Event-Based Marketing

Not really an old concept – but the idea of event-based marketing has sure gotten a lot of buzz in recent years. Many organizations data systems are teemed with clues, or “triggers,” that alert them in slightest deviation on a specific “class” of customer has changed. This could indicate that the customer is thinking of moving to the competition, or perhaps are looking for a new product or service. Other firms use the slightest surge in the price of a commodity (steel, grain, oil, etc) as an event that triggers a sequence of automated actions down stream impacting price, packaging and distribution of an organization’s product or service. In some cases, organizations, like a bank, through their web site and call center analytics, become aware and in some cases more intelligent about customer behavior simply by monitoring customer frequency and their use of several on-line services correlated with their average account balances may introduce significant cross-sell or up-sell opportunities.

This type of data mining, value segmentation, and predictive modeling can provide valuable insight into identifying customer needs. However, sometimes the rigor behind the task doesn’t necessarily equate to a willingness to act. Success can be dependent on organizations ability to react swiftly to the slightest deviations in customer behavior. And as modern organizations get vastly distributed across the enterprise – a company’s ability to execute go-to-market is greatly inhibited.

Recently, we deployed some data mining tools in my organization and I have come to the conclusion – although a powerful device that enables more thorough analysis and predictive modeling – it really does nothing to help an organization execute new actions based on the data discovered. So, before this valuable tool gets put back on the shelf, I’ve put together a small cross-functional task force designed to improve how we can successfully use our data mining processes and other analysis-intensive processes into a single platform, so that we can create, execute, store and control these key initiatives from the time they are conceived all the way to the point of fulfillment. I’ll keep this posting updated on our progress as it is becoming an extremely eye-opening exercise – one that I think will pay large dividends both in improving marketing bottom-line and accountability.

But, before I go - anyone, have any suggestions?

Comments

[Dhruv]

Interesting...but I still have doubts as to how effective these tools can really be.

We always talk about "the customer", but we know there is always more than 1 person involved in the decision making and whose needs we are trying to satisfy. Also in large companies, there can be multiple "customers", for example from the Technology division or Finance division.

Is there a tool to help visualise the interactions among these "customers" themselves, their needs, and wants? Maybe there might be more benefit in that?

If this doesn't make sense, delete it!

[Keith]

Your comment makes complete sense. A tool that could measure the variance of preferences, needs and satisfaction across multiple dimensions within a customer segment - or even a single customer.

For example, it's not uncommon in certain technology markets where the actual users needs greatly vary from that of the senior executive that is signing the purchase order.