Benefits of an integrated online database

By: Mark Patron | January 16th, 2009

The benefits of a CRM marketing database and a single customer view are well understood by offline marketers. For some strange reason the same is not true when it comes to online marketing. Online marketers seem to be happy to have separate web analytics, email and e-commerce systems that do not talk to each other. This makes ROI activities such as behavioural marketing impossible to do.

Marketing is all about making the most relevant offers to consumers. Right offer, right person, right time and right channel. For example, if a customer abandons a shopping basket, email that customer with a link taking them back to their abandoned shopping basket. It’s good customer service and you get 2-4% extra sales. In the current economic climate something not to be sniffed at. To do this you simply need your web analytics to be joined up with your email, but for some reason in the real world it’s not so simple. Why is this?

Web analytics, email and e-commerce systems are all separate.
Email marketing developed off the back of offline CRM marketing databases.
Web analytics developed from log file analysis in IT departments.
E-commerce platforms were developed by the likes of IBM, Oracle and Microsoft.

This lack of integration means the rich behavioural data available online is sadly hardly used for targeting. This is a dreadful waste. For example a very small percentage of online marketers use basket or process abandonment email. Yet, you do not get a hotter prospect than someone who dropped out of the buying process at the last hurdle.

Using targeted emails personalised for the receiver based on site behaviour can drive up to 30-40% increase in response and conversion. Event-triggered email can drive up to 40% improvement in response and reach. Combine these and it can realistically generate the 20% improvement most companies need to grow their business or at least retain their position in the current economy.

With conversion typically only 2% there is no doubt lead generation is much more efficient. But while it is much easier to spend money with Google than spend time putting the pieces together to produce integrated behavioural marketing campaigns and improve conversion, a great possibility for improving ROI is being ignored. And this contributes to why conversion is typically only 2%.

So online marketers should take no prisoners when it comes to data integration. There is too much money at stake not to have integrated data. Integrated online databases or ideally one database will undoubtedly become the standard in the future.

Written by: Mark Patron, RedEye