Michele Nemschoff

Data is one of those boring but essential components of a successful, modern business. Business leaders rely on research to make marketing and sales decisions, and data records all of the interactions within the business. Since data has so much potential to guide an organization to success, it is surprising how many companies store data that is completely useless to them. It’s not that the data is inherently worthless, but the organization doesn't have the capacity to handle or analyze the data for the information to have value.

There was a time when marketing firms had to treat everyone like generic off-brand mac & cheese. Sure, they could make certain assumptions based upon average consumers, but real, personalized customer offers and promotions just weren't possible. That time, however, has passed. These days, brands are able to gather data about individual customers from before any sort of interaction even begins to take place. Through information sources such as web browsers, social media, surveys, customer reward programs, transaction data, etc., it is possible to gather massive amounts of data regarding the personal preferences of millions of potential customers.