AiThority Interview with Heidi Bullock, CMO of Tealium

Heidi Bullock, CMO of Tealium highlights more on how AI  is transforming CX  and overall business outcomes in this catch-up with AiThority.com:

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Could you provide an overview of your journey as Chief Marketing Officer at Tealium?

I joined Tealium as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in October 2019. This was right before COVID hit, which created a lot of change for global organizations. During my tenure, I have seen the significance of customer data skyrocket. Initially, teams were mostly focused on using customer data and CDPs for personalization and driving better cross-channel engagement. During COVID, more organizations needed to quickly pivot and were forced to drive better digital experiences that were also cost-effective.

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For example, many of Tealium’s customers used conversions API (CAPI) to ensure ad spend was optimized and more easily tracked. Leading analyst firm Gartner also officially recognized CDP as a significant category – where Tealium was named a leader. It’s exciting to be part of a category when it’s early and watch it mature.

CDPs and having an open data layer that is real-time have now become table stakes for teams that want to deliver great customer experiences. Additionally, CDPs have accelerated into critical solutions for enforcing privacy and consent across the entire customer journey, while fueling this clean, consented data for AI initiatives. CDPs have become the ultimate way for organizations to future-proof their business because everything relies on having the right customer data.

AI-driven personalization is key to modern marketing. How do you see AI transforming the way brands approach personalized customer experiences?

Everyone understands the importance of personalization, but delivering on the vision is often challenging. By the time the right information is available, analyzed, and then usable – the moment is lost. Having access to a CDP that can collect customer data in real-time and activate it (once it’s been fed through AI) changes this substantially. Personalization can now become scalable and actionable in the moments that matter most. AI also democratizes this capability, enabling more opportunities for companies to deliver better experiences that historically have been out of reach.

What role does AI play in shaping Tealium’s marketing strategies and driving data-driven decision-making?

AI is transforming how we optimize messaging for key personas and verticals, allowing us to identify effective programs and deliver better experiences in less time. It enables us to scale efforts efficiently, reducing reliance on individual expertise, and accelerating data-driven decision-making. With AI, we craft precise, targeted messages across email, social media, and our website while also streamlining design processes for additional time savings.

In your opinion, how does AI-driven data orchestration help businesses better connect with their customers?

Effective data orchestration helps organizations have a single view of their customer – which is essential for effective marketing, product development, and support. Before AI, any of those steps could take weeks, and then putting the findings into action ultimately is less impactful. Now, teams can layer AI into data orchestration to help teams better optimize their messages and channels. AI speeds up all of the analysis – so that activating the right message, offer, product recommendations, support prompts, etc., in the right moment – will lead to better business outcomes.

How is AI revolutionizing ABM strategies, especially in terms of data management and customer segmentation?

ABM when done well is highly targeted. It focuses on identifying and prioritizing high-value accounts that align with strategic business goals. This means messages, offers, etc. need to be hyper-personalized and relevant. It also means there is a relationship that needs to be built over time. Personalization and creating deeper engagement at scale can be done more efficiently using AI tools. Content, landing pages, and emails can be produced in less time, with better data. It is also easier to quickly test different copy and images so teams can increase the likelihood of engagement.

Can you highlight the biggest challenges companies face when adopting AI for customer data platforms, and how can they overcome these obstacles?

 The biggest challenge for many companies is having access to the right customer data to support AI initiatives. AI models are only as good as the data used to train them. Currently, a lot of time is going into developing models, but the next big investment for AI will be the right data. CDPs like Tealium play a pivotal role in helping organizations collect clean, consented, filtered data, all while unifying it, so that it is ready for real-time activation.

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Bottom line, for AI to be effective, (specifically training AI models) teams need access to the right customer data. And, without CDPs, this customer data can be extremely fragmented across systems and teams, making it difficult to fuel successful AI initiatives.

Lastly, what opportunities do you think marketers missed in 2023 when leveraging AI and customer data, and what should they focus on correcting in 2024?

 A lot of time is going into building AI models, but teams must prioritize investment into robust data integration tools and governance processes to unify fragmented data and ensure accuracy. Prioritizing compliance and ethical AI practices is essential to maintain customer trust, and adhering to regulations is also an area to spend time on. Lastly, partnering with experienced vendors or consultants can streamline implementation, accelerate deployment, and maximize ROI.

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