Blog: B2B

Showing blogs: 1–5 of 5

Building Your Data Foundation, Part II

Mar 7 2011

In Part I of Building Your Data Foundation, I alluded to the four critical steps marketers need to take in order build a data foundation.  As I said then, you need to define your data strategy and then use these four steps to develop the best, most comprehensive view of your customers.  From there, you can analyze, segment, and model your customers and then apply those insights to your programs and campaigns.  Trust me, your marketing efforts (and the results they produce) will thank you.

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Building the Data Foundation, A Brief Interlude – Master Data Management

Feb 28 2011

In Part I of this two-part (plus this update) series, I talked about the importance of building a solid data foundation, informed by an overarching data strategy.  A key component of that strategy is to establish the data management architecture that will most effectively support your objectives.  There are two closely related disciplines that best serve this purpose:

  1. Customer Data Integration (CDI)
  2. Master Data Management (MDM)    

While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for the purposes of this blog, we will define CDI as the collection of technologies and processes that consolidate information from multiple sources to create a centralized view of the customer.  This includes ETL, cleansing, standardization, matching, identity management and creation of "master records."

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Building Your Data Foundation, Part I

Feb 17 2011

In B2B marketing today, there are so many interaction points between companies and their customers leading to countless opportunities to establish a meaningful dialogue.  The challenge is that many marketers focus mainly on the programs - which campaigns to run and when - that they forget the most important part of the equation - their data.

Yes, it's true; data gets a bad rap.  It's not nearly as fun to talk about cleansing and standardization, yet as a marketer, I would argue those functions are critical.  I gave a Webinar recently that talked about the importance of building a solid data foundation and here's what I shared.

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My New Year's Resolution - Improve Our Marketing Operations

Dec 10 2009

Although 2009 is drawing to a close and most people are thinking about winding down for the holidays, I'm already well-ensconced in 2010 marketing plans, programs and campaign execution.  During the past few weeks, I've spent a lot of time addressing the "marketing operations" side of the business; and while I've never considered myself an ops expert, my role has always included a significant amount of work in this area. 

Interestingly, marketing operations is one of those amorphous areas, quite different in every organization.  Here at CSG's Quaero, the goal of marketing operations is to improve the efficiency of the marketing function through people (resources), process and infrastructure/tools.  Most recently we've:

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A little bit about our own marketing...

Mar 2 2009

I had the pleasure of dining with colleagues the other night, and at some point, conversation shifted from the day's training to the company's marketing efforts.  And although no one verbalized it, the underlying question was, do we practice what we preach?  After all, we are a marketing services firm that helps companies apply insight gleaned from customer data to make better, more informed marketing decisions.

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