Upper Management
George Orwell was onto something. Maybe not with the dystopian society, giant-faces-on-video-screens stuff, but with the whole "Big Brother is watching you" thing. Websites monitor who clicks on what and relay that information to advertisers. Many large retail chains employ teams of statisticians to analyze consumer shopping habits and offer coupons accordingly. Some grocery stores and shopping malls have begun using surveillance camera footage to track crowd density and movement patterns.
Okay, maybe the future is a bit less nefarious than he predicted, but Orwell was right in his prognostication that technology would be used to monitor our habits and tendencies.
Technology has indeed driven data collection and demographic analysis to staggering levels of sophistication. For marketers, especially those dealing in cross-media or direct marketing campaigns, that can be a boon—but only if they are able to process and manage that information.
"Data gathering and management is absolutely essential for successful cross-media direct marketing programs," said Sarah Mannone, director of account services for Trekk, Inc., a marketing agency based in Rockford, Ill. "The more data we have, the more we're able to segment that data, the more we're able to target audience members uniquely and relevantly—using messages, images and incentives that are compelling to them on an individual level."
Robert Becker, vice president, account services group, for KBM Group, Richardson, Texas, noted that data management, when executed properly, allows marketers to better identify their target customer. "Proper management of enterprise-wide data allows companies to truly understand their customer needs and behaviors, which enables interactions that mean something to both [parties] and improves the overall consumer experience," he explained.
"Data management today includes seamless integration of data from each part of an organization's marketing and operational ecosystem," Becker continued. "Consumer interactions with a brand are recorded in real time and stored within a master data repository."
Becker listed program registration, surveys, purchase transactions, website visits and e-mail responses as some of the main consumer interactions from which data is gathered. Using these sources, he said, marketers can determine varying degrees of demographic, lifestyle and attitudinal information.
Mannone elaborated. "We're typically looking for first name, last name, company name, title, e-mail address, phone, etc.," she stated. "Ideally, we would get additional data like title, gender, age, length of relationship with company, birthday, last engagement/order, etc."
She noted that while third-party lists can be used to supplement data, it's not always about the amount of data obtained. "Most organizations have enough data [on hand], they just don't know where it all lives, how to get it one place and how to leverage it as a real business asset," Mannone said.
That means using collected data not just to identify demographics, but also to enhance tracking of those demographics and to continually improve upon existing information.
"Capturing response behaviors and tying that data back to our original data file enables us to see, over time, who responds best to what tactics (direct mail, e-mail, mobile messaging, etc.)," Mannone explained. "We can also see which messages, images or incentives drive the greatest response. In the long run, then, we're better educating ourselves and our clients as to what their customers want and where their marketing dollars are best spent."
Mannone also pointed out that the process works both ways: Good data collection and management leads to more effective cross-media programs, which in turn lead to better, more focused data.
"In most cases, we are going to use direct mail, e-mail, mobile and social messaging to drive audience members to a personalized URL for them to complete some call to action and receive the incentive we're promoting," she said. "Doing so gives us an opportunity to collect additional data on that individual, verify or confirm the data we have and/or update our data to ensure it is valid moving forward."
"Ongoing cross-media activities that continue this over time help our client organizations more easily maintain their data and [their data] quality," she added. "The more we know about customers and prospects, the more we can target them with relevant offers and continually optimize communications."
Mannone gave an example where a printing company used a cross-media campaign backed by an incentive offer to collect information from targets in publishing, cataloguing and retail. Using direct mail, e-mail and advertisements, the company directed potential customers to either a personalized URL or a standard website.
"We were able to collect very detailed information on prospects' paper buying habits and paper needs," Mannone explained. "The result was a database of very qualified leads for the sales force to pursue, as well as a promotional database the company could use to continue the conversation with retailers, cataloguers and magazine publishers."
Aside from obtaining data from cross-media campaign returns, marketers also are beginning to gather information from social networks. And with more than 900 million users on Facebook alone, this "crowd-sourced data management," as Mannone calls it, could have a major impact on the future of direct marketing.
"Applications such as data.com and others are making it more efficient for organizations to use social networks to supplement their data and/or mine new data," she said. "The challenge for organizations will be finding effective means of engaging these cold contacts with their brand in a way that's relevant and welcomed."
Becker believes there will be another challenge. As data collection practices continue to evolve and demographic information continues to grow in quantity and accuracy, consumers could become even more saturated with targeted marketing. To remain relevant, marketers must use their data to get to know their customer as more than just a statistic.
"Complexity will increase for marketers with an increased need for value at each interaction as consumers elect to opt out of collection points," Becker stressed. "Marketers should consider the ongoing impact of the low-level relationships that brands have with today's consumer and focus on observing and understanding what their audience is seeking within their respective category."
Mannone offered a final tip for marketers. "Data management is a challenge to campaigns in that it's not a one-time, isolated effort. Good data management practices—practices that fuel the most engaging campaigns and results—require ongoing attention," she advised. "Finding effective means to manage and keep existing data up-to-date is one thing; continuing to build on that data to compile a full picture of your target audience member is another."