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Salesforce.com looks to the future with Predictive Decisions

Salesforce.com wants to turn marketers into data scientists with its latest addition to the Marketing Cloud.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor
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Salesforce.com is adding a crystal ball of sorts to its Marketing Cloud, aiming to weave together data from all of its cloud into a single cross-channel platform to make better customer predictions.

Eric Stahl, senior vice president of product marketing at Salesforce.com, described via telephone on Monday that the infusion of predictive analytics can help turn "marketers into data scientists."

"We see data decisions transforming marketing in profound ways in where its not about opinions about what a marketing campaign should be, but what is the data telling me," Stahl explained.

Marketers certainly aren't lacking in data, Stahl acknowledged, but the challenge is leveraging data in real-time to establish meaningful relationships and journeys with customers.

Stahl highlighted Uber and Netflix as new and disruptive businesses upending markets because they are connecting with customers in ways that have never been possible before - all thanks to fountains of big data.

So the goal by Salesforce.com is to enable any company and department - from marketing to sales to customer service - to do the same with data science.

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Essentially, Predictive Decisions brings in data from the rest of Salesforce's customer service platform, including Salesforce's other cornerstone clouds, such as the Service and Sales Clouds.

The data and insights are presented in a single platform for blending the CRM and marketing data with contextual data, such as products a customer bought in the past or open customer service inquiries.

Now also infused with predictive analytics, the Salesforce.com Marketing Cloud encompasses tools for customer data and content management, a journey builder, a personalization engine, and social and mobile engagement channels.

The Predictive Decisions suite will become available through the Marketing Cloud Pro Edition subscription this May. Pro Edition pricing starts at $1,250 per month.

Images via Salesforce.com

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