Make your data work for you

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a database strategy that can adapt to your changing business needs.

As with all strategies, you need to answer questions about your business – these could include: Is your database mission-critical? Does it need to be available 24/7? Does the database need to manage a massive amount of data immediately, or will it scale to that level? How specialised or complex is your data? Who will use/benefit from it in your organisation?

Your database strategy has to go beyond just choosing the database supplier; it has to demonstrate an understanding of where and how you are going to use it. Also indicating the type of data, access frequency and level of corporate understanding.

You should also understand that the speed of business could increase as a result of your choice and implementation – can your business infrastructure handle this?

A database strategy should clarify who controls the company’s data model, who defines how data flows through the business and how data sources relate to one another. Ideally database control should be centralised to allow for end-to-end optimisation. This requires insight into the technology, marketing, sales and possibly administration.

A key marketing advantage of a fully integrated database strategy, including various technology components, is the ability to acquire, track and improve on customer data. This data originates from lead generation activities and tracking of prospect or customer behaviour as they interact with the business.

Key to your database strategy – understand your business data

Your database provides the ammunition for marketing decisions and activities, so think about how marketing and sales are likely to interact with the database. Also, the more you understand about your customers, the more you will try to improve on things – your organisation should be flexible to react quickly.

Link it to your CRM activities

Effective customer relationship marketing (CRM) requires a robust database strategy, most likely with multiple layers of technology, and cooperation intra- and intercompany.

With over 25 years CRM and database strategy experience, Jack Marketing Solutions™ can help you maximise the impact of your efforts. Call us today for a quote.

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