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In today’s world of data-driven marketing, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Recently, Accenture revealed that 78 percent of customers receive a fragmented experience as they move from channel-to-channel, yet according to Mashable.com, 72 percent of consumers prefer an integrated marketing approach. The result, as highlighted by Blue Research, is that 94 percent of consumers and prospects discontinue relationships with companies because they receive irrelevant ads or promotions.

It is clear that today’s modern customers have high expectations. They expect companies to know them across all digital channels, engage them with relevant and personalised content across multiple channels and lead them by anticipating their future needs in order to maintain loyalty.

To get to this higher state of marketing data consciousness requires a level of data orchestration that allows you to understand your customer’s needs and expectations. This can only be achieved by integrating various disparate systems across your organisation’s data landscape. Market leaders combine data from customer preferences, activities, behaviours and sentiments to develop actionable customer profiles. 

Actionable customer profiles help marketers to orchestrate individualised, relevant customer experiences that help to attract ideal customers who spend more and stay loyal over time. Before proceeding further you will first need to determine your organisation’s current marketing data maturity which can be divided into three categories: 

Data optimisation:
Your organisation has rich profile data sets as a result of advanced digital marketing practices that dynamically enable highly personalised experiences across multiple channels in real time for customers.

Foundation data:
Your organisation is collecting basic information from customers and implementing simple segmentation and personalisation then using behavioural data to drive targeting.

Basic data:
Your data is segregated across multiple systems, is not personalised and campaigns are implemented on a fixed marketing schedule.

Once you have identified the maturity of your organisation’s marketing data, a strategy can be developed that will advance that maturity. Options to consider include:

•     Creating a company-wide data management strategy
•     Initiating a data cleansing strategy 
•     Exploring how best to integrate different databases within the organisation
•     Examining data to gain more insight on how to drive actions based on existing customer profiles and behavioural data.

Data is and should be the driving force behind your organisation’s marketing strategies. As previously highlighted, the data can come from many sources – extracted from big data or by measuring customer engagement through Omni-channels. 

When you get to know what drives your customers to engage with your brand, you will be better able to predict a successful marketing strategy. You will be able to create customer awareness, brand advocates and build a community that drives earned engagement to your marketing campaigns.

Make it happen by building cross-disciplinary teams that bring your marketing practitioners, analysts and your IT professionals together. Focus your efforts on initiatives with the greatest payoffs for your organisation. Secure the support of your leadership. And ensure that your people have the tools they need to be successful.