“I Need to Get All This Data Together!”

Is your marketing data all over the place? Does the idea of sending a targeted multi-channel marketing campaign make you cringe? Do you reallyknow what your best customers look like? If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

Regardless of company size or maturity, many companies struggle with managing and integrating their data assets. Take a look at these key findings in a July 2014 survey by Forbes Insights:

• 53% of organizations surveyed consider a single view of the customer a priority. The biggest challenges to developing this 360-degree view are difficulties with keeping track of data among multiple systems, data redundancies and silos. On average, organizations use 36 different data-gathering systems and vendors for marketing efforts.
• Only a quarter (24%) of all respondents feel that customer communications and data gathering systems are fully integrated, while 13% report no level of integration at all.
• Half (49%) of all respondents indicate marketing and data teams are siloed.

Pull Your Data Together and Really Get to Know Your Customers

Customers are rich resources of information. The more you know about them, the easier it is to identify new revenue opportunities. By integrating your marketing data into one central repository, you can find the answers to all sorts of questions:

• What do my customers look like?
• What products have they purchased, and what is their purchasing behavior?
• Who are my best customers and what will keep them loyal?
• What is the best way to reach my customers and prospects?
• What patterns may indicate unhappy customers and how can I mitigate attrition risk?

Three Trends Driving the Need for Better Data

If you still aren’t convinced to take the plunge into integrating your data, take a look at these three trends impacting the need to have better data available.

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1. Big Data

   “Big Data” – the super popular buzzword to describe today’s massive volumes of data. Big Data has the potential to bring big opportunities and new insights into your customers and prospects.
    

2. Knowledge-Driven Consumers

   Today’s consumers are knowledge-driven, consuming information on the go and at the time of their choosing. They interact with organizations through multiple channels, such as email, customer service departments, call centers, social media, in-store visits, and on-line shopping.  Each and every touch point is an opportunity to optimize the customer experience, enhance customer loyalty, and ultimately, increase profitability.
    

3. Increased Speed of Business

   Consumers can connect on the go with smart phones and tablets, or make purchases on a website.  Companies have only moments to integrate data about the consumer, such as past purchase history or customer service center calls, in order to deliver the most relevant offers and messaging to customers.

Getting your data together is crucial, but by no means as difficult as it sounds. As technology increasingly improves, there is really no reason why data integration shouldn’t be a part of your marketing infrastructure. And the benefits far outweigh the costs.