data acquisition Archives - List Intelligence™ Blog

2013: Contact Discovery is in the Midst of a Sea Change

Data Acquisition, Lead Generation, List Acquisition, List Intelligence, List Management, Marketing No Responses »

Jan 182013

My biggest take away from 2012 is that data acquisition will change more in the next year than in the previous five. Previously, the name of the game was to procure as many contacts as possible that aligned to a prospect definition and embark them on a nurture program. Competitive advantage was created by identifying more names than your competition. I recall the SiriusDecisions quote, “The battle between competitors is being won and lost at the top of the funnel.” This approach still has merit, but it’s the execution that has and will continue to change. Let me explain.

Many marketers pin their data acquisition needs on a few well-known providers. This is understandable since they provide access to millions of contact records and the logistics of managing more vendors taxes your internal resources. These same providers are Oceanos vendors and we strongly advocate their value in a demand creation strategy.

However, our analysis reveals that their combined reach is typically 30% of a client’s target audience. In addition, their strong brand awareness ensures that their contacts reside in both you and your competitor’s database. It’s clear that the company most effectively nurturing the other 70% will win the so-called battle.

As a savvy marketer, what do you do? The optimal approach is similar to an investment portfolio: source contacts from a large network to produce a custom data asset that is stronger than the sum of its parts. It’s the execution that presents all the challenges including data asset identification, internal logistics, cost negotiation and timing.

Because you can go only so far with third party feeds, there is a point where custom research is necessary to identify incremental contacts. Custom discovery requires web and social media mining along with other research driven techniques. But it’s these contacts, which cannot be acquired via third party, that provide the competitive advantage. For this reason, finding a partner that has the know-how and technology to accomplish this in scale is invaluable.

Out with the old and in with the new and undiscovered. Make 2013 the year of achieving your competitive advantage; where better to start than at the top of your funnel.

View our video for more information on Oceanos: http://ow.ly/gHxVi

Brian Hession is President & Founder of Oceanos and can be reached at bhession@oceanosinc.com

Architecting a Federal Government Data Strategy

Data Acquisition, List Intelligence, List Management, Marketing No Responses »

Dec 052012

Designing a federal government demand creation strategy presents data concerns. The biggest challenge facing marketers is identifying and isolating target contacts. Many large databases are weak in their ability to delineate federal from state and local contacts, and although the government trade publications have good coverage of the market, they offer broad job function segmentation. Most marketers tend to accept this limitation, resulting in non-targeted campaigns or in some cases, reaching institutions outside of federal government.

You don’t have to accept weak data. Oceanos can help you overcome your data challenges and give you a competitive edge.

The first step in designing a data strategy is the development of a robust prospect definition; you must first highlight the characteristics associated with the target agencies and then define the types of contacts to reach. Oceanos’ objective is to build a named account list with the institution’s demographics, domain and any valuable business intelligence. Contact identification is imperative because the market for technology products in federal government is diverse. Although contacts can be categorized based on your unique marketing approach, the default groups are:

Decision Makers
Influencers
End Users

To facilitate job title identification we recommend job title mapping, an analysis that is critical in the identification of the optimal job titles and key words for segment mapping. The next step is the creation of the balanced data portfolio, which is necessary to ensure repeatable demand creation. An Oceanos federal government data strategy includes twenty to forty different sources. When architecting a data strategy, we seek to leverage the strengths of each data source to produce a custom solution that provides a competitive marketing advantage.

There are five data types within a scalable data strategy:

Perpetual crowd-sourced data feeds provide you access to the full contact record. Oceanos’ List Optimizer is synched to these sources, including crowd sourced providers and select publishers.
Perpetual research-based data provides various levels of intelligence to assist sales executives that are actively selling into government institutions.
Rental lists include both vertical and horizontal source and are derived from trade publications, associations, show attendees and communities.
Leased data allows you to receive the data directly to support predefined nurturing strategies via your internal marketing automation platform.
Federal government business intelligence is primarily sourced from RFP’s and outbound calling programs. This intelligence can be procured and released directly to assist in segmentation, prioritization and messaging.

Oceanos can serve as the Data Acquisition Hub for all public sector units. We can assist in establishing standards for all third party data acquisition. Centralization of the data acquisition will provide your company immediate cost efficiencies and will minimize the procurement of poor quality or duplicate data across business units.

