Awards & trends for Database Marketing

The Internet Messenger by Buky Shwartz

As we get used to being in February already, it’s time to bring our series on awards & trends for different technical areas to a close. This week it’s the turn of the fourth quadrant in Holistic Customer Insight, that is the critical work of Database Marketing.

Given this team can often deliver the most obvious commercial return from a customer insight department, we might expect to find awards in this category relatively easily.

In fact it’s a Ronseal moment, as the award I’d like to highlight is the “Database Marketing Awards” organised by the often useful DBM magazine. They have some helpful categories which highlight the different strengths needed in this area, including: “Insight driven multichannel marketing”; “Insight driven social media marketing“; “Data quality management for Marketing“; and “Innovation in Analytics for Marketing“. Well worth entering from March.

The first pundits I want to share, forecasting trends in Database Marketing for 2015, are DBM again. In this recent article, Jon Clarke shares four trends along the theme of greater engagement. I’m encouraged to see how many accord with themes we’ve heard on this blog as well. The need to glean Insight not just data analysis and learning from Behavioural Economics have both been popular posts here and on LinkedIn. The trend towards better coordinated omni-channel experience is also a topic I’ll be speaking about later this year.

When Andy Wood looks forward to 2015, I think he rightly highlights the importance of joining online & offline data more effectively (understanding your media interdependencies can help optimise database marketing) and the import of latest EU data protection rules will need to be faced by all DBM leaders.

Beyond the more traditional topics for Database Marketing managers though, none can afford to overlook the rising importance of mobile as a channel. In this interesting review of current capability, Joy Dean hints are where the emphasis for investment will need to be for many this year.

That brings this series to an end. I hope you’ve found it interesting, useful & perhaps entered yourself for some awards this year. Do share your thoughts and any feedback of the content you want to see more of in 2015.