<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa12738ed08e31e5396173_651d3d694f214133d768bcc9_6154889d9407185557d22327_Blog%252520covers%252520(16).png" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>News</span> <h1 class="gn-title">Your back-end systems aren’t a ‘tech’ issue. They’re a marketing issue.</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>7 October 2021</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>3 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">Marketers within larger institutions will know all too well about learning to 'work around' their back-end systems. We generate leads, their data disappears into the 'back-end black hole', we call it a 'tech' issue and go back to our brand awareness projects.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The GO Network Members Netsells spoke to us this week about overcoming these common issues for B2B, professional &amp; financial brands, why it matters, and the benefits you can gain from taking on the challenges.</p> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Why is a messy back-end data management system so hard to fix?</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Often the result of businesses going through multiple acquisitions, growth spurts and mergers that bolt new systems onto the old, it can be complicated to even know if fixing the issue is in your remit.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Rob Bellingham, Sales Director at Netsells, has a few ideas about what makes this so complex.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"Two key questions that you should typically ask when considering a larger-scale project like this are 'Who do I need?' and 'Where do I start?'. The situation has likely been left for so long that responsibilities are split across the business, and figuring out budget/stakeholders alone can be complicated. We act as a partner that can fill in the gaps for brands when these projects start."<cite>Rob Bellingham · Sales Director, Netsells</cite></blockquote> <h2 class="gn-reveal">The risks of not upgrading your marketing software and data management systems</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Whether it's marketing software, Sales CRMs, or administrative data management causing the blockers to your strategy, ignorance is not bliss.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Key persons risk</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">"There is an exponential increase in the cost of maintaining old platforms. Your development team becomes the only people that can understand the platform and the skill set becomes out of date for new developers quickly. This can cause problems recruiting for new talent, as nobody wants to work with dated or 'patched up' system.."</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Customer trends</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">"The impact from covid has not necessarily changed buyer habits for good but it has accelerated their expectations of modern platforms. Development budgets have seen some of their largest increases to date, with 35% of tech leaders expecting to spend significantly more over the next 6 months. Keeping up with competition and countering new threats from challenges in the market is vital."</p> <div class="gn-stats gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">83<em>%</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">of companies planning to accelerate digital transformation efforts due to customer expectation.</span></div> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">65<em>%</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">expecting to increase the amount they're investing in 2021, despite the economic downturn.</span></div> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">35<em>%</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">of tech leaders expecting to spend significantly more over the next 6 months.</span></div> </div> <p class="gn-reveal">Spending on digital transformation increased in 2020, with 83% of companies planning to accelerate their efforts due to customer expectation, and 65% expecting to increase the amount they're investing in 2021, despite the economic downturn.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Losing ground with competitors</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">"According to the tech in trends report 2021 organisations shifted their spend and resources to tackle 3 main prioritises:</p> <p class="gn-reveal">1. Improving the workforce ability to adopt many brands building products to digitalise the employee experience.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">2. Increasing agility and flexibility in their tech</p> <p class="gn-reveal">3. Delivering on a digital customer experience to accelerate revenue"</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa12728ed08e31e5396168_61548a022672af201dd1d2b1_header-risiken-mangelnder-datenqualitaet-en-01.jpeg" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>The risks of poor data quality: back-end data management systems as a revenue and marketing issue.</figcaption> </figure> <aside class="gn-quote gn-reveal"><q>Back-end data management systems are not a 'tech' problem. They're a revenue issue, and a marketing issue too.</q><cite>Netsells</cite></aside> <h2 class="gn-reveal">Getting started: making the digital transformation process more manageable</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">"Marketing teams are one of the first points of call within a business to understand what their customers want. Marketing forms an essential part of product development, helping to prioritise and generate new ideas.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Use that position to understand what insights you aren't getting. Your success relies on a good product and a good experience for customers. That, in turn, relies on data and your stakeholders should buy into that as well."</p> <p class="gn-reveal">"Remember, not everything has to change in one go. Embarking on a project like this presents the time to talk about incremental improvement, upgrade and enhancement. It doesn't have to be a daunting process. One step at a time in the right direction, exactly what agile was designed for."</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><a href="https://netsells.co.uk/"><strong><em>Netsells</em></strong></a><strong><em> are a bespoke platform and application development agency based in York. To learn more, get in touch at hello@thegonetwork.com.</em></strong></p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/starting-at-the-end-yourfilm" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Network</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Starting at the End | YourFilm</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">A TV spot won&#39;t survive on TikTok. 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