In the last of this article series on interactive marketing, it seemed fitting to address one of the most common challenges that surfaces in post-project phases: your campaign wraps-up, you have tons of consumer data that needs to be translated, but you didn’t set the right foundation for good data analytics. Sound familiar? Join the club.
In a survey conducted by Boston-based Epsilon, a provider of multi-channel marketing services, 175 marketing executives reported an inability to adequately track, measure and plan marketing initiatives properly in an increasingly multi-channel marketing environment. The majority reported that leveraging customer data is important to their organizations, but a whole 95% still see room for improvement in their customer relationship marketing. (PROMO Xtra — Marketers Turn to Technology to Grow ROI — June 23, 2006)
Working under heat from the CFO-types who are demanding more from the ever-elusive “return-on-investment,” digital marketing has been praised to the degree of the Holy Mary for making measurability a reality. Yet a look under the hood of most marketing departments would reveal serious weaknesses in the way measurability is carried out.
While I will not attempt to make serious claims on data analytics, I have learned that, when it comes to interactive promotions and consumer data collection, sometimes just asking (and answering) the fundamental questions can set the foundation for a customer data strategy.
Ask Yourself these Questions:
Why am I collecting data?
Seems like an obvious question, but more often than not, the interactive-happy marketer with reams of consumer information on their hands spins into a post-promotion state of disarray: what do I do with all this data I collected?
It should start with a data plan which needs to be formulated early in the planning phase. In fact, it should be part of the overall brand marketing strategy and one of the first discussion points with vendors, agencies and suppliers. The brands, plus all partners involved in delivering the promotion, need to understand how promotional objectives, marketing issues and opportunities can be realized from consumer data collection. Ideally, the marketer will be able to link information retrieved from consumers with their objectives, issues, opportunities, and their business overall.
Things to consider: Do you have a data plan? Or are you just collecting “because you can.” Is collection focused on one-off promotions or does it align with overall brand promotion and marketing objectives? Will it give you a means to answer questions or resolve issues?
What information do I need?
One of the key benefits of interactive and digital marketing is the ability to broaden the one-to-one connection with consumers. Even the most basic promotion registration data — such as address, age/gender demographics and product PIN’s (Product Identification Numbers) or UAC’s (Unique Access Codes) — can be insightful in itself. A marketer has the ability to link product purchase with select demographics: knowing which product appeals to a certain age or gender becomes a tool for target marketing; whether measuring play rates, tracking package sizes, sales by geographic regions, or media types, PIN’s and UAC’s offer links to offline buying patterns.
Yet brands need to think beyond registration and product data, and leverage the opportunity to survey or opt-in consumers. Data helps determine consumer likes and dislikes, which can be carefully mined for planning and furthering the overall product experience. It can also lead to a switch from product marketing to solutions marketing: whether you’re selling dinner solutions or ways to help your dog live longer, either way, knowing more about the consumer lays the groundwork for lasting relationships.
Brands must keep in mind that attention spans are short, and patience is at a premium. Too many questions may be perceived as intrusive, lengthy and unnecessary, which can harbor negative feelings towards the brand. Marketers must decide on a few key topics, and ask straight-forward, direct questions. The critical component is determining what the right questions are.
Things to consider: Could a consumer survey help refine your next promotional approach? Could you use consumer opinion on your product or brand? Are you requesting permission to further consumer dialogue via future communications?
What will I do with the information?
Now that you’ve decided why and what kind of data you need, where do you turn to for a seamless integration of the information you’ve worked so hard to collect?
Sparing a discussion on analytical tools and techniques, there are basic best practices that are noticeably absent in most marketing departments. It has grown into a notorious challenge, as brands engage multiple channels and sometimes multiple agencies to execute the brand strategy.
My best advice to any brand marketer with data woes is to start standardizing collection across promotions, products or brands. It may mean developing CRM capability in-house, or for others it may mean engaging a CRM company and strategic interactive promotional partners that will “play well” with the CRM solution across all brand activity.
Things to consider: Are reporting features standardized for ease of use? Have data collection guidelines been established between agencies and vendors? Are methods for promotion data collection and storage similar across each and every brand?
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There are so very many aspects to take into consideration when launching an interactive promotion. We all spent copious amounts of time and effort coordinating minute details in the hopes of launching well developed, error-free campaign across multiples channels and targeting multiple groups. All too often, marketers fail to make the same commitment in regards to the post project requirements.
Niall Budds, VP of Marketing Effectiveness for Quaero says, “Analytics is a means to an end and not an end in itself.” Effective data management is as important to the process as developing the right creative, because the more you know about your customer the more refined the creative solution will be.
Quite simply, taking the time to properly devise a strategy to consolidate, analyze, report and make future use of consumer data across all channels can go a long way to ensuring future success in your overall marketing strategy. After all, it’s all about making the data work for you.
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