Looking for a BI solution? Spend time here

As usual, Gartner does a great job outlining the Business Intelligence (BI) space in its latest 'Magic Quadrant'.  A link to the report is here. It's exciting to see that smaller companies can now capitalize on something that used to be reserved for the Fortune 500.

How companies use marketing analytics

We've spent the better part of the last several years trumpeting the benefits of analytics for marketing. Yes, there are benefits....very tangible benefits that make your CFO happy and your bottom line bigger.

The wonderful folks at the Adberdeen Group recently published a white paper highlighting the best practices of leading companies in regards to marketing. It is very insightful and serves as a great sales pitch for firms, like Lacuna, that specialize in marketing analytics.

One graph stood out. It is featured below. It highlights the top priorities for leading companies in relation to marketing analysis. It can serve as a road map for those companies that are looking to get their analytical operations off the ground.

Take a look at the list below. Spend some time on it. Would the insights that these tools can create be of value to your organization? I bet they would. Now, get to work and make your efforts more effective!

Smart Segmentation

By now we know that we can't treat all of our customers the same. We understand the value of segmenting our market into relatively homogeneous groups based on things like Geography, Demographics, Psycho graphics, Purchase History, or Behavioral Responses.

We also have a wide array of tools, online and otherwise, that make the task of understanding your market much easier. The top companies are not only utilizing these tools and techniques, they are also creating an analysis-driven culture.

What are leading companies doing that the others can follow? In the fall of 2008 the Aberdeen Group published a great white-paper that outlined the characteristics of customer analytics efforts of top organizations.

The following framework is a good starting point for organizations that are beginning to lay out their road map.













At the end of the day, the linchpin of success for any analytic based solution is the quality of input data. To that end the top companies have a centralized database of customer information so that they can ensure a single view of the customer. That old and over-used adage, "garbage in- garbage out" rings very true.

With a quality infrastructure in place your organization can do fun and beneficial things like RFM and Propensity Analysis. That's where the real value and profit is.

Predictive Analytics for Marketing

In the past couple of years the light has gone off and companies have started to finally value what predictive analytics and data visualization can do for their marketing efforts. Now these tools have expanded beyond the realm of direct marketing and they have begun to permeate to other fertile grounds where there is sufficient data to be mined.

Laura Patterson and MarketingProfs.com have done a great job of summarizing the most commonly used predictive analytics tools when it comes to marketing. Check out the link.

Analytics at Work

We often refer our clients and potential clients to the great Davenport/Harris work, "Competing on Analytics". It does an incredible job of explaining the value generated by creating a culture of analysis that can be understood by the average executive.

Davenport has recently created a follow-up and we can't wait to see how it can add value to our engagements. If it is half as informative as the original we will be more than satisfied.

Check out this recent interview(link below) with Mr. Davenport and then head over to Amazon.com to make your purchase. The fate of your company might rest on your ability to leverage your data for strategic gain.

Interview: Moving On With Analytics

All of my customers aren't all alike?

Here's a business story that a number of you might be familiar with. Hopefully it will motivate wholesale change with the manner in which you approach your customers.

Picture this.

A growing consumer products company has several successful products that are all the rage with homemakers who love to craft. These products potentially have other uses or customers but the housewives really love them and, as a result, become the fuel for this company's growth. All marketing efforts were devoted to this group, all consumers were considered similar, and all messaging was uniform. And the company continued to grow....in spite of this. Eventually demand leveled out and the company ceased to grow.

Is there a lesson here?

Rule #1 in marketing is "know thy customer". And if you have a halfway decent product or service that word customer likely has an "S" at the end of it. So let's make that "know thy customers." You likely have multiple customers and those multiple customers likely have unique tastes, buying habits, and preferences.

You know where this is leading....Market Segmentation. Since everyone has different reasons for using your products it is essential that you find an economical way to connect to those unique groups. In marketing parlance this is segmenting the market and there are several ways to do this ranging from simply interviewing several of your key customers to applying robust statistical analysis like CHAID to a large survey population. It is only common sense that, if your customers are different, that you adjust accordingly.

