Andrea Busse, CEO of Intelatext−a global customer engagement firm and mobile technology company−told Loyalty360 that she believes the next frontier will be Small Data.
With incessant talk about Big Data (which revolves around machines) in recent years, Busse believes Small Data (which revolves around people) will find its niche in the marketing world within the next three years.
“The evolution in the past five years has been faster than the previous 30 years,” Busse said. “On a daily basis there are new technologies developed that can impact or drive the influence on marketing. Marketing has gone through demographical changes and segments and moved into classifications. Big Data is great as long as you have the technology to crunch it.”
Busse said companies are investing in systems and platforms to aggregate Big Data in growing numbers, but organizations are limited by silos and divisional data sets currently, which prohibit the data crunching on any kind of meaningful level to become actionable down to the individual.
“Once companies are more comfortable with the data collection side by adhering aggregation bridges to all consumer touch points, then the next conquest will be for them to internally purify that ‘quantity’ data down to qualitative, strategic data in a way that is then linked to a more intelligent ‘If–Then’ strategy,” she said. “At that point, they will be able to affix relevant tactics to such efforts and effectively communicate back out to customers in a more meaningful way.”
From an internal marketing perspective, Busse believes companies would use fewer siloed divisions and instead use a title such as: “Head of Cross Platform Cross-channel Analytics.”
“Big Data is an ocean of information,” she said. “Purifying that down to a pure glass of water takes an action list and would effect change. It only works if you have the technology to extract information that is meaningful for brands and customers.”
Opening up the data and making it accessible to the entire company is crucial to creating a culture that can extract the maximum value from it.
“We look for creative ways to provoke action and target customers,” Busse said. “Often we’ll work as an outsourced mobile division for mid-level clients. For Fortune 500 clients, we’re a Special Ops team. We specialize in hyper-personalization.”
Hyper-personalization is the ability to individualize marketing messages by connecting social signals with transaction history and online behavior. The depth of personalization based on social data that can be applied to customer communications is revolutionary.
“It’s more location-based as far as mobile,” Busse said. “With hyper-personalization, we’ll consider name, age, and demographics. And we’re going to use persona preferences and physical location in that moment for more intelligent listening.”
Busse sees the health care and financial services industries making marketing strides.
“For years they had their arms out and were pushing back on adopting new technologies,” she said. “As far as mobile technology and mobile interactions, we’re seeing a large leap forward from them and they’re catching up and gaining ground and, in some cases, surpassing consumer brands.”
Busse listed three absolute components for companies:
Have security or authentication (especially in the wake of Target and Neiman Marcus data breaches). “Customers need to feel secure,” she said.
Ease of use: “If you’re trying to build a market campaign around mobile, it’s got to be so seamless and sexy and sophisticated and easy for them to use,” she said. “It has to be effortless.”
Incentive: “Why am I going to take two minutes of my life in this marketing campaign? What’s in it for me?”
“If brands can wrap their campaigns around relationships, that will give way to a relationship era.”
Busse also discussed the huge marketing appeal for biometrics
“It’s so huge right now and opens up a whole new world,” she said. “Biometrics allows brands to extend more significant offers or rewards to those consumers who are perhaps the biggest spenders, most loyal, or who haven’t engaged with the brand in a while and need a boost to course-correct back in the direction of that brand. They are able to offer a juicier deal because they know that only you are able to redeem it, and they are effectively now reducing fraud as the offer cannot be spread to social networks, put up on coupon sites, or even screen-shot versions sent to friends and family members. It truly is a single redemption, individualized, relation-based offer or gift that makes that person feel special and valuable to that brand. This relationship model enriches true loyalty and good will.”