The customer is always prioritized. This adage has been quoted numerous times. Nonetheless, it is as relevant today as it was then. Consumers are transitioning to digital-first lifestyles at an unprecedented rate. Brands began to realize that to reach these audiences, they needed to demonstrate that they cared. That customer deserved one-on-one experiences tailored to their specific interests. Individualization was due to them.
The solution appeared to be straightforward. More information. The greater the size, the better. While the power and scalability of Big Data were undeniable when it came to interacting with customers, it also presented previously unanticipated issues such as accessibility and actionability. How would a brand orchestrate and track touchpoints across solutions to form actionable insights and generate tangible revenue with all of this new data? The power was there, but harnessing it was a mystery.
The Big Data dilemma
The transition to a digital-first culture has undoubtedly improved our agility. But, in the process, we’ve cultivated complexity. There are several project management apps, and email vendor, a landing page host, a direct mail solution, and so on. Today’s marketing teams rely on a plethora of tools to make their jobs easier. However, as each solution is implemented, the technological web becomes more difficult to navigate. The data is at our fingertips, but it comes at the expense of cleanliness and effective system orchestration.
As many CTOs will tell you, the problem for many is having too many apps. However, if that were the case, devices like your smartphone and laptop would be nearly impossible to use. The real issue is the lack of connectivity between the marketing tools that brands use. Personalizing messages and marketing outreach across a consumer’s conversion path is difficult enough. However, it is exponentially exacerbated when tools, solutions, and data are not in conversation with one another. The goal should not be to lose weight, but rather to create a unified, dynamic, and accessible view of customer data.
This desire for better and more actionable insights has given rise to the emergence of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), which aim to bring together customer and prospect data in a single ecosystem. It provides a single “data vault” to simplify how we reach customers, but it does not completely resolve all issues. The next step is to put this information to use. To make it understandable and actionable. To use it to make more informed business decisions and to create more personalized marketing campaigns.
Big Data should flow
Data aggregation is a significant step. It is so large that many marketers stop here. However, this is only half the battle. At this point, the data is essentially a black box, only a few people can see or understand it. It is critical to make data accessible and actionable everywhere to realize its full potential. Unlocking this data not only allows teams to share, collaborate, and act on insights more easily but also demystifies the process. This teaches marketers to ask the right questions when determining how to optimize their efforts.
To accomplish this, it is critical to collaborate with a partner who is comfortable working with existing systems. If the CDP is unable to recognize current solutions, all of the benefits and, in effect, the point of a CDP is lost. The CDP’s goal is to scale and improve on what internal teams are already doing while giving them a unified view of all customer data.
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How to unlock the value of your data
We’ve talked about some of the issues that can arise from Big Data and why it’s still important. With that in mind, here are a few ways that marketers can make the most of their data by utilizing current marketing technologies and strategies.
Ensure low- or no-code functionality
One of the most difficult aspects of data management is the management itself. Exporting and importing data, creating charts, and retrieving specific accounts are all possible. It can be intimidating. Work with tooling that allows marketers to drag, drop, and autofill many of these elements, allowing them to easily dig into the data.
Pair first-party data with intent
Target audiences can be effectively engaged and converted using both first-party and third-party data. However, relying on one data set over the other is a mistake. First-party data is an excellent way to discover insights about the products or services that visitors to your website are most interested in, but it doesn’t go much further. Enrich your first-party data with third-party data to gain a better understanding of your customers’ overall online behaviors, actions, and interests.
Invest in cookie-less identity resolution practices
Cookie deprecation isn’t quite here yet, but it’s an unavoidable consequence of Apple and Google’s announcements last year. As a result, marketers must develop a multifaceted approach to identifying and engaging with customers across all marketing channels and stages of the sales funnel. The most effective way to accomplish this is to continuously and automatically supplement your first-party data with rich, third-party data that shows you how consumer attitudes are shifting in real-time.
Don’t separate learnings from action
In other words, don’t overcomplicate things. CDPs are excellent at connecting data, but the next step is to get it into the hands of those who will use it. Analytics tools are beneficial to those who work with them daily. However, the true power comes from making the data collected by the CDP available to all users in a network via the apps and tools that they use the most.
Conclusion
Data has the potential to and should be a great democratizer for marketing teams. Too often, marketers believe that data is inaccessible or difficult to understand. As the shift to digital accelerates, a shift in marketing teams is also required. Marketing automation and insights tools can help to “lift the veil” on the truth revealed by data. With this level of accessibility, marketers can obtain insights quickly and independently, allowing them to pivot and optimize more effectively than ever before.
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