View our List Intelligence Brief: Architecting a Federal Government Data Strategy at http://youtu.be/5pt7zpwtNAw. For more information on how Oceanos can help you overcome data challenges associated with federal government, please contact Brian Hession, President & Founder of Oceanos at bhession@oceanosinc.com

Oceanos Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Data Acquisition, Lead Generation, List Acquisition, List Intelligence, List Management, Marketing No Responses »

Nov 072012

On November 8th, Oceanos will celebrate it’s 10th Anniversary – a milestone for our company! We’ve come a long way from our original start in Marshfield 2002. From those humble beginnings, Oceanos has thrived and grown into an industry leader in database marketing. We’ve evolved as a research and advisory firm that designs data strategies to support all types of demand creation strategies. Our solutions are powered by proprietary List Optimizer™ technology and smart, focused people. We view ourselves as data consultants, akin to an investment firm, but rather than stocks we analyze data. This includes both traditional list sources along with all types of business intelligence.

Sales and marketing organizations look to us to architect a data portfolio that aligns to their prospect definition, is scalable and will drive returns. The expertise we provide is not just selecting data source A over B, but rather the ability to combine pieces of data, from a multitude of sources resulting in a solution that is stronger than the sum of its parts. It’s maximizing data utility to support both contact prioritization and the ability to segment and align messaging to tightly defined audiences. This is List Intelligence™ and our blue chip client roster is the proof that we deliver results.

Over the years, we are proud to report that Oceanos has received numerous business and industry accolades including articles in the “Boston Business Journal” as well as being named to “Inc. Magazine’s” Fastest Growing Private Company list for three consecutive years. Our impressive client roster includes blue chip clients such as Iron Mountain, Autodesk, Bloomberg, Citrix, CA Technologies and Lenovo. Thank you to all our clients for helping make Oceanos a success.

As Oceanos approaches its 10th anniversary, we are more confident now than ever that our intellectual capital and technology has created a very special company. To learn more about Oceanos can provide you with a unique data strategy, view our new video: http://youtu.be/zcOiTM30_W4

If you are interested in learning how Oceanos can optimize your demand creation activities, feel free to contact Brian Hession, President and Founder at bhession@oceanosinc.com

Customer Data Acquisition: Best Practices for List Acquisition Teams

Data Acquisition, List Acquisition, List Intelligence, List Management No Responses »

Sep 192012

Excerpt taken from IDC CMO Advisory Survey

Customer Data Acquisition: The Keys to Effective List Management

Customer Data Management is the foundation of digital marketing and is emerging as a discipline of its own. The importance of having accurate, timely and well managed data is crucial in today’s marketing efforts. Every aspect of the customer data management process should be designed to deliver the highest data quality possible. It is recommended that list acquisition teams at the very least include advisors from sales and channel management to facilitate standard compliance. The day to day mechanics of sourcing, vendor management, negotiating, data cleansing, etc. can be left to small marketing group. But this must be done in the context of a larger policy that is designed to create a seamless customer creation process.

It is no surprise to see that formal request for proposal (RFPs) are generally not required for list purchases, as the dollar amounts are usually under the corporate threshold. However, the lack of a standardized review process can make buyers vulnerable to poor list acquisition decisions. As a result, it is recommended that companies establish a Customer Data Advisory Board.

The panel should work with the Customer Data Czar to establish standards for customer data acquisition which should include: standardizing data structures across applications, establishing guidelines for list requisitioning, providing written policies for list usage, and identifying preferred sources by data type (contact, market, company, social, etc.)

Oceanos can work with your business to support all types of demand creation and database building programs. We also provide risk mitigation, diversification and cost certainty strategies to ensure data investment optimization for your business.

For full report visit: http://oceanosinc.com/idcreport

To maximize the return on your data investment, you need a Data Asset Manager.

Data Acquisition, List Acquisition, List Management No Responses »

May 022012

Having the right data is an invaluable asset. To maximize the return on your investment, you need a Data Asset Manager.

Would you just invest your entire retirement in one stock? Well maybe if it’s Apple; but in practice it exposes you to extreme risk. When you are investing your valuable resources in the acquisition of data assets meant to support your sales and marketing program, how are you differentiating each data source? Can any source be the total solution or do you need to follow the traditional investing wisdom “DIVERSIFY”?

Statistical analysis of all campaigns contained in the Oceanos Knowledge Bank, an aggregate of all campaign results show there is no single database that will provide you with adequate diversification to mitigate your risk while providing you with exposure to the assets you need to speak to your audience.

