How to Connect Your Brand’s Data Dots
Associate director, data strategy at McCann Central, Morag Glaister, has more than 20 years’ experience working both agency and client-side, specialising in CRM & Data, as well as working on numerous enterprise-level digital transformation projects.
Here, Morag delves into how marketers/advertisers can maximise the potential of data.
LBB> What’s the number one question that clients are coming to you with when it comes to how they can better use data to enhance the creativity of their content and experiences?
Morag> I’d probably say the question we hear most is: “How do we connect the data we have to understand our customers’ needs and wants and drive more relevant customer experiences across channels?” The reason for this is because clients are investing in new marketing technologies and enterprise environments to ensure ownership of their own data and ability to futureproof their marketing enablement, most often with a drive towards achieving omni-channel marketing. Once they have the technology and environment in place it then becomes about the data. Therefore, understanding how to connect the data dots and drive meaningful insight to support customer journeys is currently the key challenge from our clients’ perspective.
LBB> How can you make sure that data is elevating creative rather than forming a wind tunnel effect and knocking all the interesting or unique edges off that make something distinctive?
Morag> Data, creativity, design, and innovation all need to work together. Data elevates the creative thinking by surfacing behaviours and trends that provide visibility of customers’ needs and wants at different stages of their lifecycle, enabling relevancy at each point on the right channel at the right time for the customer.
Data is also an enabler not a dictator for creative thinking. Ultimately the technology that exists today, along with the opportunity to understand our customers more than we ever have been able to before, in addition to the data we have access to, should provide insights that fuel the creative process and enable even more innovative ideas to be brought to life.
LBB> Can you share with us any examples of projects you’ve worked on where the data really helped boost the creative output in a really exciting way?
Morag> Data has helped us on many levels with client’s projects. For example, we can identify the best time and channel to be communicating a range of messaging to different audience segments, which helps us to see increased engagement and conversion as customers are seeing what they want, when they want it, and we are also driving them to what they want next.
Equally, we have been able to connect data and use behavioural insights to drive one-to-one personalised advertising in channels such as display, in turn increasing adoption of certain products for our clients.
It is also worth noting that analytics projects such as customer lifetime value can also surface insights that influence value propositions and creative projects to support brands’ strategic goals.
LBB> How are brands/businesses utilising first-party data, and what are the benefits and opportunities of this type of data?
Morag> First-party data is your most valuable source of data. With the dawn of digital transformation, new marketing technologies such as CDPs (customer data platforms) and the third-party cookie landscape disappearing, brands and businesses are now realising the true value of their first-party data. The importance of having a compliant, accurate and quality first-party database has never been more important as it provides the benefit of customer and prospect insight from a demographic, geographic and behavioural perspective. It also enables visibility of product adoption, frequency of purchase, tenure of customer, as well as areas of interest.
The opportunities with this type of data are endless for marketeers as the insight that can be drawn from it can provide the foundation for meaningful strategy, creative and ultimately drive your customer experience. It provides opportunities to identify the value of your customers and build these audiences out to support look-alike targeting, resulting in media spend efficiency and higher return on cost. It also provides the insight that enables you to drive highly targeted and personalised campaigns, ensuring relevancy at each step of the customer’s interaction with your brand. One example of this is knowing when a customer is in the window for upsell or cross-sell of certain products based on previous behavioural trends, as it will enable you to identify these individuals and serve relevant, personalised display ad campaigns. Another example is knowing customers’ paths to purchase will enable you to serve the right content, on the right channel at the right time to fast track decision making.
These opportunities with first-party data coupled with new marketing technology functionality are beyond exciting and offer brands and businesses the opportunity to put the customer first and market on a one-to-one basis, benefiting both the customer and the company.
LBB> Why is data underutilised by many marketers and how can that problem be addressed?
Morag> Marketers have operated in a very siloed channel landscape with different data sources being used to support different channels – for example, CRM equals first-party data, media equals third-party data. Because of this the experience of using data to drive marketing objectives has also been siloed, creating experts in specific areas. Marketers need to either employ expert data strategists/consultants who understand all data sources, the benefits and opportunities they present as well as the functions available across marketing technology platforms. By connecting your data, you ultimately connect your business, and all marketers would benefit from a level of understanding of data sources, the value they hold and the opportunities they present.
LBB> We talk about data driving creativity, but what are your thoughts about approaching the use of data in a creative way?
Morag> How you connect data is only as effective as the thought process behind it. Being a creative thinker is key to how you approach data and enables you to identify behaviours, trends and insights that can influence strategies, journeys and creative.
Approaching data creatively means being able to humanise data, seeing beyond the language of data and transaction. This approach, coupled with effective strategic design, enables innovation through both technology and creative.
LBB> How can brands and creative make sure that they’re really seeing what they think they’re seeing (or want to see) in the data, or that they’re not misusing data?
Morag> By understanding what the data represents and having clear questions they want answered enables brands and creative to ensure the data is being connected effectively to show the right outcomes/insight.
LBB> What are your thoughts about trust in data – to what extent is uncertainty and a lack of trust in data (or data sources) an issue and what are your thoughts on that?
Morag> With any subject matter where there is a specific area of expertise by default there is a lack of understanding as to how the process works and this causes a lack of trust in the outcome. From experience, starting with small quick wins and proving a theory through the data that can be tangibly tracked is the path to growing confidence in the power of data, and it can also effectively drive marketing communications.
LBB> With so many different regulatory systems in different markets regarding data and privacy around the world – as well as different cultural views about privacy – what’s the key to creating a joined-up data strategy at a global level that’s also adaptable to local nuances?
Morag> Understanding the regulatory systems in each market, identifying the generic elements across markets and the nuances within markets, and developing a blueprint at a global level that at a market level can be added to/tweaked as required.
The systems in place to support this become key so that rules can be set, and the process automated for each market and consolidated globally for compliance, audit and reporting purposes.
LBB> What are marketers’ main challenges with data right now?
Morag> Fundamentally there are two key challenges:
1. Ensuring they have the right people with the right knowledge to understand how to connect their data to drive marketing effectiveness and enable ROI on the martech investments.
2. Breaking down channel silos and truly living the integrated strategic marketing approach.
