You Have No Data - What Now?

Data, data, data. It's everywhere, but have we just become data richer and knowledge poorer?

Have you ever wondered what gave GDPR its impetus?

Everyone knows that data is important, we are bombarded with stories around 'BIG DATA' on a regular basis. If data is collected for a purpose and used wisely we can glean information about our customers behaviour, their interests and their lifestyle.

This information is especially important in the internet age, but with the introduction of GDPR, Ad Blockers, and a myriad of data privacy regulations the marketing world has shrunk.

According to an IBM study, 75% of customers expect brands to understand their individual needs. In simple terms, most customers are happy for you to gather data about them as long as you tailor your service and communications accordingly.

What they don’t want is you to bombard them with meaningless emails each week and month. Oh, and by the way, you're not the only one trying to speak to them..........

Hence GDPR.

For instance, when you meet someone for the first time you wouldn't think of bombarding them with too many personal questions, you (if your polite enough) would exchange pleasantries and try and establish common ground. During this initial meeting you are unconsciously making both your minds up if you like each other.

And the biggest no, no is to bang on about yourself, after all you are just getting to know each other. Therefore If either one of you doesn't relate to each other that relationship really isn't going anywhere. But if you listen, pay attention and can establish some shared interest, there is a good chance for a second meeting. In simple terms you will have a completely different conversation with someone you have known for a few years than you will have with someone you have met for the first time.

Marketing people are constantly trying to find ways to develop effective communication campaigns. If you don't have a rational strategy for using the data you are collecting then stop collecting that data.

Without being able to extract and interpret the intelligence that is sat within the myriad of data we can access today, that data is pretty worthless. Also, just because I know quite a lot of facts about who you are, and what you do doesn't always translate into an engaged and responsive conversation.

In simple terms, you should use data to help foster a stronger relationship based on where you both are in that relationship. Relationship building requires time, patience and above all the ability to listen.

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Throughout all this, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity, consider where you are in the relationship journey. A dump of unfocused data will deprive you of valuable work hours. Plus, the larger your database for the sake of size is just a false ego boost.

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Data is just noise without interpretation. Learn from your data: who are your most loyal customers? How can you improve customer experience? What can you do to improve retention? Understand your strategy, key goals and objectives - remember conversations are meant to be a two way thing.

From my own perspective, we use data to create and stimulate conversations messages to certain customers. We’re also working on some exciting personalisation features.

A strong retention strategy? will lead to more acquisitions anyway. By focusing on current customers with interesting stories, relevant content, offers and a great experience (as well as ensuring their data is safe) word will spread and more people will sign up to your service - giving you more data!

Costs are also a factor here. A study by Kissmetrics suggests it costs 7x more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain one, while a lost customer is worth, on average, $243. If you have a sizeable database, retention should take up as much time, if not more, as your acquisition efforts. But retention is about investing in relationships, and that's where the consistency and hard work really sits.

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