Creative ways to use data for marketers

Creativity is a rather untouchable plane for the strictness and rigidity of data. Marketers, in their search of coming up with innovative unfoldings, lose sight of pre-existing end goals. Therefore, discontent rises for the top management when KPIs go down and employees are drifting in an inspiration-induced state of excitement. Yet, this seems to be the right path towards reaching the target audience, since all the current sure-fire methods have been used countless times and run into the ground.

As all things, there are 2 sides to the debate of creativity in B2B market. Some are of the opinion that everything should be run by the book, just as many have done successfully before them; while the other side perpetuates creativity as the saving grace of what is to come.

Promoting original handling is not uncharted territory, B2C has been going at it for decades. Thus, is it unwise to learn from the mistakes of others? Implementing tangential notions will surely manifest into an insightful move.

But, a short etymology lesson before we move on. In his book “Riding the Creative Rollercoaster”, Dr Nick Udall emphasizes creativity as a strategic differentiator for businesses. It is also here that he makes a discernible presentation of the contrast between creativity and innovation as follows:

Creativity is ‘bringing the new to mind’

Innovation is ‘bringing new to the world’

Going by this approach, the former must always precede the latter. There are a lucky few working for companies that promote innovative services, yet marketing seems to be built on the same principles. Which side are you on?

Transform the B - boorish into C - creativity

With creativity being at the top of sought-for soft skills and analytical reasoning not too far behind, today’s business environment cannot keep its current pace without the right combination of the two. Marketing is particularly challenged by finding that perfect blend, especially from the prism of its uniqueness for each company. The struggle is real though. Marketers do have an ever-growing stream of data, making it harder to select those that would provide key insights and become the foundation of a working, effective and creative process. 

Data are no further than a click away - customers’ behaviour, issues, needs. But there is hardly any trace of human personality being reflected in these ever-changing numbers. An individual becomes a mere statistic among the abundance of conglomerates. So where is the very border between numbers-driven and creative?

The C is not about being a hipster amongst conforming competitors, but a sound strategy that fosters innovation having all due processes and employees involved. Therefore, consider enabling your teams and channels to foster this type of growth.

So to address the elephant in the room, here are a few ways to set up your business for success:

Jousting. Most people are inherently competitive, thus they often go to great lengths to compare themselves to others. It would seem as if there is a constant battle to better your opponent. Apply this primordial feeling to your services by compiling a personal profile detailing a user’s “performance” in contrast to the general audience. It does not have to be essential, but small meaningful things: account age, forum activity, number of comments and reviews, custom badges. Suit yourself with details that fit your style and enjoy a digital jousting between your customers. Motion will rise throughout all channels your clients are frequenting and create a fun and positive feedback loop.

A friend of my friend is also a friend. Seek to be active where your business partners’ customers dwell. Elaborate on dynamic patterns through the community and use it as leverage in your acquisition cycle. Portray an exemplary relationship with audiences by employing key persons. For B2B too, influencers, reviewers and most recently DIYers are all excellent sources for further reaches of your campaign as well as adjustments of existing datasets. After all, the greatest proof of quality comes from others’ testimonials.

Never leave on seen. Everyone knows how frustrating is for your message to be left on seen either by a family member, a friend or even customer support. This status feels almost like a disconnection between the parties involved. With B2B, that would convey the bad service impression and lack of care and personal approach from the silent party, likely resulting in plenty of lost opportunities. However, all is not lost thanks to modern-day technology which allows critical moments to be focused on at the right time. Special set up mechanisms can help alleviate down-time through the usage of AI tools to identify and act upon relevant sets of information, thus enabling your presence on relevant channels.

Promote your business lifestyle. Keeping your audience on its toes is a fairly difficult task especially when you have long-time customers. It is no news to hear about using promo codes to entice a bit of action. Have you thought about using QR codes? What about implementing Augmented Reality infographics? Is a table of numbers comparable to an augmented image ripe for the peaking by digital eyeballs? Or a scannable QR code that acts as a bonus in addition to your solution to the client’s needs? 

Create stories. Even though for B2C using stories in marketing purposes is more than usual, for B2B these became more of a norm once LinkedIn stories went live. It should be of no surprise that marketers rejoiced at the opportunity to bring more creativity and fun into the corporate world. Have you already tried them out?

Test. Another way for technical to assist creative and vice versa is by testing. Playing around with fewer variables usually does not carry too much risk, hence their applicability. The more experiments, the more relevant would the results be, and the bigger the changes that discoveries may bring. 

It was that creative approach to data, suggested several years ago, that today helps us, more often than not, to be delighted by the choices of movies or music recommendations we get or by the ads that feel like reading our thoughts. As algorithms’ development did not stop there, patterns and insights further can and will be creatively applied, and surprises will keep coming. 

Seth Godin once suggested that we are all tempted to be part of various groups of people who have the same interests as we do, and are either expecting to be led or lead these groups. Only the creative marketers will achieve true and meaningful insights from data and find a way to approach each group (or so-called tribe) the most efficient way. Currently, the C narrative is too narrow and needs further improvements starting with adopting a “creative mindset” in all you do. Since the goal is bringing the new to mind, the tools are already there, what is left is us to act upon them. However, no matter which path you set your foot on, accurate data will prove an important asset on your journey. Go creative and do not let data become complicated!