By Jeff Marcoux, CMO Lead, Microsoft, and Board Member, Internet Marketing Association

In a 2014 Study by CMO Partners, marketing departments who considered themselves agile were three times more likely to make significant gains in market share.

CMOs and Marketing Leaders are turning to technology and big data for help with becoming more agile, but as more data insights become available, sorting the signal from the noise becomes harder and harder.

Technologies like predictive engines and machine learning have been brought to life by cloud computing and are finally catching up to the demand and speed required to make analytics useful for agile marketing.

Our research tells us that agile marketing relies on four phases of business analytics: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive. Marketing leaders with a clear understanding of the four phases and how to connect them can more effectively lead an agile marketing strategy and drive strong return.

Check out this whitepaper for more detailed information on the four phases and our recommendations for Agile Marketing.