150803_Marketing ID_5 Data-Driven Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
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This document discusses 5 common mistakes companies make with data-driven marketing and how to avoid them. The mistakes include not considering consumer motivations beyond just numbers, overlooking extracting actionable insights from data, not thoroughly researching key consumer trends, not fully utilizing available technology tools, and shifting focus away from ultimate consumer engagement. By avoiding these mistakes, companies can better analyze data to build stronger customer bases and improve returns from marketing investments.
150803_Marketing ID_5 Data-Driven Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
- 1. August 3, 2015 5 Data-Driven Marketing Mistakes to Avoid http://www.marketingid.net/topics/datadriven/5-data-driven-marketing- mistakes-to-avoid/ Jessica Hawthorne-Castro Advertising has experienced a technology revolution over the past decade, with chief marketing officers (CMOs) using more analytics, metrics, and reporting to more effectively target, attract, engage, and create loyalty. As part of that revolution, Big Data, analytics solutions, and marketing automation platforms have come together to give CMOs a leg up when it comes to understanding prospective, current, and even past customers. Over time, in fact, the concept of “data-driven marketing” has all but replaced the more traditional and manual ways of finding, engaging, and retaining customers. According to research firm Gartner, data-driven marketing is “the acquiring, analyzing, and application of information about customers’ wants, needs, context, behaviors, and motivations.” Over the past few years, this process has come to the forefront of nearly every CMO’s mind as they strive to better engage their existing and prospective customers. Using data-driven marketing, for example, companies can more readily gather, integrate and assess data from a variety of sources — both internal (customer relationship databases, past purchase histories, etc.) and external (market research, social media interactions, etc.) — to help enhance value. While data-driven marketing sounds simple enough in theory, the actual mechanics behind it can be rather complex. Here are five common data-driven mistakes and some tips on how to avoid them: 1.) Not Taking The Time To Consider Consumer Motivations While data-driven reports may be largely focused on numbers and percentages, marketers that focus too narrowly on those digits are completely missing the boat. Instead of simply poring over numbers and hoping that something useful comes out of that exercise, take the time to develop a complete, 360-degree view of exactly what your customers want, need and think. From there, develop effective advertising campaigns that engage those consumers and keep them coming back for more.
- 2. 2.) Overlooking The Need To Extract Actionable Insights From Data Most marketers barely scratch the surface in terms of the data that they rely on. Instead, they should be really digging in and trying to extract actionable insights from the information, which is at the very heart of what direct marketers do and have been doing all these years. Innovators use data to stay ahead of the curve. They don’t simply execute on a one-time basis — they duplicate the data in a way that enables repeatable successes and avoids mistakes. Ignore the value of the additional actionable analytics that reside in your data and you’ll wind up wasting money and time, and losing customers in the process. Once extracted, those insights can influence media, creative, and web strategies in a very meaningful way. 3.) Never Taking The Time To Thoroughly Research Key Consumer Trends Your company doesn’t operate in a bubble, and its data-driven analytics approach shouldn’t either. The Internet is a goldmine of information about consumer trends, and the data analytics companies themselves are publishing much of it online. Tools such as Simmons’ National Consumer Studies, for example, feature insights into consumer attitudes, product and brand preferences, media consumption habits, and demographic and lifestyle characteristics. By studying these and other resources, marketers can see how consumers in specific demographics respond to different advertising messages and mechanisms — yet another way to effectively leverage data analytics. 4.) Not Fully Utilizing All Of The Technology Tools Available Data-driven marketing isn’t just about generating more reports or tracking more numbers – it’s about utilizing an array of technology-based tools to develop the 360- degree view mentioned in #1 above (and then leveraging that view to make better campaign decisions going forward). Hawthorne’s Market Retail Penetration Indexing (MRPI), for example, helps marketers in the housewares, hardware, and other consumer industry segments lower their campaign costs and increase retail response. Proprietary in nature, the MRPI is basically a methodology that we use when approaching new retail markets. The formula includes extensive upfront analytics and a creative approach that not only resonates with the brand messaging, but that also delivers a response. Then, specifically for retail, sales are driven even further through a deep analysis of specific target markets. 5.) Shifting Focus Away From The Ultimate Consumer Engagement Consumer engagement is no longer a one-step process, but rather a myriad of potential touch points and interactions. When television, web, mobile, retail, and other sales can be measured and assessed for performance — and then tweaked accordingly — the entire campaign benefits. To gain those and other benefits, look at how the consumer engages with your company across all platforms, and then use that information to draw insights into response frequency, buying preferences and transactions.
- 3. By avoiding these five mistakes, companies can not only do a better job of analyzing their internal and external data, but they can also build stronger customer bases and gain improved lifetime value from those consumers. As an added bonus, firms can growth their businesses year-over-year, explore viable market opportunities, develop innovative means of reaching new consumers, and reap more rewards from media and advertising investments. All told, data-driven marketing provides a platform upon which winning campaigns can be rolled out and executed, all with an eye on the metrics that lift sales and help build successful product lines in even the most competitive business environments. Jessica Hawthorne-Castro is the CEO of Hawthorne Direct, an analytics and technology based agency that specializes in accountable brand advertising. Hawthorne Direct has been a leader in the direct response industry that was pioneered by Chairman Tim Hawthorne nearly 30 years ago. Hawthorne-Castro’s leadership role involves innovations in analytics and accountable advertising accompanied with service- oriented relationships with the company’s high profile clients, helping them to envision, create, and execute powerful advertising campaigns that build brands and ignite consumers.