Semmelroth - Data Driven Marketing For Dummies

Introduction

W elcome to Data Driven Marketing For Dummies!

But what do I mean by data driven marketing? All marketing disciplines are fundamentally concerned with attracting and retaining customers. Theyre also all driven by data, in some sense. Marketers dont just haphazardly develop communications. They take as much information into account as they have available.

Database marketing, or data driven marketing, is a discipline which takes the use of information to an extreme. Data driven marketing, as I use the term in this book, can be characterized by three things:

Its a form of direct marketing: Database marketers develop communications that are delivered directly to consumers. This has traditionally been done through direct mail and e-mail. But the principles of direct marketing are being used with increasing sophistication to deliver marketing messages via text messages, social media, web content, and other electronic channels.

Its fundamentally focused on individual customer information: The database in database marketing refers to a customer database which contains purchase history, demographics, and other information about each customer. This level of detail forms the basis for highly relevant, personalized, and customized messages. This relevance drives the effectiveness of database marketing campaigns.

Its measurable: And its measurable in very precise financial terms. This measurability gives the database marketer the ability to create a marketing laboratory. Audiences, offers, messages, communication channels, and anything else related to a database marketing campaign can be tested to see how well they perform.

About This Book

Database marketing requires a variety of skill sets ranging from the technical to the creative. For this reason, database marketing departments tend to be made up of a diverse set of people. This makes them fun places to work. But it also poses some communication challenges.

I wrote this book partly to help fill that communication gap. I try to address the broad spectrum of work that needs to be done in the day-to-day operations of a database marketing department. In that regard, Ive written this book with database and direct marketers in mind.

But customer information has grown and continues to grow more central to all sorts of business decisions and strategies. For this reason, this book will appeal to anyone in the business world who takes an interest in customer data and how it can be used to your advantage.

A small note: Within this book, you may see that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply type in the web address exactly as it appears in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just tap or click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

I assume that if youre reading this, you have an interest in database marketing. Though I try to define marketing-specific terms as I use them, it would be helpful for you to have a passing familiarity with basic marketing terms like target audiences and marketing channels. Plenty of introductory marketing books can give you that basic level of understanding if you dont already have it, including Alexander Hiams Marketing For Dummies (Wiley, 2009).

I also assume that youre not too put off by numbers. Database marketing involves a great deal of quantitative measurement. That doesnt mean that you need to have an accounting background, though. Being able to calculate percentages is sufficient.

Though this subject can get somewhat technical, I make no assumptions about your knowledge of either technology or advanced mathematical methods. I attempt to explain in simple terms what the basic ideas are about. My focus is on helping you to communicate with your technical teams and vice versa. If you can add up a column of numbers in a spreadsheet, then youre more than adequately prepared to read this book.

Some of the subjects in this book, particularly those that relate to building databases, assume that you have a fairly significant technology budget. Databases, software, and even maintenance require some level of investment. But even if this is not the case, the parts of this book that relate to developing and analyzing campaigns will still be relevant.

Icons Used in This Book