The three Vs

Analyst Doug Laney way back in the nineties suggested there are three Vs that should be considered when it comes to data:

  • Volume.
  • Velocity.
  • Variety.

Parry Malm has added a fourth to this list: Viagra.

“It’s not how big your data is. It’s how you use it.”

It’s the smaller packages of data that can help you achieve your ecommerce goals, not the sheer volume of it.

Understanding that data, no matter how small the detail, and being able to use it effectively is far better practice then collecting ALL the data available to your site and that being the end of it.

Marketing in 2015

Malm suggests the following as an example of how your business should be using its data within the next 18 months.

  1. Premarket to a custom audience.
  2. Send out emails to your warmed up customer list.
  3. Retarget behaviourally using custom approaches – hitting them with different creatives.
  4. Go to trade shows – it’s stil nice to meet customers face-to-face, the old-fashioned way.
  5. Attribute revenue across multiple channels – determine the relative lift or ROI per channel.
  6. Measure statistically which channels are working.

Also,  reacquaint yourself with AIDA (Attention. Interest. Desire. Action) and apply this when engaging with your customers.

‘Email is a killer app’

The number of emails sent in one second is 1,670,000, far outstripping any other social media channel.

However, email only drives responses if people are made ready to respond via other channels. Malm believes email is absolutely key in marketing stategy, but only if it’s optimised correctly using the right data.

For short-term email optimisation, Malm suggests testing out three subject headers first, then auto-sendng the winner. Re-send that email to non-openers after two days.

Then you should determine optimal positioning. Use emails to figure out key benefit drivers and position your content to follow suit. Test, retarget, repeat.

Again, Big Data is just data. It’s nothing to be scared of. As Malm states at the end of his presentation…

“Find stuff that works, find stuff that you can make money from, go with it!”

Check out Parry’s Econsultancy guest posts on this topic. Is big data baloney, or is it awesome