by Angela Guess
Christopher Hosford of BtoB Magazine recently wrote, “Today’s hyper-connected customers may be rushing well ahead of marketers’ ability to understand and adapt to their needs. That, according to presentations at the Direct Marketing Association’s NCDM (National Center for Database Marketing) conference and expo last month, is prompting marketers to make an organizational commitment to harnessing Big Data. ‘There is a perception gap between what marketers know about their customers and reality,’ said Brian Solis, principal analyst at consultancy Altimeter Group, in the opening keynote at NCDM, held Dec. 3-5 in Kissimmee, Fla. ‘Yes, connected customers want traditional things like good service and products, but also human things like conversations, relationships and, most important, a sense of value and benefit in connecting with you’.”
Hosford goes on, “Solis urged that companies adopt a top-to-bottom organizational commitment to understanding the data flowing from these customers to better craft products, messages and feedback. ‘Content isn’t king; it’s context that’s king,’ Solis said, noting that Big Data can reveal the how and why of purchase histories. ‘Without that, marketers can’t make campaigns more relevant.’ One central message at this edition of NCDM was that it’s not enough to merely recognize the impact of Big Data, companies must understand the information for what it has become—one of their most important corporate assets that requires detailed internal governance about where it resides, who owns it and how safe it is.”
photo credit: -Niloy-
