Big Data Marketing: Engage Your Customers More Effectively and Drive Value

For my love, my muse, and my true north, Michael Bloom.

For my butterfly mom, Betty Burris.

Foreword

Why did you get into marketing? I am guessing that it's not because you had a burning desire to refine propensity models until the wee hours of the morning, or to wrestle with integrating social media comments with web clickstream data. But those are exactly the kinds of activities that make marketers great these days. The function is undergoing a dramatic transformation toward a world of data-driven decisions that this book describes in detail. You may have gravitated toward marketing because it is one of the most creative areas of business, and you still need to possess that attribute to succeed. But creativity is increasingly judged not only in the human imagination, but also in clickthroughs, conversions, and lift.

Marketing is not, of course, the only area of business undergoing this transformation. Few people enter the retail industry because they have a fascination with point-of-sale data, and few baseball fans want to work for a team so they can compute its Pythagorean winning percentage. The world in general is becoming more data-driven, and the change in marketing is only one example of that overall shift.

However, as Lisa Arthur details in the chapters that follow, the change in marketing is especially dramatic. In little more than a decade, the function has gone from emphasizing pretty pictures and catchy phrases to one that captures, integrates, and analyzes data of all types. Needless to say, many marketers—and the managers outside the function who relate to marketers—are not quite prepared for this transformation. They've heard the noise about data-driven marketing, but they're hoping they can retire before they really have to change their entire orientation.

But unless they're well into their sixties, retirement won't help much. Every day, marketing assets become increasingly digitized. Every day, more information about customers' preferences and behaviors becomes available. Every day, the opportunity cost of not pursuing data-driven marketing piles up.

There is both an organizational and an individual imperative for reading this book, internalizing its lessons, and continuing the pursuit of data-driven marketing. At the organizational level, some group of people needs to take the lead within companies in moving toward a data and analytics-focused culture. Marketing, as the function most impacted by the rise of data—and as the most frequent gatherer and user of customer data—is in an excellent position to take the lead and to lead by example. If marketing can target customer promotions, understand the attribution of digital media to sales, and segment to markets of one, the rest of the organization can't help but move in the same data-driven direction.

If marketing takes the lead in this regard, it can also seize an opportunity to take primary responsibility for managing customer interaction data. As you probably realize, marketing is not the only customer-oriented function in most organizations. It shares that responsibility with sales and customer service. My view is that over the next several years, organizations will feel the need to clarify who is really responsible for customer information. If marketing groups can demonstrate that they are adept at managing and using customer information—and making the data accessible to other organizations that need it—there's a good chance that marketing will get the role for the entire organization.

Of course, in order to do that successfully, marketing will need to step up its professionalism in data management. As Arthur points out, that means discipline, a process orientation, and lots of work on data integration. These are not generally traits that are traditionally associated with marketing, so some changes need to be made. Arthur refers to the prediction by Gartner that by the year 2017, marketing organizations will spend more on technology than IT organizations. I am not sure that prediction will come true (and even less sure it will happen on this date), but if it's even close, marketing data management will have to adopt some of the same approaches to data hygiene (security, backup, version control, and so forth) that IT organizations have employed for decades.

There is some irony in the move by marketing into professionally managed information and technology. Over the years, marketers have frequently been guilty of a renegade approach to IT. Instead of working with the IT function to create a professional approach to data management, marketers often tried to evade scrutiny by acquiring technology and managing complex data environments on their own. The marketers in question may well have gotten their database up or analyzed their social media sentiments more quickly and inexpensively. However, this renegade approach has led to fragmented and siloed customer data, as well as some inefficiencies in technology architecture and platform management.

Going forward, it's not that marketing will replace IT in the professional management of data, but will collaborate with it. Indeed, one organization—Arthur's own firm, Teradata—recently combined the jobs of chief marketing officer (CMO) and chief information officer (CIO). Perhaps we will see more such combinations, but in any case we will certainly need to see collaboration. Whenever I meet CMOs who don't work closely with their companies' CIOs, I consider shorting their stock. I can't imagine the companies will be successful if marketing and IT don't get along.

At the individual level, it's now clear that marketers at every level need to embrace technology and data as key elements of their professional portfolios. Everyone needs to know something; some need to know a lot. Every individual marketer needs to stake out a position on the continuum that has traditional, creative, intuitive marketing on one end (a position that is no longer tenable by itself), and hard-core digital data management on the other. If you're on the extreme data-oriented end, you may not look much different from a traditional IT person, although you will happen to specialize in managing customer-oriented data.

Some marketers will need to go back for formal schooling to develop this expertise; others can get by, as Arthur notes, with internal skill development programs within companies. Highly self-motivated individuals may even be able to acquire the needed knowledge by studying the voluminous amount of online information on this topic. Whatever means you choose, acquiring this sort of knowledge takes hard work.

And in marketing, the work to keep up with expanding IT and big data knowledge won't stop for the foreseeable future. It's great that you are reading this book, and Arthur will have provided you with a solid foundation for big data marketing by the time you reach its end. However, the world of data-driven marketing is changing at a dramatic pace. New channels to the customer, new application categories, new types of data to exploit, and new vendors and offerings emerge all the time. To be successful in data-driven marketing, you'll have to become a student of this domain for the rest of your career.

This may seem daunting, but try to look at it as a fantastic time to be in this profession. What could be more stimulating than being in a part of business where the foundations are being shaken on a daily basis? Where better to be than in the vanguard of this change? Wouldn't you prefer to be a leader of this transformation than to be led by someone else? In short, it's a wonderful time to be a data-driven marketer if you like change, excitement, and new ideas. And if you don't like those things, marketing probably isn't the best place for you anyway!

