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I'm officially sick of the term "Big Data." Marketers have access to lots of data—got it. However, Big Data in and of itself doesn't sell more products or services, or make high-value prospects aware of your brand. Big Data is merely the pool in which we swim to target and generate results. Smart data is the spear gun—this is where we need to focus.

As direct response marketers, we think of data in terms of insight to make better decisions that drive to an action.

Smart data breaks into the following categories:

1. Creative optimization

Every creative concept comes from an insight from customer research and/or campaign data. We build a creative approach—based on some form of insight around what a particular target audience is doing, thinking, feeling, responding to, not responding to or is concerned about—to elicit a response.

We start many of our creative exercises with the search for a "wow, I can't believe that" type number. For example, when working with one brand targeted to children, inspiration came after we learned that 97% of kids play video games regularly, but only 33% of kids get regular exercise. A body at rest tends to stay at rest, but a body in motion tends to stay in motion. The brand needed to inspire kids to turn off the games, get up, and get going.

The stats that inspired this brand's communication have nothing to do with Big Data—just smart data.

2. Campaign optimization

Use specific data to plan a campaign, target a specific audience, and optimize media against what is working or not working and testing variants like message, offers, call-to-actions, creative themes, and so on. Doing all that is extremely data-centric and requires a smart approach.

For example, it's possible to optimize a DRTV campaign on the fly. During an eight-week flight, we'll see which markets convert at a higher rate during the initial weeks and focus our media spend there. We can also use response data in our digital buys to harness the ad-serving technology to optimize campaigns in real time. Pre-planning the use of data and optimization is critical in campaign optimization.

3. Conversion optimization

Conversion optimization is a unique data set in and of itself. The data focus here is on getting the customer to take the next logical step using micro actions, calls-to-action, call center optimization, and/or website optimization. There is a heavy reliance on split testing and multivariate testing that requires smart test planning and execution.

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Why Smart Data Is So Much More Important Than Big Data

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Scott Fasser

Scott Fasser is director of Digital Innovation for HackerAgency, a global digital/direct agency based in Seattle.

LinkedIn: Scott Fasser