3 Things Often Overlooked in Analytical Marketing Campaigns

Marketing analytics is a growing field, leading to well-defined target audiences, better response rates, and improved customer engagement. However, the practice is often underutilized. In worst cases, it can even be detrimental if done incorrectly. It would be like looking at only half of a map and ending up in the wrong location: you’ll get somewhere, but it won’t be where you need to go.

With that in mind, let’s talk about three things that are often overlooked when executing analytical marketing campaigns.

1. The true value of third-party data

Who knows their own customers better than you, right? You probably have a CRM database of customers with data on the purchases they’ve made in the past, complete with contact information and even product preferences.

But shopper data tells only part of the story. Using data enhancement from third-party data, you can begin to gain a complete picture of who your customers are. You can append your customer database to add a customer’s age, marital status, education level, the presence of children in the home, and known lifestyle characteristics such as hobbies and interests.

AccuData has profiling technology that can then match your enhanced customer records to a predefined set of demographics to develop a view of who your ideal customer is through a concise, automated report. With AccuModel Snapshot, you can identify new prospects based on the demographic attributes of your current customer base. Once you know your market penetration and unique customer attributes, you can easily find prospects with those same qualities.

To further improve results, a predictive model can be developed. AccuData’s AccuModel Predict is a full-service solution designed to help you understand the probability that a prospect will respond or convert and identify those with the highest revenue potential. In essence, it reduces risk.

2. The importance of adding digital channels

Today’s marketing programs require speed. Direct mail is tried and true. It is the staple of everything we do as direct marketers. But to execute with speed, marketing programs need to include digital tactics.

The goal of digital marketing is to meet your target audience where they’re already active— through technology. A digital approach allows you to reach your audience on multiple devices, increasing the number of touchpoints and moving them closer to conversion.

At AccuData, our clients are seeing results when they combine digital marketing services with marketing analytics to reach their marketing objectives. Rather than blasting their brand’s message to a large but unqualified audience, we use the nation’s best consumer and business data to craft the ideal target audience and engage with them.

By leveraging our extensive data network and our full suite of email and digital marketing solutions, including Acquisition Email, Addressable GeoFence, Social Display, Web Visitor Intel, and even Connected TV Advertising, we’ve got the right tools at our disposal for reaching targeted, addressable audiences.

3. Simple attribution analysis can make a huge impact

Predictive Analytics is the marketer’s version of a crystal ball. By analyzing response and conversion data from past campaigns, predictive models enable marketers to see into the future, such as what types of consumers are most likely to become new customers and how to optimize marketing channels.

After performing a customer profile on your database and investing in a predictive model, the next step in the data analytics journey is to use your data to predict future results ranging from customer response and purchase behavior to the overall success of your campaign. This is where many marketers fall short. They build customer profiles and predictive models for targeting but then fail to utilize campaign attribution data to build and refine smarter campaigns over time.

Predictive Analytics can do so much for an organization. Beyond building target audiences, predictive analytics can also provide data points to help you:
 Determine which channels and messaging will be most effective. Rather than relying on intuition to build your next marketing campaign, let the data determine the best ways to engage your audience.
• Determine the budget needed for success. Before setting budgets for future campaigns, allow some quick analysis of prior campaigns to guide the amount you’ll need for future success.  Increased efficiencies due to predictive analytics may enable you to expand into new channels or markets.
• Determine which key performance indicators will be most useful. Again, let the data help determine the metrics and information that will indicate success for your campaign.  Is 30 days long enough to measure response?  Do you need to refine the data captured on your website?

 

Intensive data analysis can be difficult for marketing professionals to complete independently. Many marketers shrug it off to not having an enterprise-level CRM solution. But choosing the most useful metrics, collecting the data, and garnering actionable insights from raw data does not have to be time-consuming or expensive.

This is where a marketing analytics company comes in. A team of experts can determine the exact areas in which your marketing campaigns can improve based upon simple data analysis. Collaborate with a team of seasoned experts to develop the metrics needed to create a comprehensive data marketing strategy. For instance, AccuData’s analytics experts have experience in virtually every vertical – including insurance, retail, telecommunications, and energy – and this value cannot be understated.  Learnings from one industry can cross-pollinate others.

AccuData acts as your brand’s data science team. We tap into customer data to uncover critical patterns and themes, using customer profiling to help you discover the ideal buyer personas for your product or service. Our fully managed, cost-effective data analytics approach will provide you with a deeper understanding of your most valuable customers and a clearer picture of your most desirable target audience. Our clients benefit from greater efficiencies in pulling data, higher response rates, and more stability campaign after campaign.

Ready to speak to a Marketing Analytics expert? Book a meeting with me, Sean Kellum, here.

Written by Sean Kellum