If one thing was apparent at Forrester’s recent Forum for Marketing Leaders, it’s this: the customer rules. Research Director David Cooperstein kicked off his presentation with a Bob Dylan quote that captured the sentiment of the event. “The times … they are a-changin’.” I would argue they’ve already changed, and the change is accelerating.

It was interesting to learn that search has eclipsed TV as the #1 way people discover products, services and brands, and that’s indicative of a larger marketing shift – to digital. The growth of digital also ushered in the age of data and analytics. Great for customers. Overwhelming and disruptive for marketers.

Marketers who learn to embrace data, cater to the connected consumer, plan for omnichannel retail, and optimize and personalize accordingly, will win. The ones who are forced, kicking and screaming, will be out of a job. If it sounds like every other article you’ve read, it is. And it’s true.

Forrester left us with four key rules for delivering real-time customer value. Your challenge as a marketer, is to figure out how to make it happen.

1. Make real-time data a reality.
2. Contextualize the customer experience.
3. Focus on the buyer’s journey.
4. Create content, not advertising.

Digital promotions with RevTrax is – of course! – One way to address these recommendations, but certainly only one piece of a much larger puzzle. Don’t let analytics hold you back. Let the data accelerate your innovation. To go back to Dylan, “you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone.”