When searching for the right data partner to help your organization optimize its marketing campaigns, it’s easy to get swept up in flashy profiles, glowing resumes, and promises of endless potential and fulfillment.
It’s a lot like online dating.
What seemed like a great match at first glance can lead to a series of awkward meetings and an avalanche of wasted time, energy, and resources — only to dump you right back where you started.
In this article, we’ll explore how to “swipe left” on the pretenders and find the right data partner to help take your marketing campaigns from mediocre to magical.
The Online Profile: Don’t Judge a Data Partner by Their “Picture” Alone
Looks can be deceiving, especially when you meet someone for the first time and realize their profile picture has been heavily, ahem, Photoshopped.
Data companies naturally put their best foot forward in their online marketing materials. They’ll likely claim they can help transform your raw data into structured, accurate insights that will drive your marketing ROI. And they may very well have succeeded with other companies in the past.
But other companies are not YOU, which is why it’s important during initial meetings with potential data partners that you not only learn about their solutions, tools, and platforms they use to clean and integrate data, but also learn if they can help support your organization’s unique needs.
It might not be appropriate to ask someone before accepting a first date if they’ve ever had a relationship with someone similar to you. Or to ask them to explain, in detail, how they handled that experience. It is, however, totally acceptable to ask a potential data partner to describe past experiences they’ve had with companies like yours.
The First Date: Does Your Data Partner Fully Understand Your Needs?
After an initial introduction, you and your potential data partner move on to the first “date” — a meeting or discovery call where you get to know each other better. This is where your potential partner must listen and prove they understand your unique marketing challenges. Then, they should stop selling themselves and talk about how their data solutions can be tailored to suit your organization.
If, for example, you’re a mid-sized company running multi-channel marketing campaigns, your data partner should be able to communicate ideas on how they can integrate disparate data sets (like digital banner engagement, paid search, website analytics, email opens and clicks, social media engagement, and more) into a cohesive customer view within your CRM.
They should paint an easy-to-follow picture of how the partnership will solve your challenges and lead to more successful marketing campaigns.
If your potential partner can’t articulate how they’ll provide meaningful insights with a solution customized to your business model, they may not be worthy of a second date.
The “Exclusivity” Stage: Data Partners Who Deliver Results, Not Just Promises
With dating, you know you’ve found a keeper when the person you’re with makes you a better version of yourself. The same is true with finding the right data partner. You know it’s clicking when the partner provides actionable insights that improve the ROI of your marketing campaigns.
But “honeymoon phases” can wear off in business just as they do in personal relationships.
Suppose you’re several quarters into your relationship with your data partner and you notice they are simply sending you raw numbers to underperforming email campaigns. They’re not providing the same analysis to explore why open rates are low. Is it poor targeting, weak subject lines, or simply bad timing?
The only thing you know is that your data partner is no longer giving you the attention they did when the relationship was new — the attention you deserve.
Here is where it’s time to let your data partner know you feel they aren’t showing the level of commitment they promised.
While a successful data company may have several clients, your organization will likely be exclusive to a single partner. But that does not mean your loyalty is unconditional. So Demand Better Data™, and find a quality data partner who makes you feel as though they only have eyes for you (and your data).
Why Long-Term Relationships with Data Partners Are Worth the Effort
As with any successful relationship, finding the right data partner takes time and effort. You may need to sift through a few bad matches before you find the one that truly complements your organization and helps it grow with success.
By staying true to your organizational values, asking the right questions, and holding your partner accountable to their commitment to deliver structured, accurate data that leads to actionable insights, you’ll find the perfect match that takes you out of the data partner dating pool.
And when you do, you’ll be basking in the glory of better-targeted marketing campaigns that help your organization achieve the kind of data-driven success you’ve always dreamed of.
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