ICC Recommends How Marketers can Drive Revenue with Predictive Analytics Next Year

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The proliferation of new data channels and tools which provide keen insight into the mind of the customer make it an exciting time to be a marketer. Predictive analytics combines traditional data such as demographics, household income and category influencers with non-traditional data including tweets, website behavior and click-through rates which provides the CMO and marketing team with a more complete picture of marketing campaign effectiveness. According to marketing experts at ICC, companies can achieve best results when they harness the power of predictive analytics. ICC calls this approach the "confluence of science and creativity" and it is the driving force behind ICC's recent acquisition of Farsite Group.  Farsite together with Clutch, the company's digital marketing agency, is helping brand teams take a unified approach to uncover insight, create unique experiences and drive value.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131121/NY21506LOGO)

"Marketing has become far more sophisticated than it was even just 15 years ago. Take technology as an example. New devices and platforms have given birth to a host of new channels and experiences that present marketers with new ways to create value and engage their target customers," said Patrick Ortlieb, Director of Strategy & Planning, Clutch, a division of ICC. "However, with so many different opportunities, it's often difficult to prioritize tactics and know which ones present the biggest return for the brand or how to harness their potential in a manner relevant to the brand and customer. This is just one way marketing science and predictive analytics can help create a competitive advantage and just one of the many reasons we're so excited to collaborate with Farsite on the digital strategies we create for our clients."

Ortlieb suggests three steps marketers take to improve their marketing department's ability to create insight that drives value.

1. Fight marketing uncertainty with marketing science. It's no secret that the way customers investigate, evaluate, select and engage a brand has evolved considerably over the last 15 years. Now, marketers are faced with so many new channels, platforms and technologies, it's often difficult to confidently know the most efficient way to add value. Fortunately today, organizations have access to their intellectual property, transactions, hits, likes, downloads, and more. Within that data lays new insight and potential competitive advantage.
   
   Unfortunately, that data has to be in the right hands in order to really reduce uncertainty and unlock true market opportunity. This requires introduction of new disciplines such as marketing science and advanced analytics into our organizations to help collect, measure, and interpret data and then predict outcomes in order to help marketers make smarter decisions about their marketing strategy and the tactics they employ.
   
    
2. Ensure insight doesn't get lost in translation. Often organizational structure, geography or vendor relationships preclude the level of collaboration required to really pull an insight through tactical execution. Organizations sometimes silo employees into departments, spread their resources too thinly or simply forget to include those responsible for generating insight in meetings with those responsible for taking the insight to market to create value. The sad reality is that this insight can be misapplied or irrelevant by the time it's leveraged to create value for the customer and the brand.
   
   Having an embedded marketing scientist as a part of the brand team reduces the risk of valuable insight and potential competitive advantage being lost. Insight generation is both art and science. It now requires an organization that can think with both the left and right side of its brain. It takes a marketing team with a combination of both science and creativity capable discovering, conceptualizing, executing and learning together.
   
    
3. Refine and repeat. Including marketing sciences and advanced analytics as a part of your brand teams requires accountability. In other words, marketers need to make sure they are following through and measuring how their campaigns have succeeded. And then that information must be used to learn and improve for the next go-round.

"As organizations follow these guidelines, their marketing models will become tighter and more powerful, their insight will become more applicable and relevant, and most importantly, their brand will become more valuable to their target customers," said Michael Gold, Executive Director, Farsite.

About ICC
ICC (Information Control Company), based in Columbus, Ohio, is a leading provider of enterprise technology solutions. With a staff over 500 highly trained consultants, we are experts in Strategy, User Experience, Visual Design, Engineering, Project Management, Business Analytics and Quality Assurance. Using these skills, we develop and deploy innovative, business-critical solutions that enable Fortune 500 and mid-market organizations to improve operational efficiencies. Our Business, Digital and Technology solutions give our clients a competitive advantage that helps them drive revenues and increase margin.

Clutch Interactive is a world-class digital ad agency inside the walls of ICC. Together, they're a collection of seasoned strategists, user experience specialists, writers, art directors and developers who specialize in the art and science of Interactive Conversations. 

ICC is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and an IBM Premier Business Partner. Clients include Nationwide, Cardinal Health, McGraw Hill, the State of Ohio, and Honda. ICC is committed to serving its clients, community and country by developing U.S.-based leaders who work hard to strengthen the American economy. More information is available at http://www.icctechnology.com.

Media Contacts:
Theresa Hodgson
ICC
[email protected]
614-523-3070 x106
http://www.icctechnology.com

Rich Mullikin
Communication Strategy Group for ICC
[email protected]
866-997-2424
www.communicationstrategygroup.com

SOURCE ICC (Information Control Company)