—Thomas H. Davenport

Acknowledgments

First, I'd like to acknowledge you, the reader of this book. Thank you for helping eliminate the hype and mystery from big data and data-driven marketing. Since all profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the American Red Cross, I am also sincerely grateful for your purchase. The American Red Cross is an organization passionate about its donors and the lives they save, and I am extremely proud that together we're contributing to the success of that mission.

I'd also like to say thank you to all the marketers I've met and shared stories with over the years. You inspired me to write this book, as we stand at the dawn of the Enlightened Age of Data. Let's keep talking and working together to elevate our teams and how we engage with customers; then, the rest will be history, as the saying goes.

I owe infinite gratitude and professional kudos to two brilliant women who came together with me to complete this project. Kathy Siranosian, you are an amazing partner in crime. This book would still be an outline and a dream if it weren't for your positive spirit, your tireless contributions, and your talent in translating my stories into compelling chapters. Applause and crowd noise also go to Kelly Jones, who researched and wrote case studies under extreme deadlines and continually contributed a fresh perspective. Thank you, content mavens, both your names should be alongside mine on the jacket. Another shout-out goes to Paige O'Neill, who helped outline the book, Christy Uher-Ferguson for her early reviews and feedback, and Mary Gros for helping secure the best thought leaders out there! What a powerful team of women and brainpower we have!

A big thank-you goes out to Teradata Corporation. Darryl McDonald, the president of Teradata Applications, and my manager, never blinked an eye when I asked to write this book while working as our chief marketing officer. Additional big thanks to Bill Franks, Ed Dupee, Gerald Hardister, David Scwheer, Lauren Ames, Dana Chamberlain, Wes Moore, Sherri Morgan, John Sawyer, Katherine Knowles, Tina Watkins, and Julyn Farrington, who all helped make this book happen. Even though there were many nights and weekends when I wondered if I was crazy for attempting this project on such a short deadline, I knew I had the backing and support of the Teradata team.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my Wiley editors, Adrianna Johnson and Christine Moore. Adrianna, you have been a beacon of light managing this process, a first time for me. Above and beyond navigating the publishing world, both you and Christine provided insightful edits and guidance to help my words truly resonate. Thank you and everyone at Wiley for such a robust and productive partnership.

To the strong women in my life, I wouldn't be here without you. To my mother, Betty Burris, my sister, Rebecca Davis, and my former executive coach, Debi Mueller: Thank you for all your love, wisdom, and support. Likewise, a sincere thank-you to my brother, Bob Burris, and adopted brother Lee Zeidman, who taught me how to be me in a man's world.

Finally, I count myself the luckiest woman in the world to share my life and passions with my husband, partner, and writing inspiration, Michael Bloom. Michael, a writer as well, continues to be my secret weapon professionally, as well as a source of ideation—and extraordinary coffee—when I need fuel to keep going. Thanks, my love, for your brutal honesty, your laser insight, and your understanding, even when my Eric Clapton T-shirt (which I frequently wear when I write) stayed on just a little bit too long! Michael, you are a true and equal partner. I wouldn't be able to do what I do without you.

Introduction

Big data. I've been a marketer since 1984, and never have there been two words that cause more anguish in the C-suite. Over the years, I've seen corporate leaders execute masterful acquisitions, heroic management of budget cuts, aggressive staffing reductions, and other feats of strength. They seem to take most business hurdles more or less in stride, but mention the words big data, and the conversation changes. Every member of the C-suite agrees big data is an issue that needs immediate attention. The problem is, very few know what to do about it, and, of course, that indecision just adds to the anxiety. As companies put off formulating their plans, the data continues to stream in, creating massive tangles of information, processes, and applications. The knot grows. Insights and value get buried in all the chaos. Stomachs begin to ache. And no one wants to admit they're falling farther and farther behind.

I want to change that dynamic, and I wrote this book because it's time to open up the conversation about big data. As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to start discussing big data—the good, the bad, and the ugly—without hype, without sales pitches, and without fear. Today's business leaders need to roll up their sleeves and confront the challenge of big data head-on, but in order to do so, they must first have a clear view of the task ahead of them. I truly believe that kind of clarity can only be achieved through honest, real-world dialogue. That's why this book isn't filled with complex mathematical models and lists of confusing statistics. Instead, I chose to focus on what I've discovered as a marketer who's coming of age in the era of big data marketing. I wrote about my mistakes and successes, as well as the triumphs of those I have had the pleasure to learn from along the way. You'll find page after page of practical advice about how to drive the changes required to begin reaping the benefits of big data insights.

If you want your business to move forward, if you're tired of all the sensationalism and hype, if you're ready to ease that knot in your stomach, you've come to the right place. Turn the page. Let's start the conversation.

Part I

The Problem

How Did We Get Here?

Chapter 1

Moving Out of the Dark Ages

More and more, the C-suite feels like a goat rodeo, a chaotic arena of business executives talking over and past one another. In fact, this pandemonium of different agenda and perceptions is now the spectator sport characterizing the Dark Ages of business. Even worse, it often takes only two of us to get the rodeo started.

I've seen this firsthand. One afternoon, while I was working as a chief marketing officer (CMO) at a Silicon Valley technology start-up, I seized the opportunity to talk to the CEO about how we could improve our demand creation and solution adoption. After briefly explaining that more resources would help us segment our market and buyers, I began to lay out my strategy for developing different content and engagement strategies for each unique persona, but, just as I was hitting my stride, the CEO interrupted me.

He was operationally focused, and already, he had