All This Data, But Are Marketers Effectively Leveraging It?

Our collective ability to store massive amounts of data continues to increase. In a recent development, Sony has announced a new tape cartridge meant for long-term storage that can hold 185 terabytes of data per cartridge. (1 terabyte is equivalent to over 1,000 gigabytes).

But even as we continually increase our capacity to store more and more data, we marketers should be asking ourselves what we are doing with the data we already have. Are we merely keeping it “just in case” we might need it, or are we actively looking for meaningful patterns in our archived data? The question is no longer, “Do we have access to enough data”? The question is, “What are we going to do with all of this data?”

The question should be a burning one to most marketers who want to improve the effectiveness of their activities. After all, on-hand data can be directly leveraged to target the right customer with the right message, producing better conversion rates.

The question is a pressing one because if you are not leveraging your data for competitive advantage, you can be certain that your competitors ARE.

Some types of marketing data should be acted on rather quickly. For example, there may be a pattern on your website whereby people who buy Item A also tend to buy Item B. But, what if you don’t detect the trend in time and you miss sales opportunities? The trend may be buried inside your e-commerce database, just waiting to be discovered by a competent data miner.

Other types of marketing data are less time-sensitive. For example, customer data kept on file can be leveraged up to 2-3 years later in order to help build a “best customer” model. However, wait 4-5 years to make use of the data and some of your customer records will lose value as some customers move to a new address, rendering the data on the whole less predictive.

E-commerce data mining, customer profiling, and predictive analytics are some of the ways you can leverage the customer data you already have on hand.

Unsure of how to get started? Call MindEcology today. We will ask you some questions about the types of data to which you have access – and give you guidance on ways to move forward profitably.