Some of the positive results of market segmentation include:

• More accurate sales forecasting which means improved resource planning.
• Increased revenue by focusing marketing efforts on the high demand customers.
• You better understand your markets and they will appreciate your willingness to get to know them.
• Cost savings when instead of marketing to the entire customer base you match messaging with the groups that will be the most likely to receive them.

Identifying and addressing the differences in your audience is Marketing 101. At the very least you need to have people within your organization who are familiar with the nuances of your marketplace. Ideally you have someone in your organization or you bring in a third party to help you identify these things. We recommend that perform several and regular activities to engage your customer base. This could be as simple as informal conversations at the point of purchase. And it can lead to performing an extensive survey of this same group to statistically distinguish between the groups. The internet has become a masterful place to engage with the customer and to determine their unique desires.

Go forth. Continue to sell your products. But do so smartly. Don't treat a Sally like a Fred. They may both buy your products but they are very different. It is your job to know those differences and provide incentives to ensure their loyal and profitable patronage.

Bring proper marketing analysis from the lab to reality

We no longer need to fight to bring more analysis and logical reasoning to our marketing efforts. The past decade, with the maturation of sound technological applications, has brought a more measurable and scientific approach to our efforts to reach the right customers, at the right time, in the right place, and at the right price. Marketing analysis now has a permanent seat at the table and now it is time to take the proverbial lab coat off of the technicians so that the esoteric talk of the ivory tower can translate into real world results at the market place.

Gail McGovern of Harvard has done a great job of explaining the value of working with an outsourced partner who has the strong analytical left-brain know how that many marketing organizations lack. Smart technicians have taken heed to this trend and there are more and more companies that offer solutions in the realms of applied statistical analysis, econometrics, and predictive modeling. While this is great there is often a disconnect created between the science and the business.

Take a look at the latest issue of the Journal of Marketing Research and you will be bogged down with jargon, formulas, and language has a hard time translating to the day to day efforts of most marketing groups. You don't want to spend serious money on a report that gets left without an appropriate Rosetta stone that allows it to be directly applied to your specific set of circumstances. That's why choosing the right partner is so critical. They need to be proficient and knowledgeable in the application of the right analysis for what ever the situation calls for. But they also need to have a solid background in business and marketing so that they can translate the findings into recommendations that can be easily executed upon by the client.

So, what are some tips for leveraging your marketing analysis and your relationship with your provider of such intelligence?

• Demand that all research be brought home. Or in other words make sure that the insights provided is actionable intelligence that can be interpreted and acted upon all parties involved in executing the recommendations. It sounds very basic but you would be surprised at how many"inane" jargon and nuance laden reports end up in the hands of executives who have no idea what to do with them.
• Start simple or at least understand the underlying assumptions and models being used. That way there is greater transparency and you are a more involved participant in the process. Don't let ignorance prevail and take everything as scripture just because you see a lot of fancy greek letters everywhere.
• Always ask why. Many people advertise the fancy service or analysis without describing the benefits. Companies want the sizzle not the steak. They don't care about conjoint analysis but they care about what characteristics their next product should contain.
  

Choosing a partner that has the requisite analytical background is an essential complement to marketing activities. Finding one that has the ability to provide practical results that also fit nicely with corporate strategy is the paramount difference between success and just spending a lot of money on a bunch of propeller heads in lab coats.

Numbers Do Matter....now more then ever

Back in the old days a superior product, value chain, or marketing campaign could win you easy market share and profits. These days companies offer similar products and often share similar technology. Geography doesn't matter as much and technologies can be easily replicated. One of the last remaining vestiges of competitive advantage can come from a superior use and understanding of relevant company data: Business Intelligence.

Yes, this especially pertains to the world of marketing. Think of all of the new developments pertaining to marketing in the past decade. Whether it is running a series of online marketing campaigns or managing the efforts of a sales team the one common denominator is the increased presence of analytics. A recent quote in the American Marketing Association "Marketing News" magazine by Mike Linton, former CMO of eBay, underscores this point. "At its core, marketing is 70% math." Now I wouldn't quite go that far but you have to blind to realize that marketing is becoming more and more numbers driven.

