As I reflect on 2014 and the experiences that SmartBase has had, there are many trends that we, as a group have seen. I think it’s important to share personal insights to improve the strength of the marketing community as a whole, so I wanted to pass along the knowledge that we’ve gained over the last year.
Here are our top 5 data driven marketing trends that we see continuing or evolving into 2015.
#5: Data Security Will be C-Suite’s Top Priority – The number of ways organizations collect data is increasing. Whether it’s online, in the consumers’ wallets, on their smart phones or even at the corporate level, the increased number of entry points is also increasing the ways that data breaches can occur. Where top notch security has been required of healthcare organizations by compliance laws like HIPAA for years, more industries will seek a higher level of security to protect their customers and their companies. Also, notice that I say C-Suite, not CIO or CEO. Data security is everyone’s problem in 2015.
#4: Consumers are not giving up driver’s seat of the Health Care industry – [Part 1 & 2]
Part 1: Consumers are gaining control over their health care dollars: buying individual insurance on the exchange, shopping around for prices on procedures, consulting reviews and selecting doctors based on all these factors. Health care providers have to take the leap into customer centric marketing with both feet. The last couple of years have seen a move toward CRM systems, mostly starting to gather information on specific customers and pay attention to their behaviors. The most successful marketers will move beyond CRM and implement data driven marketing automation platforms able to differentiate between a customer with back pain and an athlete with a sore knee. The days of blasting quarterly emails and doing a mail drop twice a year are over.
Part 2: Beyond customization of communications between health care providers and consumers, we see the opportunity for insurance companies to use personalization to differentiate their plans from the competition. For example, dental, hearing and vision benefits available in senior plans offer coverage more relevant to a 30 year old. If insurance companies could figure out a way to offer robust, affordable, age appropriate coverage, they will have created the most epic win-win situation for healthcare in 2015 and beyond.
#3: All Hail the Chief Content Curator – Creating custom [and relevant] content has been in the forefront of marketing for the last decade – becoming increasingly important in the last few years. As the race to create the best {and the most} content continues, the amount of content available to the consumer is larger than ever. As of 2013, there were 4.75 billion pieces of content shared on Facebook each day. (Source Facebook) Organizations will continue to place a larger emphasis on harnessing the power of content curation. I think 2015 will be the year of the Chief Content Curator or Chief Curator.
#2: Qualitative Research goes Digital to Expand Audience Reach – As Baby Boomers become more comfortable with social media and technology, the ability to engage with them grows. Online qualitative research provides Boomers the perfect platform to share their passionate opinions, participate in a community and continue to drive change. Unlike previous generations, these Boomers are open to sharing their experiences, including their aging related issues. Online research allows marketers to be “present” among this community, understand what’s driving their needs and design products and messaging to address them.
#1: CMOs will get personal by conquering big data – Big Data on customer behavior allows us to examine how a customer behaves, what triggers certain actions, and where we can effect change. CMOs will equip themselves with the tools that can process that big bucket of disparate data and create Small Data that they can act upon. Once customers are segmented into like behavior groups, different interaction paths can be designed based on individual behaviors. Even if you can move from one interaction path to six different paths, you have made your dialogue six times more personalized.
Add to this a campaign management tool that has the ability to execute data driven marketing activities based on real time customer behavior. Now you can take an individualized experience and scale it exponentially—at the speed of data. 2015 will be the year organizations stop talking about it and actually get it done.
What are your top predictions for the upcoming year? If you’ve decided 2015 is the year you achieve your goal of conquering big data to implement a data driven marketing strategy, I’d love to help you get started with the tools and support you’ll need to make it a reality. Contact Us for more information!
