The 7 Steps of Predictive Marketing Automation

Predictive Marketing Automation in “Plain English” Please?

In the book, authors Mike Ferranti and Gary Beck break the application of effective Predictive Marketing Automation down to 7 discrete, and actionable steps. They are shared here, in “Plain English.”

While there is a substantial degree of complexity, math and database science in developing a Predictive Marketing Automation or “PMA” capability, the authors have simplified it so an executive or a marketing implementor can readily appreciate and act on benefiting from PMA and PMA strategies.

Step 1: Build Your Customer Database

In this age of big data, data shortage is not a problem. In reality, the opposite is the case. Retailers are frequently drowning in their own data, triggering an overwhelming sense of anxiety and uncertainty about their futures.

Additionally, these companies typically do not have access to the resources that can transform this mess of data into something accessible, actionable, and ultimately profitable.

This first step outlines how to eliminate data overload and transform your marketing team into action-oriented database marketers.

Step 2: Transform Your Data Into a Marketing Plan

At this second step, all of your POS and transactional data have been consolidated and filtered through PMA software.

This means that all of your retail information has been stitched together across all available channels, generating the template for the omnichannel, 360-degree customer view that the mega-retailers use today.

With this comprehensive customer view in hand, marketers can build their marketing plans with greater insights to address media spend, price promotions, special campaigns, and specific strategies for segments of their customer and prospect universes.

Step 3: Create Customer Journeys and Segmentation Strategies

We learned how to identify who your customers are (sometimes referred to as a buyer’s persona), where they come from, how they purchase your products, and their preferences.

Now, we break down the Buyer Lifecycle (BLC) and how it relates to the natural progression of a customer/retailer relationship.

Now you have the ability to apply all of that information towards building intelligent, targeted, personalized, cost-effective marketing plans and strategies.

Keep in mind, a chief goal of curating Customer Journeys and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is to maximize the lifetime value of customers by customizing an experience that turns customers into advocates.

In order to do that, you must design distinct segmentation and messaging strategies based on customer wants, needs, and value.

Step 4: Launch Successful Email Campaigns in an Omnichannel World

We’ll now focus on using this knowledge to design comprehensive, intelligent, and targeted customer journey-based email campaigns.

This is an essential step towards maximizing the potential of each and every one of your customers.

For many companies, email is a primary channel through which they communicate with their customer base and obtain intelligence about their customer universe.

In this step, we’ll take a closer look at the targeting capabilities of email when it is launched from a PMA—either alone or as part of a larger digital campaign.

Step 5: Implement Marketing Automation

The world of marketing and advertising is changing at breakneck speed.

Programmatic advertising buys see changes in the cost of impressions from minute-to-minute. The cost of search terms rises and falls based on competitive bidding. Batch-and-blast emails are flooding inboxes.

In addition, competitive marketing dialogues with customers evolve dynamically as digital activities change the odds of customers purchasing from retailers. So, how can a small marketing department keep pace with these factors and other dynamics that are changing the marketplace? Implementing Marketing Automation

Step 6: Obtain More Customers Through Targeted Acquisition

To grow any retail business, all you need to do is increase sales to existing customers, acquire new customers, or both.

But the truth is, as new MBA’s quickly discover, growth is not easy and customer acquisition is very difficult – particularly in this day and age when marketing has suddenly become so complex. As consumers evolve with the digital world, their access to (and demands for) information changes—particularly in the way they shop.

Due to these shifts in consumer behavior, acquisition efforts—more so than ever before—must be implemented using a range of data and analytical tools across a variety of channels.

Step 7: Succeed with Database Marketing Strategies

You’ve learned how to integrate all relevant data and enhance your database so you know more about your customer base than ever before. You also have a new, addressable marketing segmentation strategy that both targets and messages the right customers at the right place, at the right time.

You’ve learned the process, arranged your data, and implemented actionable programs in place, but what do you need to keep your eyes on to know if your organization is staying the course and truly headed in the right direction?

This final step will show you how to monitor and alter your campaign metrics over time to maximize your ROI and ensure sustained marketing success.