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Engagement & Analytics
What are we waiting for? Perfect pairing? Tangible results? By John Leonard
D
uring a meeting a few months ago someone quoted a comment from IBM that “Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.” When I Googled IBM’s website the quote was expanded more “This data comes from everywhere: sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media sites, digital pictures and videos, purchase transaction records, and cell phone GPS signals to name a few. This data is big data.” I’ve always considered myself to be a bit of a creative nerd. No, I don’t consider that to be an oxymoron. I appreciate creativity (especially when I get to apply it to my job) but I do like numbers and spreadsheets (my wife will begrudgingly attest to that). So I found this number both intriguing and frustrating at the same time. We can look at this amassing of data from a few different angles. From a pure scientific perspective I would think this amount of data is allowing scientists to gain a better handle on many things from weather to health and already is enhancing our lives in ways we may not yet understand or appreciate. When it comes to business we are probably doing a far better job due to this data at supply-chain management, inventories, risk assessment, and on and on it goes. Oh, and don’t forget charts (it seems we are chart crazy with all the data we have. OK so we call them info graphs now but they’re still charts). And consumers are getting better information – I am amazed at the amount of data we can access on our phones let alone our PCs. So we’re collecting it and using it in many aspects of our lives. But as marketers we seem to be missing. I understand the value of on-line collection of data and tailoring experiences to individuals. And everything I’ve read indicates that the value on-line is the collecting of data. Advertisers want to know our preferences, watch where we go. I
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recently was looking for a new vehicle and through the process visited a number of automobile dealerships. The next day I was surprised and impressed to find some of those dealerships popping up on kijiji and my Facebook newsfeed. How interesting from a technology perspective (and just a bit creepy too). What I find most interesting is my perspective of these advertisements “in the corners”. Is it just me or are many of us just not paying attention to these ads? One stat I read suggested that the click-through rate on banner/side bar ads is just 0.05% So it can’t be just me, even my teenage kids laugh at me when I ask about the ads – they actually respond with “what ads?” and I have to actually show them on Facebook. Maybe the challenge around monetizing data online has something to do with the task at hand. Ever started to look for the best Parmesan cheese in Toronto only to find yourself staring at uber-modern toilets from Europe 30 minutes later? I think psychologically if we’re searching for something we’re either very focused (my wife) and will only follow that train of thought or you’re like me and follow the ever-interesting rabbit (down the hole to unproductivity). If you’re focused on the task at hand you don’t see anything else in the peripheral, if you’re not focused the tendency is to gravitate towards fun things (probably why games are so big online). Maybe the symbiotic relationship between online and the physical world is input and output. I know of organizations that combine input and output. Take my car buying experience as an example. We were about 2 weeks from the initial “we need to get another car” to the final purchase. And during that period we did some surfing, comparisons, and test drives. While the sales guys all tried to call me and nudge me, not one followed up with anything substantial. One car manufacturer I know of was looking to create a bounce-back communication within 12 hours of visiting the manufacturer’s website
a follow-up letter was mailed with information about the vehicle, dealership and sales rep. Within 2 days a mail package arrives in order to keep up the dialogue. Funny how most automobile manufacturers rely solely on a sales process from the 50s or earlier, yet pack their cars with today’s technology. Another organization pairs telemarketing with mail in order to drive response. Obviously in both of these cases timing is crucial, but it is possible and the pairing works well in both cases. With today’s technology around automation, getting a communication out in the mail quickly should be easy if the infrastructure is in place. And Canada Post has recognized the need to compete with or enhance other media so they are working hard to improve their delivery times and are making an effort to help customers with promotional mail get the best possible postage rate (yes it’s still expensive but if we’re collecting the right data and using it, we should be mailing to our hottest prospects). Take this a step into less reactive and more campaign-marketing. Are there opportunities to learn behaviours about customers (collect data) online and then communicate to them in a more traditional manner via the mail? Could marketers be more daring off-line? Could they be taking the risks that they will sometimes take online? A recent comment I heard from a seasoned marketing vet suggested that they felt there weren’t enough risk takers anymore. We have all this data yet it’s frustrating that more people aren’t willing to risk using it to create more relevant communications. Some do. Just look in your mail box and you may see there a rare few very sophisticated programs. The good ones aren’t so exact that you think they’ve rooted through your drawers, but they will promote things that are relevant or interesting to you (based upon your previous actions and possibly online activity). What if capturing information from a mobile app could be used to tailor a physical package
to you, say, quarterly? Maybe a communication that doesn’t lend itself to the small screen – a map of the best and fastest route through your grocery store. Heck, with a map of where I’m to go paired with a shopping list on my phone, my wife would even trust me to go shopping for our family. Over the years I’ve learned to respect marketers that look for ways to drive connections, results and sales. Many of those have been direct marketers. These folks understand the value of data and especially tangible results. I recently heard the editor of a Canada marketing/strategy magazine on the radio state that “online is measureable. We used to draw assumptions that tied marketing spend to results, but now a marketing manager can walk in their bosses office and state we spent X online and generated Y activity. It’s not that they can relate it directly to revenues, but at least it’s something.” This was intended to support online marketing, but I think it supports my suggestion that online can be great for collecting data, but not necessarily always the best channel for outbound communication if you want real results. While we all want to be cool and creative at the end of the day and once our fascination with online wanes, and we get back to the basics of driving tangible results direct marketing as a discipline (online and off-line) will be back in vogue helping collect and model data from online and using a variety of media to communicate including the traditional tried-and-true channel of mail. So, if you’re searching for a means to monetize the data you’re collecting online, I suggest you consider an old work-horse as part of your media mix – been around for decades, it’s direct mail. John Leonard, is V.P. of Sales at Cover-All, has taught DM production at College, ICA and the CMA. Enjoys the creative aspect he can bring to any project and his nerd side figures you might want to know that a quintillion has 18 zeroes. Reach him at 416-354-4210 or jleonard@cover-all.ca December 2014