The New Buzz, or So It Seems
There is always something new when it comes to data and the buzz I keep hearing about is Demand Generation. There are companies that sell processes with a focus on generating leads and creating the right target. This is great stuff and useful for all business because it includes information on how people act or purchase goods and services is extremely important.
Don’t Be So Affected by Shinny Things… What Is It Really?
Call me old fashioned but I think this Demand Generation stuff is Direct Marketing and Database Marketing with, honestly, a cooler name. The bottom line is that the cooler name does not make it better, more intelligent, more sophisticated or most importantly, more accurate. If you need leads, think logically about the people you are trying to reach. What those people do, what do they read, and what are the behaviors of someone in their position. You do not need a fancy title or replace old processes with a new arsenal of tactics to accomplish your goals.
One Action Triggers Another
Automatic Marketing is the name for this process and again it is important aspect of a good marketing plan. Someone signs up for something or registers and receives a welcome message, email, or even direct mail. Actions trigger actions and data is entered into the database and hopefully analyzed to help with future decisions. The better the data the better the decisions and so on.
Data, the Tricky Part
What is good data, what makes it good, and how do you even know? We when it comes to self-reported data you have to think about the people self-reporting. Do you always tell the truth when answering surveys and would you rely on everyone else telling the truth? What about using transactional data, the money data in my opinion? When you have a transaction, something occurred and when you know something happened, there is an opportunity to report on it. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors these days also and it is important to understand the source of the data you use.
All I’m Sayin’…
Be careful when buy, renting, leasing, or licensing data and know the source. If you do not understand, make sure you ask more questions. It is easy to get lost when dealing with an unknown and it is important to trust the experts.
