In case you missed it, last week I published part one of this series called, Getting Smart with Data: Consider Your Collection Strategy, where I discussed considerations when creating a data strategy. It included guidance around privacy, data value, ability to action, and ability to facilitate the customer value exchange. That’s helpful and maybe you are already an expert on those areas, but where do you start when it comes to deciding what data to actually gather?
I sat down and talked to Schuyler Wareham, our Director of Machine Learning and Analytics Products. Schuyler has been in the data business for nearly two decades and I asked him if he had to rank marketing data in terms of value, what would be his top three?
Capturing: transaction data
Without hesitation, Schuyler’s first recommendation was transaction data. This includes purchase data and overall customer history. Information around loyalty point activity and coupon redemption is also really rich in detail and can help you understand what drives and motivates your customers.
“The reason for loyalty programs is that when you give rewards, customers get a hit of the ‘good stuff,’ to keep spending more money.”
The direct loyalty transaction doesn’t make a business more money, but it keeps the customer wanting to spend more money. I know this from personal experience and you may be able to relate, too. Have you ever paid more money to maintain loyalty with your preferred airline because you knew your status would secure you a first class upgrade? I know I have done that loyalty calculus many times, whether it’s for cups of coffee or flights. This information is also useful for doing predictive analysis and propensity models.
Capturing: non-conversion engagement information
The next most important data set for marketers is non-conversion engagement information. There is lots of valuable information hiding in the conversions you aren’t able to obtain. Think of abandoned cart or browse behavior.
What are your customers looking at and maybe even putting in their carts, before changing their minds? Do you have Marigold Grow and are you looking at metrics around engagement and gamification activities? One of the appeals of this type of information is that it is clean and binary.
In order to leverage this type of data, you need to ensure you have it available. For example, are you capturing communication history with your customers? How about site visitors or application usage? All of this information will help you create “persuasive actions,” that will get a conversion over the line.
There is tremendous power in being able to align site behavior and transaction history. For example, do you have a way to link your site behavior to a specific customer? Cheetah Digital by Marigold recognizes the value in being able to tell a comprehensive story about your customer, so we even have offer recommender and propensity models, to help link all these little insights and provide additional incentives to drive purchases.
Capturing: demographic data
The third place to focus your data laser would be demographic data. These are the more personal attributes like birthdays, age, gender, and household income. The best source for this data is zero-party data, like many of our marketers get from Marigold Grow.
This data is supremely powerful when trying to segment or profile your data more thoughtfully. This type of data makes triggered and evergreen campaigns more sustainable. Think of your annual birthday surprise to your customers. At a minimum, these data points will help you understand your customer better and may help you create powerful predictive models to engage with customers in a deeply resonating way.
We at Cheetah are dedicated to marketers and wish you the best on your marketing journey. We have hundreds of global experts across the globe and are ready to support you, whenever you need to cross those tricky marketing bridges. Whether you are considering a new loyalty program or venturing into leveraging experiences, we are here to help.