SO HOW DO I BALANCE MY PORTFOLIO AND MAXIMIZE MY RETURN?

Marketers are overwhelmed with having to sort through a dizzying array of data providers all promising to be the best solution; they need guidance. An independent data management firm who represents YOU and not the data providers can help. At Oceanos, we’ve identified four characteristics you should look for in your data partner:

MAKE SURE YOUR DATA PARTNER WORKS FOR YOU. Work closely with an independent data advisor not aligned to any particular data source.

QUANTIFY IT. Use empirical statistical and technical analysis to identify trends and potential market trends.

DISCUSS THE METHODOLOGY. Work with your data advisor to develop a strategy to identify and obtain the assets you want. Determine the methodology used by the advisor in grading potential assets for inclusion in your portfolio.

DETERMINE FAIR MARKET VALUE. It is no value to pay two times as much to get an asset that performs at a level equivalent to better valued assets. Ensure that your data provider is able to establish fair market value for the assets you obtain to provide with your best chance to maximize your return.

Download the Oceanos List Optimizer E Book at http://www.oceanosinc.com/ebook/ to learn about our proprietary software that will enable you to diversify your data investment.

List Optimizer™: Using List Intelligence™ to Optimize Demand Creation

List Intelligence No Responses »

Feb 012012

With the traditional list business undergoing rapid change, so has the Oceanos proprietary List Optimizer™. This application has provided us with a platform to seamlessly query across a few large, crowd sourced databases. As a result, we have been able to improve segmentation and reach for our client’s target audience.

Over the past two years, we have improved the List Optimizer™ so that it is not just a list building query tool but a system of List Intelligence™ processes for optimizing demand creation and database building programs. The new List Optimizer™ includes Business Intelligence and Executive Intelligence suite. The business intelligence suite is powered by Bureau Van Dijk, a leading business intelligence provider tracking firmagraphics and financials on 24 million companies. We have also made significant investments in the areas of competitive intelligence social media and other custom data feeds. The List Optimizer™ executive suite is focused on identifying your ideal contact names from across an expansive network of approved data sources.

With an internal KnowledgeBank capturing seven years of list performance metrics our data strategies are best-in-class. The Business and Executive Intelligence processes can be adapted to help you overcome the challenges of optimizing, growing and maintaining your database. Many organizations, large and small, are not realizing the potential ROI present within their own data nor do they know how to begin the process to sort this out.

To find out how the List Optimizer™ can:

Validate and enhance house records with firmagraphics, job titles, and email addresses
Use custom business intelligence to optimize all types of demand creation and database building programs

Download the updated List Optimizer Ebook at http://www.oceanosinc.com/listoptimizer/

Just released! 2012 Data Acquisition Report

Data Acquisition, List Intelligence No Responses »

Jan 042012

It has been firmly established that data quality has a direct correlation to the success (or failure) of marketing and sales efforts. Data acquisition – the precursor to all database creation – wields tremendous influence over BtoB pipeline quality, campaign effectiveness and ultimately, revenue performance. Marketers are starting to scrutinize data sources, separating reliable feeder channels and methods from the unreliable.

Data acquisition policy and strategy are slowly taking shape. The reality for many marketers is that data acquisition strategy is either inadequate or completely absent and that much list rental/purchase activity is mired in pre-automation practices. However, progressive firms are making breakthroughs using efficient new models of third-party list/contact acquisition. Research indicates that marketers will increase spending on third-party data in 2012.

However in a recent Customer Data Acquisition survey: The Keys to Effective List Management states that ” Despite the rising cost and importance of customer data, only 11% of respondents said they are able to manage it very effectively.” Brian Kardon, Chief Marketing Officer of Eloqua states “The traditional list business is undergoing rapid change. First, there are many new sources and technologies for acquiring names: web scraping, social media, and all forms of inbound marketing are changing the landscape. Second, consumer behavior and attitudes around privacy are changing. Global marketers must understand and comply with regulations that vary by region and country.”

With so many new factors compounding data disarray, marketers are looking for guidance. At Oceanos, we’ve found the four best practices for data acquisition and list building are:

1. Assign ownership of data acquisition and management to a person or team.

2. Have a defined set of attributes for contacts you need to acquire data on – this leads to much more effective and efficient buys.

3. Don’t use a single data source – gather data from a portfolio of sources and this will improve your ROI.

4. If you don’t understand the differences between data sources – or the data acquisition market in general -
use third party expertise to bridge the gap.

