Long gone are the days when marketers could operate by instinct alone. Technology and big data are transforming marketing, and IDC predicts that the big data and analytics market will reach $125 billion this year. Though big data has been the talk of the town for a while now, how many marketers are actually using it to their full advantage? I’ve seen companies struggle to understand how to activate what’s actually happening within the data they collect. Instead of capturing intelligence for the sake of it, they need the analytic firepower to glean insights and develop more informed strategies.
Big data versus smart data
Marketers are often armed with limited resources—both time and money—so it’s imperative they avoid wasting time focused on data they can’t do anything with. In order to determine which insights are most relevant to their business, marketers should prioritize what results they’re trying to accomplish. In short, analyze data that supports their business objectives and aligns with the actions they want to take.
It’s time to turn the focus from big data to smart data. By ‘smart’ data, I mean analytics that marketers can activate and use to communicate with customers. If data is not driving a company’s strategic communications plan, it’s not smart.
Keeping data clean
Once you have your marketing strategy in place, you don’t want to potentially compromise it by having data records that aren’t clean. Otherwise, you may encounter roadblocks during strategy activation that inhibit your growth or negatively impact your ability to achieve the other goals you may have.
Marketers should make data hygiene a priority, taking into consideration the frequency of their communications with their target audience. Lots of things can happen in just 90 days—people change phone numbers or carriers, start and stop working, buy certain products and not others, etc. You need the most up-to-date information on customers in order to target and personalize your marketing, to speak with customers in a meaningful way. Today’s consumers expect brands to know their preferences and behaviors.
How cleansing data can impact lifecycle marketing
In terms of email marketing, performing data hygiene on a frequent basis can boost deliverability statistics and reduce risk from Spamhaus controls. Alternatively, email marketers can trip spam filters if they don’t have data quality initiatives in place.
Companies can leverage clean data for their audience development and communication strategies. By using accurate information to target and personalize messaging, their customers will feel understood. If consumers don’t think a brand knows them and their needs, they’ll find one that does. Customers exit relationships with companies all the time.
What’s in store this year
I predict that in 2015, more companies will start taking advantage of opportunities to personalize marketing campaigns and enhance relevancy. Added descriptive value of big data will allow for advanced personalization, including delivering marketing content targeted to individuals and their life stage (e.g. male or female, with or without children, and so on). I believe marketers will shift their focus and aim to improve their understanding of who is buying from them versus what they’re buying. There will be a push to learn who customers truly are.
Written by Michael Fisher,President, Yes Lifecycle Marketing