Consumers move throughout the day across devices, channels and mediums – from mobile phone to the radio and their computer; consuming and receiving content on Facebook, in their mailbox, on TV and through email. All of these examples are an opportunity for you to get your brand message and offer in front of your target consumer. But how do you determine the optimal audience for a campaign and what channels to market in?
Data is everywhere. Consumers create insights when they make a purchase online, swipe a credit card in the grocery store or browse online. 2.5 exabytes of data are produced every day and it’s a lot of information for you to consider as you strive to glean insights from this information to truly get to know consumers and produce personalized marketing programs. Recognizing the power and the potential of all that data is obvious, but it’s a challenge to find a way to leverage it easily and effectively. According to a recent study from the Winterberry Group, only 24 percent of organizations stated they were extremely data centric today, but 59 percent wish to be in two years.
To weed through all the information and data options, rely on your data partner to create an audience for each marketing campaign based on the campaign’s objective and success metrics. When developing your audience, be sure to leverage data that gives a full picture of consumers – who she is, what she buys and what she cares about. Then ensure the selected consumers can be reached and defined in the same way across all channels. Without consistency, analytics and targeting strategies can be inaccurate and result in an inconsistent consumer experience with your brand.
Attribution and channel optimization are hot topics with no clear answers. Still, you should recognize each channel has a role and your efforts will work better when channels are aligned and used together. For example, start by considering audience marketing and which channels are best at meeting certain objectives — drive awareness with TV and display, acquire new customers with direct mail and search, cross-sell with email and retargeting. When you get to know individual consumer preferences on a deeper level you can leverage the power of your own and third-party data to know a consumers’ preferred channel of communication.
As you’re continuing to advance your omnichannel strategy, think big and think broadly. Keep your campaign objective front and center, whether it’s acquisition, product awareness or cross-sell, and use data to determine the best audience and the channels that are best suited to reach your goals. Leverage partners to understand how and what data can be used for insights, audience selection and activation across channels.
Stacey Hawes is the president of data practice at Epsilon. She can be reached at stacey.hawes@epsilon.com or 303-410-5204. Hawes is responsible for oversight of sales, operations and account management for Epsilon’s data practice. Recently named a finalist in the Maverick of the Year category in the 13th annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, Hawes will ultimately be a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award winner in the program. Named a marketing “Who’s Who” by B2B Marketing Magazine, Hawes has vice chaired the DMA’s B2B Committee and is in her third year serving as a board member for NEMOA.
