Episode Overview

Episode Title: Game plan for convincing technical leadership to invest more in customer data integrations
Date: September 6, 2025
Host: Voices of Search (Jordan Cooney)
Guest: Eddie Patch, Optimove

This episode zooms in on actionable strategies for marketing and SEO leaders to advocate successfully for customer data integration with their technical leadership teams. The conversation unpacks the delicate balancing act of presenting both the risks of inaction and the business potential of deepening data integrations, all while minimizing tension and extra work for tech stakeholders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Framing the Business Case for Data Integration

• Quantify Business Impact:
  Marketers must present integrations not just as a marketing need but as a holistic business opportunity.

  • “You need to quantify the business opportunity or the business impact. …not just relevant to me, the marketer, but actually how it's impacting the entire business.” (Eddie Patch, 01:05)

• Cost of Inaction:
  Paint a picture of future risks if integrations are neglected. Use timelines (12–24 months) to show potential stagnation or missed advancements.

2. Bridging Marketer & Tech Team Priorities

• Improving Efficiency:
  • The marketing-technical relationship often relies on tech support for ad hoc data pulls. Investing in infrastructure alleviates ad hoc requests, freeing up valuable tech resources:
    • “…if you improve and invest in the infrastructure and the tools you're using, you start to eliminate a lot of the ad hoc requests and you're actually freeing up efficiency for your tech team.” (Eddie Patch, 01:42)

3. Using AI as a Common Language

• Aligning with AI Initiatives:
  Technical teams are energized by AI advancements. Marketers can position data integration as foundational for AI-readiness, which resonates with tech priorities.
  • “If you could speak to their language and say I'm on board with you with your AI readiness strategy… This is just an extension of that.” (Eddie Patch, 02:08)

4. Balancing Fear vs. Growth in Messaging

• Dual Sides of Buy-in:
  • Tech leaders weigh fear of lost opportunity vs. excitement about growth and innovation. Finding the right balance in communication is key:
    • “How much of this with tech leadership is the balancing of fear or loss or missed opportunity versus growth, acceleration and expanded marketing opportunities?” (Jordan Cooney, 02:35)

5. Respecting Tech Leadership's Constraints

• Preference for Familiar Tooling:
  • Tech teams are reluctant to disrupt established workflows. Concerns center around migration complexity, added workload, and further integration obstacles:
    • “How long is it going to take for us to integrate? Do they even integrate with us? Is it going to slow down everything else I'm trying to do? Are you actually creating more work for me or you in the long run?” (Eddie Patch, 03:10)
  • “For the most part it's how can you not come in and give them more work and make their life harder, especially when… they've already kind of... They're already going down the path with the tooling that they want to go with.” (Eddie Patch, 03:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the importance of quantifying:
  “You need to quantify the business opportunity or the business impact… not just relevant to me, the marketer, but actually how it's impacting the entire business.”
  Eddie Patch, 01:05

• Efficiency as a win-win:
  “…you start to eliminate a lot of the ad hoc requests and you're actually freeing up efficiency for your tech team.”
  Eddie Patch, 01:42

• Bridging the AI gap:
  “This is just an extension of [your] AI readiness strategy.”
  Eddie Patch, 02:08

• On the challenge with tech teams:
  “Are you actually creating more work for me or you in the long run? Making it easier?”
  Eddie Patch, 03:12

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:43] - Framing the conversation: convincing technical leadership to prioritize customer data integration
• [01:00] - Strategies: Quantify business impact, cost of inaction, and efficiency gains
• [01:42] - Infrastructure improvement frees tech resources
• [02:08] - Aligning data integration efforts with AI initiatives
• [02:35] - Balancing loss aversion vs. growth opportunities in tech leadership communications
• [03:06] - Addressing resistance and concerns from tech teams about change
• [03:33] - Navigating established tooling and reluctance to shift

Recap

The episode delivers a practical blueprint for marketing leaders to build persuasive, cross-functional business cases for customer data integration. The focus is on shared business value, internal efficiency, and aligning with innovation-driven priorities like AI—all while being empathetic to the pressures and constraints of technical stakeholders.