Our thoughts on why data scientists and marketers make a perfect team
Data science is becoming ever more prevalent – what role does it play in the marketing industry?
Data scientists are becoming ever more prevalent as organizations need to process and analyze more and more data, looking for those needles in haystacks or those bits of insights and value that they can then use to transform their business, drive profits, reduce costs and serve customers better than ever before. Having data scientists work together with marketing professionals can bring massive rewards. By “listening” to the data, i.e. seeing it, feeling it, understanding it better, they can run much more effective marketing campaigns, truly understand their customers better and get to that nirvana of 1-to-1 personalized marketing instead of hitting everyone with the same generic message. Data scientists are masters in their field and have become an indispensable asset to any organization’s marketing dept.
How has the availability of data changed how marketers target customers in their campaigns?
Data is not only increasing in terms of volume but also in terms of availability from different sources. By being able to pull in data from various sources and making it “talk” to each other, marketing professionals can now get a much more rounded picture of their audience, be it customers or prospects. Simply put, more data, better data and interconnected data allows marketers to be much more savvy and targeted in their approach.
What does the marketer role/customer of the future look like?
The marketing professional will have to be much more discerning in the way they profile and target customers. Customers themselves will become even more fickle as more and more targeted offers are sent to them, but also, it is worth noting that as more and more marketers get smarter in their approach, the less customers and end-users will become accepting of poorly targeted messaging and offers.
Can marketers harness data from the IoT, and how can it be done?
Yes, they can. It’s important to understand what is meant by IoT as to many it means different things. For me, the Internet of Things is nothing more than an expression to sum up how digitally connected our world is and how many sensors are emitting, collecting and collating information on a wide range of things. If a marketer can use systems that can ingest such information and have technology that can make sense of it, then they can take an action – i.e. market to a specific audience accordingly. But if they cannot digest information from various sources easily, then they cannot target their marketing accordingly.
Is generic messaging obsolete? How can data be used for truly personalized and agile messaging?
Not obsolete, just less powerful. There is still a place for generic messaging in terms of brand establishment and awareness. For instance, a car manufacturer might want to run a generic advert to showcase a generic brand quality such as speed or comfort, but they will then want to target specific drivers of a certain demographic, age, preference with an individual message that speaks to them about why the car make in question is such a good option for them. Data can of course be used to offer truly personalized messaging; the trick is to be able to get down to the detail quickly and talk to individuals in such a way that they feel they’re the most important person. Sadly, a lot of vendors’ messaging is still too generic. Only those that have investing in data management and analytic systems can really personalize their messaging.
How can data analytics transform businesses, drive profit and reduce costs to serve customers better than ever before?
Only when a business puts data truly at the heart of its operations can it then collect, analyze and mine it for information. As a result, once they find out valuable insights that are positive, they can take an action that will effectively help them to drive more profit. Similarly, reduce costs as they might be able to detect some inefficiencies in their business.
The ability to understand and market to customers at the individual level has become so important to marketers, i.e. 1-to-1 segmentation. Of course, to do this, customers need to rely on fast analytic technology that allows businesses to consume and ingest large data volumes of all shapes and sizes and structures, analyze them and then deliver insights that the business can use to drive its operations and sales engine. So, yes, we are enabling businesses to become ever more customer-centric by using fast analytics and Loading...in-memory technology to deliver insights and intelligence that is more targeted and more personalized than ever before.