Amassing terrabytes of data and analyzing the hell out of it — that’s the key to wildly successful predictive analytics, right? This Citi North America marketing maven tells you why you’re so wrong — and how to do it right.
You’re wasting thousands of hours and millions of dollars, says Citi North America’s David Landau, head of the company’s onsite and email acquisition, if you think that predictive analytics all comes down to the data — how much you have, how much more you can get, and how to crunch it.
“At the end of the day, it’s about what do I know about the customer, and what does the customer expect from me?” Landau explains. “I think companies need to realize that dumping more data in doesn’t refine those basics — and they really are basics.”
Too many companies focus on the numbers and forget the art, he explains, They’re refining models, testing models, bringing in yet more data, and wondering why they’re still failing to reach their target, again and again — because marketers are relinquishing the reins to the data scientists and the technologists. They’re forgetting the heart of what drives their real success in making solid, lasting connections with customers. Hint: it’s not data.
“If you don’t put enough time and care on the messaging and the offer that you’re putting out there,” Landau says, “all of the work that you invested in the data is a mistake.”
Of course the data’s essential — when you take a step back to figure out what’s important to your customer, then you need to establish whether you have the precise data and the right modeling to meet that customer challenge.
But then, Landau says, the real challenge is how to overlay the art on top of the analytics to bring those data elements to life for the customer.
“That’s what they experience,” he says. “They experience the art. They don’t care about the science. They’re not going to be impressed that you gave me a really crappy ad, but man that was great targeting behind it.”
Conversations about marketing strategy are getting cluttered by and overwhelmed with the technological nitty-gritty, and marketers are losing their focus — the customer experience.
“Marketing needs to put themselves back in the driver’s seat of those conversations,” Landau says. “Because that’s the piece that some technologists and some data scientists, they’re not close enough to in order to appreciate. And marketing needs to drive that part of the strategic conversation rather than becoming an afterthought.”
“Marketing must speak up and says, ‘This is who I’m trying to reach. Help me reach them better, and I can put the tools in your hand that makes your data look smart,’” he continues. That, he says, is when the real power of predictive analytics is unlocked. And it all comes back to the marriage of art and science driving real results.
Join Landau and fellow data pros from Lavastorm Analytics and Yeoman Technologies to find out how to apply each, in what measure.
Don’t miss out!
In this webinar you’ll learn to:
- Efficiently uncover the right data at the right time
- Understand key concepts in predictive analytics
- Know which tools to use to analyze data
- Determine which data points are most effectively aligned with your business purposes
Speakers:
- David Landau, Head of Onsite and Email Acquisition Citi North America
- Deep Varma, VP of Engineering, Trulia
- Michael Healey, CEO, Yeoman Technologies
Moderator:
- Wendy Schuchart, Moderator, VentureBeat