Phil Lauterjung

In the previous post – Why Should You Care About Data Driven Marketing – I gave you data from a study done by the Aberdeen Group showing a very significant difference in performance between Best-in-Class companies and Laggards in the use of data driven marketing.  I promised to not leave you hanging with just data, but to furnish some steps to success from the report for the Laggard companies.

The number one thing to remember is that any improvements that you hope to attain will require you to develop a plan.  The findings in the study showed that laggard companies lacked formal processes to actually use the data they collect.  Data without insight on how to use it is still just data.

Here are a few steps to success for laggards, and really any company that wants to improve:

• Use data for activities that will impact revenue. The best way to get everyone on board is to demonstrate how the use of data can increase customer engagement and grow sales.  Start out small and segment your customer data.  Run test campaigns in order to demonstrate a lift in conversions.  A few wins will go a long way to changing the culture of your organization and generating enthusiasm.
• ‘Scrub’ your customer data on a regular basis. The old saying “garbage in, garbage out” is very true when it comes to customer data.  Your existing customer data can provide deep insights for new or emerging opportunities, but it needs to be current and up-to-date.  Clean up your data on a regular basis.
• Use your clean data for marketing and forecasting. Superior performing companies rely on their data for determining the justification and setting of marketing budgets.
• Rank marketing channels by performance. Expand your marketing mix into additional channels.  Data analysis can provide a guide for making better choices and help identify new channels.
• Walk in the customers shoes. Data can be a powerful tool, but it isn’t a substitute for personal interaction.  Take the time to experience what it’s like for a customer to interact with your company.  Try calling your company to get an answer to a question, or buy a product.  Watch someone else, who isn’t familiar with your web site, try and find information or buy your product online.

With a wide variety of marketing automation tools available, even to small companies, there really isn’t any excuse to not engage in data driven marketing.  Just make sure you don’t get lost in the data and lose sight of the human element.  After all, customers are people too.

Photo Credit: © Jim Parkin – Fotolia.com

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