What is a Marketing System of Record?

A marketing system of record (MSR) brings together marketing information and assets, so that marketers can manage their creation and usage, rapidly assemble them to execute different programs, and measure performance. The MSR can include:

Marketing assets, such as briefs, creatives, reports, and budgets
Business definitions such as customer segments, contact optimization rules, customer behavior triggers, and best practices
Status information such as metrics, lead disposition status, project completion, or budget committed

The MSR includes the relationship between these assets and objects, for example creatives designed for a specific customer segment. It also tracks their evolution over time – version history; last year’s budget as well as this year’s, etc. – and rules which define access and usage.

The MSR may either store the marketing assets (an email template or photos and graphics) or it can offer a pointer to the object or information if it is stored in a different system (customer history stored in a data warehouse).

What is the Relationship Between Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) Applications and the MSR?
The marketing system of record underpins a complete Enterprise Marketing Management software suite, yet it is not a distinct “module.” Rather, each EMM application defines an associated part of the MSR, so that the MSR becomes more complete as organizations expand their EMM platform. EMM applications offer capabilities that create, approve, and control access to components in the MSR; locate, access, and assemble them to execute different programs; and measure performance.

Why Do Marketers Need a MSR?
Most corporate functions are supported by robust technology platforms that create a system of record. For example, finance has ERP and sales has sales force automation. Marketing remains almost the last function without a supporting technology platform. In its absence, marketers track budgets in multiple spreadsheets, hunt through shared folders for creatives, and manage projects through email or even paper-based approval processes. Summarizing marketing performance for senior management requires heavy, focused effort, if even possible. Only 17% of marketing executives agree that their communications are “very integrated” across multiple channels¹. Increasingly, marketers acknowledge the gap. For example, 77% of marketers across all industries agreed that they need a more comprehensive technology platform².

A MSR brings manifold benefits, including:

Greater visibility and accountability. Centrally managed budgets and project plans and systematic results tracking provide transparency to the marketing operation and inculcate accountability.
Higher productivity, reduced time-to-market, and better decision-making via more efficient information flow. For example, marketers can more quickly locate and re-use existing assets. And with complete records of past programs and results at their fingertips, managers can make more informed decisions with less effort.
A more consistent customer experience and mutually reinforcing messaging that cut through the din when the correct creatives and offers are used across channels, when segments are consistently applied and when one-to-one personalization becomes a manageable process across millions of customers.
Lower costs and reduced risk from fewer mistakes, as works- in-progress continuously changes hands and as new team members are introduced. Root causes can be identified and addressed by examining the work record leading up to problems. Best practices and defined work practices become business-as-usual, and new employees and team members easily integrate.

By accurately capturing what marketing does and the results, the MSR enables marketers to consistently apply the data-driven process of continuous improvement that drives enduring success.

(1) Eric Schmitt, Forrester Research, “The State Of The Customer Database,” July 18, 2005

(2) Elana Anderson, Forrester Research, “Marketing Technology Adoption 2006,” June 28, 2006