With chief marketing officers expected to outstrip the technology spending of their peers in the IT department by the 2017, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that vendors are paying more attention to analytics, which has emerged as one of the hottest items on the shopping list. Microsoft Corp. joined the fray last week with a new release of its hugely popular lead management platform that uses machine learning algorithms to help organizations close deals more effectively.

Dynamics CRM 2016 identifies cross-selling opportunities based on the preferences of a given prospect and presents its recommendations alongside relevant knowledge articles to help make the pitch go smoother. The functionality is powered by Microsoft’s Cortana Analytics Suite, which also enables salespeople to scour social networks for interactions that are indicative of potential deal-making opportunities and gain a better understanding of their audiences. IBM Corp. hopes to provide the same benefit for merchandise marketers with the updated version of its  e-commerce platform that rolled out in conjunction.

Commerce Insights now incorporates capabilities from the cloud-based incarnation of the Watson supercomputer to map out how different customers react to product placements in order to find areas for improvement. A consumer electronics manufacturer, for instance, could use the platform to identify states where sales underperform and offer buyers in those regions increased holiday discounts via an email promotion service like SendGrid Inc., which now facilitates such customization through newly added audience segmentation features.

The functionality rolled out on Wednesday as part of a landmark update that also introduced the ability for brands to perform A/B testing on the subject line and body of a promotion to identify the most engaging content. Campaign results can be quantified using a built-in performance analytics dashboard that tracks email opening rates, customer retention and other key metrics.

Image via Geralt