I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak at the Intelligent Acquisition Seminar this week (a massive thank you to Whistl and The Lettershop Group for allowing me to do so – it’s not often us data folk are allowed to gate crash an event or speak to the outside world!).
There were many great insights into how marketing is evolving.
What was especially apparent is how attribution is now positioned firmly at the forefront of many marketer’s mind. It’s vital for any business to have a clear view on the interplay of their marketing channels, with the days of standalone channels a thing of the past.
Nearly all of the speakers mentioned data in some context (how can you not?), but I still came away feeling it had been given lip service, rather than celebrated as the bedrock of attribution.
The data that drives brilliant campaigns is as important as the messaging on any given channel – but it’s an afterthought that often works unsung behind the scenes.
The quality of data not only has a direct impact on the success of a campaign – it also has to be managed compliantly. Without the diligent work done by my Pura data team, many clients would likely fall foul of compliance, be that with data protection laws or qualifying for the significant postal discounts that are on offer for using “clean” data.
One of the handouts at the seminar was “3 Proven Ways to Boost your Acquisition Strategy” from Market Reach: a very good guide but missing the 4th secret proven way to boost your acquisition results – good data.
It highlights Partially Addressed Mail and more traditional Direct Mail as being highly effective (and they’re not wrong) but neglects to mention the importance of managing your data well to drive extraordinary ROI.
This “4th way” shouldn’t be a secret. It should be the key consideration.
If you get your data in great shape, it will drive performance and show a solid return on your investment (while ensuring compliance).
Data quality needs to be shouted about more – those that listen will see the benefits in their results.
