The Anatomy of an Effective Marketing Brain [Infographic]

The traditional marketing model in which marketers were only responsible for creating a few promotional campaigns per quarter no longer makes sense in today’s fast-paced, digital world.

Today, digital marketers operate on a continuous schedule that matches the hypercompetitive online space in which we operate. Rather than create a few campaigns at a time, we are always publishing content, designing offers, and nurturing leads. As a result, successful online marketers have to analyze and identify ways to optimize their campaigns on the fly.

This means that digital marketers can no longer just be creative, right brain thinkers. Instead, successful online marketing requires a combination of left and right brain thinking -- or "analytical" and "creative" thinking. That synthesis of left and right brain thinking -- of data and content-- truly propels top notch inbound marketing.

The thinkers at HarteHanks have created the infographic featured below to showcase just how significant it is for marketers to be both data driven and creative thinkers in today’s online world.

Interesting Left Brain Data

Strategy -- 66% of marketers cite acting on data to improve marketing performance as a top priority. (Tweet This Stat)

Application -- Companies that put data at the center of marketing/sales decisions improve marketing ROI by 15%-20%. (Tweet This Stat)

Quality -- 64% of the best-in-class have a well-established process of cleansing marketing databases. (Tweet This Stat)

Analysis -- 30% more time spent analyzing marketing performance data yields 3x higher open rates and 2x clickthrough rates. (Tweet This Stat)

Targeting & Segmentation -- Segmented email campaigns produce 30% more opens than undifferentiated messages. (Tweet This Stat)

Interesting Right Brain Data

Alignment -- Mapping content and personas to the buyer’s journey yields 73% higher conversions from response to marketing qualified lead. (Tweet This Stat)

Creation -- 64% of B2B content marketers are currently challenged with producing enough content. (Tweet This Stat)

Quality -- 92% of organizations believe creating high quality content is valuable. (Tweet This Stat)

Distribution -- Leading companies are more than 2x as likely to promote content via social channels. (Tweet This Stat)

Conversion -- 79% of leading companies track specific content performance. (Tweet This Stat)