The relentless rise of
database marketing and accompanying analytics is
underscored by a new survey by Alterian, the U.K.-based
marketing platform provider. The annual poll, Alterian's
fifth, revealed that 67% of survey takers are allocating
additional hiring resources to this area, versus just
42% who intend to hire online-marketing
expertise.
Alterian conducted its latest study
throughout October and November 2007, surveying 852
marketers, marketing service providers, agencies and
system integrators, both in person at the Direct
Marketing Association Conference and Exhibition in
Chicago and electronically via a dedicated Alterian Web
site landing page.
The findings verify that
marketers want better data to inform their subsequent
digital campaigns, said Alterian CMO Jason
McNamara.
"Chief marketing officers realize their
decisions need to be analytically led if they expect
their online programs to improve customer experiences,"
said McNamara, who is based in Los Angeles. "This is a
journey that marketers are on, to improve
`customer-centricity.' "
The growing emphasis on
database marketing and analytics carries with it a
conundrum: The two areas of expertise, while
joined—analytics is what you do to databases to extract
meaning and predictions—require very separate skill
sets. One result is outside vendors bringing these
disciplines together into a single
package.
Extraprise, for example, offers a
marketing platform that links disparate
programs—Salesforce.com or the various Siebel Systems
marketing and sales packages—together with database
programs, list-cleansing applications and Alterian
analytics. Add a reporting and database tool and the
circle is complete.
For companies with smaller
marketing budgets, Mu Sigma outsources analytics
expertise to a cadre of 300 mathematicians in
India.
"Our business model is simple: the use of
quantitative sciences in creative things like
marketing," said Mu Sigma CEO Dhiraj Rajaram. "And in
India we can do it at one-sixth the rate you would pay
in the U.S."
Tool-agnostic
Mu Sigma uses statistical tools from such
providers as SAS and SPSS, combined with business
intelligence programs from companies such as Business
Objects, Cognos and Unica.
"We're agnostic about
the tool," Rajaram said. "It's not the tool that's
important, it's the method."
Mu Sigma's emphasis
on ROI as a function of marketing spend is echoed by
Entellium, whose Rave product combines database
marketing, analytics and sales force automation.
Entellium's flagship product, eSalesForce, uses an SAS
model, a Hoover's database and CRM capabilities, all
presented in a user interface reminiscent of a video
game.
Flexicom, a fast-growing reseller of
Verizon wireless products to businesses as well as
individuals, uses Entellium's hosted tool to analyze its
in-house customer database.
"We're a little new
to the game, only about a year into it, but it's
definitely enabled us to take our customer database very
seriously," said Anthony Snare, director of customer
retention at Flexicom, which has 54 locations. "We
always focused on customer service, but never had a
direct indicator of its payoff. Now we're able to see
the retention percentages in each of our zones, so we
can forecast revenue on a residual basis."
That
in turn, Snare said, allows Flexicom to decide how much
in the way of resources to devote to acquiring new
business, which has led to increased profitability. It
illustrates how database marketing and analytics is
penetrating down to the SMB level.
The connected
world, said Alterian's McNamara, means "we are all
database marketers. The CMO's battle is in the trenches,
turning the connected world and the vast amounts of data
it gives us into value for both the company and the
customer."
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