How to use the data you collect and why.

We marketers love to have excuses for why not to use something. "The technology isn't there yet", or "we don't have the internal resources to tackle a project like that" and even better "we don't have access to what we need" are all common when it comes to obtaining marketing resources to gain and competitive edge. Granted some may be budget related, but many more could be just a lack of bandwidth, or initiative, to take the time to fully research what is needed to access those resources, and apply them to where they are needed. Short sightedness in the investment to ROI calculations are also common when it comes to deciding to tackle a particular new resource that could help campaigns. Because so many (approx. 47%) are not using data, or are sophisticated enough by their own admission to collect, segment, and then use data to help better target their campaigns, and grow their ROI it seems time to cover the "why" you should be doing it, and how to use the data once you collect it.

How to collect the data. - So many list lack of technology, lack of internal experience, lack of data volume, difficulty in proving ROI, or lack of having the ability to get quality third party data as a main reason for not being able to get ROI from data driven campaigns. Unless budget is the ultimate factor behind any of the reasons above and the company simply does not have the budget to get the resources it needs to fulfill these areas, then they are missing a huge opportunity to increase their ROI solely because they have not taken the time to look around. Technology is far beyond where it was even three years ago when the main complaints were attribution and closing the last meter gap to showing engagement with customers. The ability to collect data in volumes, have the technology to do so and combining that with third party data to triangulate results or augment particular category segments is limited only by budget and resources available to take on the project. This can also be affected by a highly siloed environment, which would make the project almost completely impossible. Collecting the data internally or hiring a data management company to collect and segment the data for you is no longer a nice to have, it is rapidly becoming a competitive necessity. The longer your organization does not have a plan to collect customer data and then segment it into a usable story the quicker and further your company will fall behind competitively. This is not something that the "wait and see what and how our competitors do"  strategy will work in your favor. You must have a plan, be collecting, and warehousing the data, segmenting it, and then using it to better target your campaigns, to actively reach your customers with targeted information or offers to add value and cut through the noise. Whether you bring IT to the table or get the data prepackaged with the help of a third party this has become a competitive necessity to show increased growth and ROI. So the how could be something as simple as placing a pixel on your site and in your campaigns to collect insight and data which can then be segmented through another application and turned into a usable story by which to reuse the data for marketing or re-marketing purposes with customized messages. If your agency or third party provider is doing this but does not give much in the way of transparency, you might want to consider changing partners.

The why should be obvious - From the message above it should be pretty clear, data driven marketing is not going away. It is rapidly becoming THE way to target campaigns, cut budget waste, increase user engagement, gain insight and transparency on who your customer is and what they want, so you can then create customized campaigns and target to customers directly with information that will add value and call them to action.All of this translates to ROI at the end of the campaign. The other not so obvious "why" is because consumers are rapidly becoming aware their data has value. With solutions like ad blockers too it will become even more difficult to get your message in front of them unless they have “opted in”. Having the data now and showing them you know them early should prevent issues reaching them as this whole new frontier unfolds. The more data you are able to gain now the less you will have to go looking and possibly even begging for in the future. link of it as the current Gold Rush. They say knowledge is King and in this case it will trump and even decide what content (that used to be king) you will use to reach targeted customers to customize to their profiles. Soon without the data you may have to pay for the privilege of reaching a customer.

The bottom line - technology has evolved to the point where there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to have the data you need about your customers and potential customers. If this is a struggle it is only because of the excuses being made or the need for more budget. Gaining more budget should be easy unless the environment is siloed, then a bigger challenge exists. A clear plan of how to collect the data, segment it and then make it actionable needs to be created. Once that is done the ROI should be obvious. Using the data to market to like audiences to bas a wider net and re-market to existing audience becomes much more clear and easy. With transparency this should also eliminate budget waster (instant ROI) as well as increase engagement and conversions. Scaled this should also show how the plan will pay for itself and the return that can be expected.

Looking for help with offline to online data? - We can do that, as well as offer a number of ways to utilize the data you collect to remarket to your customer. From serving display by IP, to e-mail, and direct mail, we can help you make sure you utilize your data 100% as well as give youth ability to use it to create another revenue stream, should you choose to make it available.

You need data that will help you reach the right customers every time. No duplicates, outdated listings, or non compliant fillers, that beef up a list but waste your budget. You want that data to match your needs, and get you to the customer, to engage them 1 to 1, and you want to cast a wide net with as many exact leads as you can get. Datastream does that by providing you a number of power databases with millions of NCOA and CASS verified in house leads. Our files are guaranteed accurate and are updated monthly, or ask us about live leads updated throughout the day.

With over 260 million Opt-in email records, 205 million Auto VIN records, 69 million Payday Loan records, 40 million Insurance, over 20 million Diabetics, 12 million Mortgage Refi, 5 million Investors and many more! Datastream offers full coverage of telephones, with over 133 million landline numbers and 220 million wireless numbers. Landline data is sourced from our Consumer and Opt-in files, while our wireless numbers come from self-reported, opt-in sources. In addition, all of this data can be combined with any of the over 300 demographic selections on our 280 million record Consumer File, the possibilities and matches are endless.

Don’t just buy a list! Datastream is customer service oriented, which is rare in Big Data. These files are available for installation/licensing and Datastream will customize a database and update schedule to fit your needs. Don't pay for what you won't use! We will help you every step of the way get the data you need.

Want to reach customers 1 to 1 by appending phones, email, IP's, or Cookies to your list? We can do that, too!
Need Data Hygiene, Secure data Storage, Data Management, Data Processing for your Big Data or Company Lists? We do that too!
Need fresh Real Time Sales leads? We have them too!
Need Exact IP Targeted advertising to create leads and brand awareness? We do that too! Consumer & B2B, domestically or internationally! Want to break into markets like China? We specialize in that. (bryan@leadsanddata.net)

Need help? - Bryan Gissiner has been in Digital Advertising for over 20 years in everything from retail to Founding his own tier two ad network. Currently, he helps companies utilize the right mix of current advanced technologies and marketing to outperform all of the other available alternative solutions in their target markets. He is a regular contributor on LinkedIn, with a large following of other experts from a number of different areas.

Bryan Gissiner has worked on both the publisher and advertiser side helping them to find ways to save budget and increase return on those budgets, often making them 2-3x more successful.

Connect with me! - , please go to www.linkedin.com/in/bryangiss, @bryangiss on twitter or contact directly bryangiss@gmail.com and send me an invite with specific requests, to discuss how he can bring his experience to add value to your company and help it continue to grow revenue and ROI.