In Part II of this blog, Anametrix CEO Pelin Thorogood speaks with Reid Carr, president and CEO of Red Door Interactive, about data-driven marketing and what he sees for the future, particularly with big data and advances in technology.
Big data has big buzz these days for good reason. But the amount of data generated today is daunting. How do you advise your clients about benefiting from this mountain of information generated about buyers?
When it comes to data, we tell our clients that they need to put a focus on what’s important to them as a business. Marketers need to start with what’s needed to be more effective with consumers, to sell more products and services, to really improve revenue. And without analytics, the data is really useless to business users. These two ingredients are first and foremost in thinking about big data.
Do your marketing clients often come to you with questions about big data and analytics necessary to derive business value? For example, are they looking for clarity around the sources of data they need and how to connect the dots among the various types of information?
Our experience is that the marketer’s first path to big data derives from the use of social media. Our clients tell us: “There’s so much data, so many conversations going on out there. How can we harness those conversations for our marketing benefit so we are smarter about what we are doing?” That’s generally where it starts.
We try first to look at the data they have already. We want to help them understand who their best customers are, who produces the most revenue. Once we know that, the question becomes: “How did we drive them to our stores and websites? What motivated these buyers? How do we push that knowledge back out to get more of those customers?”
It sounds like some of the companies don’t yet have a sense of the data they already have in-house, or they don’t have a process for holistic “small data” analysis.
Yes, that’s the case. One of the biggest challenges when it comes to data is who has responsibility for it. Who owns it in the organization? We know that the business users in marketing and product development, for example, are big beneficiaries of data but generally don’t own it. But the business beneficiary needs to have influence over how the data is collected, managed and analyzed. Data typically gets wedged into IT, which then pushes back on marketing to understand the reports needed. But our philosophy around data and analytics is to ask first, “What decisions do you have to make? If you had the data, what would you be doing differently? If you had data analysis, would it change your behavior?”
Mobile is the latest frontier in multichannel marketing. How important is mobile? And what must marketers know to effectively use this channel and the apps associated with it?
Too often we focus more on the technology than the user. Mobile is critical in the sense that people move around and they carry their phones with them. So when companies feel that pressure, they ask, “Do we a need a mobile app? Should I be doing something in mobile?” It’s really critical for businesses to understand when someone is mobile and how they might be relating to your products and services at that time. Mobile can connect you to consumers at any of the stages in the marketing funnel, such as awareness, consideration, conversion, advocacy and loyalty. For example, a mobile campaign might give the buyer enhanced information to promote an in-store purchase for a complex product.
We work with Shea Homes, and a mobile capability can alert someone that there’s a new Shea Homes community nearby. “You could be home now, if you lived here,” might be the message. Then the mobile device can help potential customers take the next step by finding their way back to the location. Mobile can also be a key component in the advocacy stage if we encourage a buyer to let others know that they have bought a specific product at a particular location.
What do you tell your clients they need to know about the future of marketing their brands and the technologies that are transforming it?
These are the fun conversations with clients, what the future looks like, imagining possibilities. So much of marketing has to do with the path that customers take in relation to your product or service as they move from one stage to another. Marketers a few years ago were looking for a “silver bullet,” but we know now that you cannot rely on single communications. For example, you buy search ads and then see buyers making purchases from them. But buying more search ads doesn’t necessarily mean more purchases. There’s a diminishing return because only so many people will be searching for that product.
Going into the future, marketers will understand even more about how to track the places where consumers touch your brand. We’ll have more understanding of each touchpoint in the marketing puzzle. That means really understanding how a TV spot works at 30-, 15- and five-second lengths during different points in the buying cycle. We’ll want to know what interests a person standing in a store aisle. The marketer needs to ask, “Did that piece do the job I intended it to do?”
That’s where technology is playing a part in enhancing relationships with customers. Technology enables us to ask questions quickly enough to build new ways to engage. And big data with valuable analysis will enable us to respond now, not a week from now, if a promotion inspires the right kind of behavior. Marketing will have the opportunity to be much more targeted and relevant in the future.
Reid, thank you for sharing your vision for the future of marketing. We wish you well with the continued rapid growth of your own company.