Use Data Mining To Turn Marketing Budget Lemons into Lemonade
Most marketing professionals recognize the importance of maintaining high volumes of quality, usable data on prospects and customers alike. And yet, few really know how to leverage that data to make their marketing decisions lead to better results. Leading-edge marketers are using data mining to find novel ways to target their customers and influence their behaviors through well-designed advertising and marketing campaigns.
Data mining is the process of extracting patterns, and thus, discovering knowledge from databases of information. The key term in this definition is ‘discover,’ meaning to find something new about existing phenomena. Through data mining, a computer program will analyze data and present patterns in customer behavior in an easily understandable, actionable way.
You understand the need to collect information on your target market?s behavior, spending habits, lifestyle and demographics in order to create targeted marketing pieces. Data mining can help you analyze this information for new patterns and insights into your customers? buying behaviors and lifestyle choices. Data mining can turn your limited marketing budget from lemons into lemonade in the multiple ways.
Identify Upsell Opportunities
By analyzing your sales data, you may have noticed that many of your products are complementary. That is to say, when a customer buys product A, they are more likely to purchase product B. When someone buys cookies, they are more likely to buy milk as well. Or, it may be the case that customers who spend at least $100 on their first purchase are far more likely to purchase more products throughout the year than those who spent less than $100.
Data mining reveals these kinds of patterns as opportunities to upsell customers based on past purchase information, or recommend purchases in real-time based on the contents of their shopping cart. Through effective data mining, you can increase the profitability of every individual consumer.
Assess Customer Spending Patterns
Through your market research, you may have gathered information regarding your customers? psychographic and demographic characteristics. Data mining allows you to cross-reference cultural, psychographic, and lifestyle variables against spending patterns. This presents you with a unique opportunity to identify your most profitable categories of customers based on actual sales data.
Segment Your Market
Data mining offers you the ability to sort market information based upon a number of variables to segment your market and develop profiles of specific customers you want to target. You can categorize your customers into meaningful segments based on their age, income, buying habits, and media preferences. You can use information on these categories to design marketing campaigns that capture your most profitable customers? attention and influences them to act.
Make Better Use Of Your Marketing Budget
Businesses compete for customer dollars, so the company with the best budget discipline often outlasts the rest. Data mining can help you make the most of your marketing budget by increasing the effectiveness of every single marketing piece you create. For the low cost of hiring a data mining firm, you will be able to profile your most profitable customers. These profiles can be used to design customized ads and marketing for better response rates, leading to a greater return on your overall advertising investment.
Customers appreciate this kind of direct attention and care. Targeting your marketing in this way helps build your brand as a smart, conscious business which naturally leads to better brand loyalty.
Data mining can not only help you make the most of your marketing budget, it can also help you become a better company. When you invest resources to truly analyze your customers? information for better ways to serve them, your ROI will speak for itself.
Contact MindEcology today to get started.