Good morning, Marketer, and are you using duct tape?
Earlier this month we reported that spreadsheets still seemed to be a critical tool for marketers, despite all the excitement surrounding the automation of repetitive manual tasks. I asked why this was the case — but I guess a lot of you are too busy with your spreadsheets to have time to explain in any great detail.
But I did get a heartfelt response from a digital marketing manager at a major international information services firm. “In response to your question in today’s newsletter — there is simply no tool as flexible, and utilitarian, as the basic Excel spreadsheet. It’s the ‘duct tape,’ or the ‘Post-it note’ of data. For better or worse (and sometimes worse), we just keep coming back to spreadsheets.”
This was particularly noteworthy, coming from a manager at a company with operations in dozens of countries around the world and an employee count in the tens of thousands. Not exactly a cash-strapped start-up or SMB. I am still open to more responses: kdavis@thirddoormedia.com
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Kim Davis
Editorial Director
