Author Archives: Mark Patron
I believe most companies generate half the value they could from the databases they own or manage. A rare exception is Google who generate £15 per user per year. Compare that with Facebook who generate £3. Why is there such a large discrepancy and how can we be more like Google rather than Facebook? Things [...]
I believe data protection legislation is good for the advertising industry. Anyone who disagrees should look at the US where self-regulation led to a situation where, when a “do not call” list was set up, three quarters of Americans signed up (most before it was even launched)! Consumers in the US feel they have lost [...]
Before working in direct and digital marketing I was a project engineer with Mobil Oil, so I’ve always had a keen interest in how we use technology. In the 1980s most direct marketers were a fairly technology adverse lot. They saw the need for developers and analysts but did not let them out in polite [...]
It sounds easy – right customer, right offer, right time and more recently right channel. As the meerkat would say… simples! So what’s the problem? Well, in the spirit of answers are easy, it’s the questions that are difficult, let’s start with some questions and challenges.
I learnt the importance of structured testing the hard way. Many years ago I was looking at the results from a million pound investment in tests done in the previous year only to conclude the tests were not valid and would mostly have to be repeated. It was not a happy moment. Testing should be [...]
Big data is exploding. According to a new report by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), “Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity”, as more and more information is collected and stored daily, we need to prepare. If not we’re going to be completely overwhelmed. The report states by 2018 there will be [...]
The internet generates oceans of data for marketers, but little of that data is used effectively. Online marketers skim the data surface in blissful ignorance of what is really going on underneath. For example, digital marketers are rarely able to look behind the last click to accurately allocate a sale. Different media are given credit [...]
Online marketers need to do more testing. Research carried out by RedEye and Econsultancy for the 2010 Conversion Report illustrates that testing is the single most important way to improve website conversion. Companies whose conversion improved over the last 12 months carried out on average three times more website tests than those whose conversion had [...]
If online marketers want to succeed they need to segment by customer engagement. Direct marketers learnt long ago that a past response is the best predictor of a future response. Why? Well, we are all creatures of habit, so if we do something once, it’s likely we’ll do it again. If someone has responded to a campaign in [...]
The goal of business is to satisfy customers. However, the needs and desires of customers are often overlooked. We measure success by whether a system or product is functioning rather than if it is really working for customers. Customers pay our wages so we had better pay attention. Here are some thoughts to keep in [...]
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