Glenn Fishback
Senior Vice President
Adify Media
3/16/10
How can you use data to improve marketing efforts?
If the objective is to find more of your best customers, you have to differentiate the signal from the noise. Isolate patterns of your best buyers and look at what they respond to. If the set is large enough, break it down by market — geographic and economic components. Learn from your best customers and how to expand.
I don’t believe in just quantitative data. Qualitative is important when trying to understand what’s working. Data, [itself,] can only get you so far. You need to talk to your customers. If you don’t have customers and are starting from ground zero, look at the competitive set and develop a SOWT analysis. Analyze the competitive purchase process and chart out what they have — the steps to checkout — and compare that to Quantcast rankings. Understand their offering and what drives activity.
Zappos really knows how to engage customers. [They send] 3-5 emails a week [that are very] targeted.
I like “man on the corner” research. Sometimes, you have to step away from the spreadsheet. Look at the leaders. How do eBay and Amazon do it? I’m a Boolean logic kind of guy myself.
They key is to not get overwhelmed. The insights come from the interactions. Data points are directional.
