While we’re just getting into the thick of pumpkin-everything season, already retailers are showing signs of decking the halls. The holidays, while still a while away, are on the minds of shops, both online and off, as they prepare for what seems like the never-ending season of spending.
Aside from putting out Christmas lights and holiday ornaments just behind the Halloween decorations, retailers are preparing their marketing plans for the gift buyers and givers, and this is where some data management can give an assist.
Data is great, but knowing what the data means for you, your campaigns and your organization is even better. Plan on doing a complete audit. Take the time to analyze your data so next year can be an even greater success. Find out what worked, what didn’t and what can be improved.
According to Internet Retailer, start with an audit, get your email database in check, and enable data access.
A data audit is a health-check on the lifeblood of your sales and marketing operation. Without accurate data, marketing simply cannot function effectively. The data audit identifies areas that need a boost to ensure optimum performance for all your direct marketing.
Once you’ve established solid data, it’s all in how you access it and use it. For example, aggregated data is highly valuable. It’s clear, easy-to-use and offers actionable insights — fast. Accessing it in simple form, like an Excel file, can help you create a targeted list of users and buyers for better marketing.
That said, retailers have a great deal of valuable data available to them, and like any tool, it must be employed wisely. Think about some surveys about consumer spending habits: a Traf-Sys survey reported that 78 percent of consumers are more likely to buy more products if a retailer provides targeted and personalized offers. AgileOne showed that more than 70 percent expect some level of personalization from the brands they engage with. The bottom line? Your customers aren’t the same, so use this data to cater your marketing campaigns accordingly.
Data is available to everyone, but how marketers use it makes all the difference. For example, retail marketers can focus on response and engagement rates, brand loyalty, and repeat customers.
The more data marketers can build from, the more relevant their holiday marketing will be to their consumers as they engage with desktop, mobile, email and social channels.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson