Thursday, January 10, 2013

Will Big Data Require Big Changes in Marketing?

In this new age of "digital Darwinism," will "Big Data" require marketers to become "change agents" for their brands to remain relevant with customers? In a universe of rapidly shared public data, will "context" replace "content" as king, focusing analytics on customer experience over product? Those are just some of the issues raised by Brian Solis, principal analyst at consultancy Altimeter Group, in his keynote address at the Direct Marketing Association's National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) conference and expo in December of 2012. Most marketers are already behind the curve: "There is a perception gap between what marketers know about their customers and reality,” stated Solis. With customers engaging with brands via multiple channels simultaneously and scattering "digital breadcrumbs" everywhere, marketers are challenged to figure out what data signals to follow and which to ignore as "noise." Since there's no stopping the big data evolution, marketers who want to survive and thrive should become "change agents" for informed, data-driven decisions across their organizations, suggests Solis. For a more in-depth discussion of the Solis remarks on how marketers can respond to the big data challenge, see the blog post by John Balla, SAS Senior Marketing Specialist in Customer Intelligence, at http://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/2012/12/05/seven-ways-for-marketers-to-respond-to-big-data-from-brian-solis/

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Mail Evolution: A 2013 Integrated Marketing Champ

Direct mail is evolving into a key channel for integrated marketing success today. In a recent "Chief Marketer" article, Grant Johnson of Johnson Direct, LLC, made that case with some impressive examples of how direct mail can turbocharge multichannel response. Consider a health insurance company's drive to capture more households: Adding direct mail moved the needle from the goal of 500 new families insured to 2,000 the first year and over 6,000 the next year! Johnson also highlighted a nonprofit that wanted to revamp its image and lure more female members: Yes, it used social media, e-mail, online and other digital tools to generate new female fans, but then it used a direct mail campaign to convert those fans into members. The result was a whopping 305% growth in women members over three years. Of course, good response isn't guaranteed. It requires skillful use of direct mail. For some basic tips for success, see Johnson's full article at http://chiefmarketer.com/direct-marketing/make-mail-part-your-2013-integrated-marketing-plan