It's the Data, Stupid

I launched Freaking Marketing in January 2006 to help direct marketers get past the usual bullshit and do kickass work.

Over the past 199 posts we've talked about a good chunk of the Big Stuff: research, positioning, concepting, offers, segmentation, and too many other topics to list.

But there's really just one variable that consistently makes or breaks direct marketing campaigns, and that's data.

When I was a kid in this business, a mentor shared this maxim: send a so-so presentation to a great list and you may turn a profit, but send a great presentation to a shit list and you're automatically dead.

At the end of the day, direct marketing is largely a mathematical exercise.

Yes, marketing will always be a business of ideas. And one idea can transform a business or an industry. But ... you'll never accomplish much if you don't efficiently connect with your targets.

You need to find more customers like your best customers, extract the waste from productive list segments, and leverage your knowledge of the customer base. That's direct marketing.

I know some of you haven't been doing predictive modeling and customer profiling because of the upfront cost. Even if the short-term ROI is huge, some employers simply won't pop for it if it costs real money.

Here's something even those irrational bosses will love. Nancy Arter and Suzanne Obermire of RRW Consulting are now offering B2B and B2C marketers customer profiling services for as low as 500 bucks.

Disclosure: I love what these women are doing. In fact, they're new Mothers of Invention partners.

By the way: RRW stands for Red Red Wine.   

Comments

[Suzanne Obermire]

Robert,
Congratulations on Post 200! Wow! And, thanks for the kind words about RRW and our analytics package. It's most appreciated.
Suzanne

[Mike Bartoo]

Robert - for lack of a better term, A-freakin-MEN!

Suzanne - love the company name...

[Suaad Sait]

Someone else gets it! Thank you Robert for your blog, it’s right on! I have been saying this for years. I don’t know how many millions of dollars I have seen (and also have myself) wasted on brilliant marketing campaigns that saw abysmal results because no one spent any time on the data. As we have gotten more sophisticated with the delivery of our marketing messages from direct mail to email and now through integrated marketing campaigns, the data has never been more important.

If marketers are out there wondering why their expensive marketing automation tool has not delivered increased response rates, it is because they are still pouring in garbage data. Garbage in, garbage out. Targeting is key – more customers in segments where you are winning is as key as the person you are trying to reach. 100% accurate contact data for the RIGHT person is money! If these automation tools are your marketing engine (ones like Marketo, Vtrenz, Eloqua, LoopFuse, Vertical Response, Exact Target, Constant Contact, Aprimo, etc. to name a few) then you need to fuel it with high-octane data, not sludge. We started ReachForce to solve this very problem. I hope more marketers will realize that with quality contacts at the top of the funnel, truly targeted lead generation is possible, ultimately resulting in increased revenue. I applaud salesforce.com for driving the SFA (sales force automation) aspect of it as it has created a greater awareness on measurement – now it’s time for us B2B marketers to do the same, starting with the data.

[Robert Rosenthal]

Suaad: Thanks for mentioning one of the most important acronyms in direct marketing: GIGO.