For a full report on how new technologies can help reinvent list building with innovative methods for sourcing profitable prospects, download The 2012 Data Acquisition Report at: http://www.oceanosinc.com/data-acquisition-report-2012

Customer Data Acquisition: Best Practices for List Management

Data Acquisition, List Management, Marketing No Responses »

Nov 072011

Excerpt taken from IDC CMO Advisory Survey
Customer Data Acquisition: The Keys to Effective List Management

Customer data management is the foundation of digital marketing and is emerging as an enterprise discipline of its own. The efficiency and effectiveness of customer creation processes are entirely dependent on having accurate, timely and well managed customer data. Therefore it is crucial that every aspect of the customer data management process be designed to deliver the highest data quality possible. At the very front end of the process is list acquisition. We’ve outlined some guidelines and recommendations to help you improve your organization’s efforts to acquire higher quality data faster than ever.

Keys to success:

Create an enterprise customer data policy that articulates:

Who owns which parts of the customer record
The preferred sources for each part of the customer record (approved 3rd party, web/registration forms, sales, finance etc.)
The standard data definitions for customer records
The change/append process
Usage guidelines (contact frequency, messaging mix, lead assignment, etc.)

Establish a Customer Data Advisory Panel with representatives from marketing, sales, finance.

Establish a Customer Data Czar who owns the data and IT resources necessary to standardize customer records across legacy applications.

The customer data acquisition capabilities of today’s marketing tools are extraordinary. We can track digital behavior from forum, blogs, tweets, social media groups, thought leadership websites, as well as responses to our own outbound email and web marketing. With the pervasive use of mobile devices, we are increasingly able to capture retail transactions and geographic data to further inform our contact profiles.

Despite rising costs of data acquisition, marketers are expected to spend an increasing percentage of their marketing budgets on 3rd party customer data. To make the most out of list investments, it is recommended that companies create an enterprise customer data strategy that categorizes customer data by type, source, and timeliness and provides policies for ownership and usage.

However with the importance of customer data and the rising costs, many marketers are unable to manage their data effectively. Key challenges are:

Lack of central authority who owns customer data at an enterprise level
Inconsistent definitions of customer records and key fields within legacy applications (sales/CRM, finance/billing, service, pricing, provisioning and support)
Fragmented usage policies that lack enforcement

It is recommended that companies establish a Customer Data Czar to own the entire “responses to revenue” process and associated data. This role is critical to solving the other two issues, breaking the siloed approach to data structures, and coordinating central versus local use of customer data.

For full report visit: http://oceanosinc.com/idcreport

Diversification: How to Mitigate Risk and Cost for List Acquisition

List Acquisition, List Intelligence No Responses »

Oct 272011

As companies invest heavily in the development of a smooth flowing, continuous sales pipeline, the need to find your audience and engage them with inviting content is critical. But alas, a new challenge has come to the front:

Who has the contacts you need?
Do they have all that you need or just some?
If they have some, how do you get just what you want and need?
If you just take what you need, are you going to pay a premium?
Is this new premium cost going to make targeting your audience an expensive all in gamble that you are willing to take?

There is no single database that will provide you anywhere near full access to your target audience. According to a recent IDC CMO Advisory study, the most frequently used data vendors are Dun & Bradstreet, Hoovers, and Jigsaw. If you have experience with these providers, you know each offer unique strengths and weaknesses. Even combining all three will, in most cases, reach only a portion of a target audience. It’s easy for these providers to position themselves as a complete solution, but you know it’s impossible. To make the analogy to the stock market, would you risk all your retirement assets to one stock? Does Enron or WorldCom sound familiar?

Your list provider should never lock you into any one “guaranteed” data solution. Seek a provider that can provide you access to a diverse portfolio of list sources. Ask your provider who their competitors are? If they site competitive data providers, you might be limiting yourself because they will certainly not include their competitors within your list strategy. Make sure you have the flexibility to adjust to changes in the market. Lastly, ensure that your costs are controlled and your solution provider is focused on the performance metrics that are important to you.

At Oceanos, we deliver List Intelligence™ combined with a data asset allocation model. Our list analysts design diversified list portfolios via our proprietary software, List Optimizer™ and KnowledgeBanks. Our solution leverages only the “prime” cuts of data from mulitiple sources. This combined offering delivers cost certainty and risk mitigation to maximize your return on investment.

For additional information, read our List Intelligence Report at: http://www.oceanosinc.com/listintelligence/

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