Data-Driven Marketing… It Requires a Desire to Act!

By Barb Pellow, InfoTrends

Data-driven marketing is about leveraging information, continuous optimization and iterative improvement. It is the deployment of a test-and-learn, test-and-learn, test-and-learn philosophy. Today’s companies are wallowing in data, but to be successful, marketers must use this data and technology to drive action.

An Action-Oriented Philosophy

Marketers are seeking help with the acquisition of data as well as data refinement. Companies gather data about you every time you check out at a supermarket, fill out an application form, subscribe to a magazine, or fill out a business reply card. Complex technologies and software applications, including campaign management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), are available to drive optimal results.

If marketers adopt an action-oriented philosophy combined with data, structured and free-thinking analysis, and creative planning, the benefits are clear. Such a philosophy can help marketers to:

·         Identify and acquire new customers that deliver higher profits (win)

·         Maximize the value that existing customers contribute to the current business (grow)

·         Retain more profitable customers and strengthen their loyalty (keep)

·         Kick-start lapsed or inactive customers to increase order rates again (repeat win)

·         Develop more relevant products, services, and offers and identify target segments that are likely to be the most responsive toward those offers

·         Predict and increase the response rates from campaigns and promotions while lowering costs

Making the Most of Data… For Marketers with a “Test-and-Learn” Philosophy

If you’ve got customers that are seeking a partner to help transform data into action, your role is simple. You need to work with your customers to examine internal and external data sources. Internal data sources abound, and marketers must work across the array of internal data points. These include:

·         Purchase or transaction histories provide valuable insight into future purchasing behaviors. They create an opportunity to cross-sell or up-sell new products and services. Specifically, an individual that has purchased audio equipment probably needs cables. If a consumer’s car lease is expiring, this is a great time to up-sell that customer to a newer (more expensive) model of a similar car or a different one that fits his/her changing lifestyle demographics.

·         Customer service is sometimes referred to as the “new marketing.” In many business situations, the customer will have many more interactions after the sale with technical, service, or customer support people than they did with the salespeople. If you're serious about retaining customers or getting referrals, these interactions are the ones that are really going to matter.

·         Trade show leads should be an integral part of data infrastructure. If a prospect takes the time to visit a trade show booth, he/she probably has some level of interest in its products and services. Savvy marketers are using a variety of new software solutions to qualify prospects. Graphic communications service providers can offer services to optimize the value of tradeshows.

·         Prepaid business reply cards are an effective way to lift customer responses from direct marketing and magazine ad campaigns. With International Business Reply Service (IBRS), marketers can use this essential technique with customers in almost every country of the world, including Canada.

·         Managing Web leads and integrating them into your database is critical. The Internet has facilitated a fundamental shift in marketing power from buyers to sellers. Customers are leveraging 24/7 access to businesses and want unlimited interaction with organizations. The Web provides an ideal opportunity to gather customer data for an integrated marketing campaign. It can also be used to pre-qualify customer leads.

External lists are readily available. List providers offer accurate and highly targeted consumer lists that make it easy for marketers to get messages to high-probability prospects. These consumer can provide access to millions of consumers. Compiled from multiple data sources such as telephone directories, credit files, mail responders, government records, and other proprietary sources, mailing lists offer unsurpassed coverage and may be segmented by multiple criteria.

Putting the Idea into Action

Data is a critical ingredient in the mix, but marketers must have a desire to change. There needs to be a culture that wants to put data to work to drive a business. Technologies and data are clearly enabling components—they enable marketers to execute and react. Technologies and data are the toolsets, but attitude and culture are essential to making data-driven marketing work. The right combination of organizational philosophy and strong processes will provide the foundation for success.