by their functions and interactions.
Let's break down the core MarTech architecture structure. Don’t get overwhelmed, we’ll walk through it.
**Warning kitschy extended metaphor incoming**
To avoid getting too technical, pretend you’re a head chef at a fancy restaurant.
Your role:
Take in relevant information from and about customers
Process, understand, and remember that information
Send out what food you think the customer actually wants4
See how customers respond and update your understanding5 of the customer base
🚨 Be careful though—more systems can just mean more cooks in the kicthen!
Unification is Key
You’ve got table orders (data) coming from many patrons (sources).
Your kitchen (system) needs to be set up so everything works together smoothly.
First party data from your waitstaff recording customer orders (what customers tell you directly), and third party data—popular food trends, must be mixed just right.
You need a good kitchen plan (strategy) for success.
Utensils
You've got your Marketing Technology (MarTech) Stack, like your kitchen tools. Like you saw above, different tools are needed for different functions.
A knife won’t help you make soup, but its still important kitchen equipment.
You’ll need to ensure your sous chefs have the right prep equipment to keep food flowing to the stove for the cooks.
The Central Hub
In the middle of this, think of a Customer Data Platform (CDP) as your stove.
Your cooks (marketers) are huddled around it, combining ingredients to create dishes.
The kinds of dishes your cooks create depend on the overall kitchen environment as well as what the customers directly ask for.
It's where the MarTech magic happens too—unifying customer profiles to personalize marketing across every channel.
Serving it Up
Once everything's cooked, it's about delivering the meal—through email, websites, apps, or even direct mail.
Ok…I guess you probably wouldn’t email a pasta meal, but this is where the kitchen metaphor breaks down.
At any rate, this stage is your Activation, where you ensure each customer gets what they ordered.
Pulling It Together
Coming back to marketing…the architecture for computer tooling has the same core principles as the head chef role.
Below is the high-level modern MarTech Architecture with *actual business wording*
The idea is the same!
In summary, the modern MarTech architecture is all about bringing together many different ingredients to create a delightful customer experience—organized, secure, and ready to grow with your business. 🍽️
Security and Privacy Principles
And remember, you must keep your kitchen clean and safe. That’s where security comes in. Protect your data like you'd protect a secret recipe—encryption, access controls, and regular checks are a must.
Keeping data secure and private isn't just important for business—it's often required by law.
Here are some key principles every business owner and marketer should know:
Data Encryption
Encrypt your data both when it's stored (at rest) and when it's being sent (in transit). Think of it as putting your data in a safe and then locking the safe while it's being moved.
💡 Ensure you have good records of your system setup. Properly encrypted data effectively cannot be recovered without the proper key.
Access Controls
Manage who can see or use your data. Use roles and permissions to keep tight control, similar to giving house keys only to family members and trusted friends. Only give out the minimum amount of access required for someone’s job function.
Data Sovereignty
Know where your data is stored geographically—the physical location of the servers is lives on—as different countries have different laws about data access by governments and third parties.
🚨 This is an unintuitive security measure—given that we’ve gotten used to the idea of the internet as a single playing field across the world. Be mindful of legal compliance
Regular Audits
Regularly checking your cloud setups and policies helps catch potential vulnerabilities early. It's like having regular inspections for your car to ensure it's running smoothly—before something goes wrong.
Fixing data before it’s a problem is much easier and less expensive than doing it after it’s become an issue.
Wrap-Up
Understanding the different cloud architectures and their respective pros and cons can significantly impact your business's operational efficiency and data security.
By implementing strong security measures and choosing the right cloud environment, you position your business for success in the digital landscape.
actionable—hopefully
Yes, shadow IT exists. And no, not all tools are shared. Generally the data infrastructure is shared though.
Really the Modern Data Architecture
Not necessarily what they say they want. Revealed preferences are more important than stated preferences
Your understanding of your customers will inform the kinds of tests you’ll run, information you’ll value, and KPIs you choose—this is an important factor to keep in mind.