Marketing needs to embrace numbers and math, and statistical analysis. It allows us to make smarter decisions and it gives us more ammo when we have to justify our marketing efforts to those curmudgeons in the Finance department. There are a whole host of tools that are now readily available and priced to fit most budgets. I have listed several in past entries so take a look.

The bottom line is that you need to measure and evaluate your efforts. You can start off by generating simple and straight forward reports. Eventually you can move to more sophisticated work that will allow you build models that will allow you to forecast the results of your efforts. This framework below was developed by SAS and was recently featured in the recent HBR book "Competing on Analytics". It does a masterful job of outlining the place and impact of most forms of analysis that most successful businesses employ today.


So take a closer look at your operations. Determine whether or not you have systems in place that allow you measure the performance of all facets of your organization. If you have any gaps or deficiencies than please bring in someone, like Lacuna, who can help you out. Marketing dollars are becoming more and more scarce. You absolutely, postively need to be able to analyze and exploit those actions that are generating the best returns.

The ever increasing importance and availability of Marketing Analytics

Something that has long plagued the realm of marketing can now be strength. For the longest time marketing activities created results that were vague and difficult to measure. For example, how does one effectively measure the impact of a $500k commercial? As a result no hard fast ROI or impact could be measured by the folks in finance and the feel good activities, such as brand building, become the first things to get axed during difficult times like the ones we are currently facing.

Until now….

Our ability to obtain, analyze, and exploit data has improved drastically over the last few years. While it doesn’t quite have the buzz as something like “Social Media” or “Marketing Automation”, marketing analytics is just as if not more important. A successful marketing analyst can have a positive impact on every aspect of marketing- from market research all the way to revising a merchandising strategy. Here are few steps that will allow you to get back in the good graces of the guys in finance.

Data Accessibility

The marketing department has historically been dependent on a team of data analysts who were well versed in SQL and database management in order to get data. A disconnect usually resulted as analysts, failing to understand the business needs behind the request, would supply incomplete or rigid data to a marketing team, that wasn’t doing a great job of communicating their needs.

Don’t despair. There are several programs out there, such as U/SQL, which will allow marketing analysts to pull data from the warehouse. And the great thing about these programs is that you don’t need to be well versed in SQL programming. If this still appears too difficult or if your marketing team is constrained by an old legacy we recommend that you contract with a third party that can build an effective bridge. The bottom line is that you need to be able to get to all of your data.

Data Manageability

Now more marketing analysts are learning enough about databases to become dangerous. Simple bridges can be established to connect directly to the data source. And now that Excel 2007 can allow for over a million rows of data just about anyone can now effectively pivot data to pull out meaningful insights. Complicated procedures associated with setting up OLAP cubes are no longer as necessary. There are also plenty of products, such as Tableau Software, that do an excellent job of making the data visually come to life.

Once this is established the team can then focus on weightier matters…namely analyzing and coming up with effective measures that impact their unit’s bottom line. A competent analyst or third party will be able to create an automated dashboard or worksheet that will efficiently bring in data and allow it to be measured according to specified KPI’s and measures. This streamlined process will then free up the team to focus on ad-hoc or other projects that are deemed important.

Data Exploitation

If you’ve followed the above two recommendations than you are on the cusp of justifying your existence to the guys in finance. Why? Because you’ve minimized the amount of time needed to obtain and analyze data. You have reduced the need for an additional layer of IT support. And you’ve set the ground work for the types of measurable analysis that they demand in order to green light future marketing expenditures and justify current projects. The numbers don’t lie and now you’ve got them on your side.

With the data close at hand you can easily perform the types of analysis needed by finance to gauge viability. You perform statistical analysis to look for significant trends and insights in sales data. You can visually show the impact that a certain promotion had over a certain region in order to better understand its impact. The bottom line is that you can now look so much cooler and do so much more then you could just a few years ago when these kinds of dreams would have only been fulfilled by a costly Business Intelligence software implementation.

Happy mining! It’s a brave new world. But the sooner you can figure out how to get direct access to your data the better you are. And the more time you can spend analyzing the data instead of getting it the better you are for your company. During lean times like these this is prescription that will carry some serious benefit.

Lacuna Case Study