Every business wants to increase revenue, but in order to do that it is important to find hidden opportunity and risk. At Equifax, we’ve been exploring how a range of market dynamics can affect consumers and businesses in different ways, to better understand what it means for marketing strategies.

In our June 9 Market Pulse webinar, “Finding Hidden Opportunity and Risk with Data-driven Marketing” I sat down with Todd Hoover, SVP of Marketing Sales at Equifax, and Chase Miller, EVP, Strategy & Corporate Development & GM Digital at Claritas. We discussed data-driven marketing and how marketers can better understand and target customers effectively based on the current economic environment.

Hoover and Miller shared some insight and addressed some key questions on sharpening marketing efforts.

And, for more insight from our experts Todd Hoover and Chase Miller, as well as our other presenters you can watch our webinar here, and register for upcoming webinars here. 

As a marketer, how do I understand who is continuing to spend, save, or invest in this economy? How should I be thinking about data and data quality I am using in prospecting?

Todd Hoover: We are all trying to find new audiences. We need to get more granular in how we identify those. Historically, we have thought about audiences, especially with financial products, around credit and income, but what really becomes key here is that spending power. That helps us tighten and get more precise. Spending power is that discretionary amount that exists for the consumer. And if you want them to take on more products, or use your products, you've got to have a handle on that. When you do that, and you marry that to credit and income, which are key components of financial or economic capacity, those things start to intersect. 

Chase Miller: We also have the luxury of recent observation. We have a recent period of data where you can look to see who has continued to engage with your brand. And you can use that as a proxy for who you should market to as we enter another downturn. We have clients using this to drive data-driven planning now, as they expect to pull back from marketing spend in the foreseeable future.

Many marketers think about consumers just as individuals. Why does thinking about the household matter?

Todd Hoover: A household is where the economic and financial capacity exists. What we're talking about on this webinar is not about selling a big banner getting somebody to buy cereal. We are actually talking about creating a financial relationship with them and having a long-term relationship with them too. We want to be there for them and for them to return business to us. That is taken in totality in the household. That does not mean you should not gear the message to the individual, but from a financial capacity perspective, think about the wider household. A car purchase is a great example. It's normally a household decision, even if someone in the household goes and buys it without letting the other individual know. 

Chase Miller: To Todd’s point when looking at the household in totality, the way our clients have approached that household-level marketing is almost like account based marketing. You have the decision maker, the influencer, and the stakeholders. Covering all those bases at the household level and crafting the message based on the role within the household is more effective marketing to execute for clients. 

We saw earlier during our poll question in the webinar, one of marketers’ priorities is activating current customers. How can marketers find growth opportunities within their base?

Todd Hoover: This gets back to our earlier discussion on inflation and spending power. I am a little in awe with my recent fill ups at the gas station. I am definitely hoping this will change. These things for consumers have a huge impact. It is important to look at who we have on the books and how we can further engage with them. We have the CPA costs on the books, so it’s important to get individuals engaged and get them utilizing your products. Lifetime value of your consumers is important as well. It is important to get in front of people who, when they have the financial capacity, can buy your product. 

And let’s not forget about the customers who may be in a down cycle or who have a financial buoyancy coming that we haven’t seen yet. How do we get in front of them, so we’re front and center on the brand? So, when they do have that increase in capacity they think about us first.

Chase Miller: That’s a great point and one some of the work we’ve done recently with clients is around predicting next-best products, to be more precise with cross-sell and upsell. Back to your point about CPA, we are seeing those costs increase. So, increasing precision in how you’re acquiring customers is key. It’s important to predict who will have the ability to be your next best customer over time.  You can build your brand with them now, so they will transact with you when they can.

What are you hearing from customers about how they are changing marketing in today’s economy? WWhat are people paying more attention to? What are they dialing up and dialing down? 

Chase Miller: The indication we have from our agency and publisher clients, who see the intersection of ad spend, is they are looking at issuing fewer RFPs, or receiving fewer insertion orders on the publisher side starting mid-Q3 and going forward. So, they are seeing or expecting a slow down in overall ad spend. But, where we see an increase in focus is around what is measuring well and what is not right now. 

The other area that we're seeing increased attention on is more precision targeting. Finding the folks who have the ability to spend now who will continue to transact even as a market declines, and being laser focused on that group. 

It's important that the younger population millennials are the highest media consumption cohort in the market and being in front and center with these customers with your marketing messaging across channels offline and online at the front of the online channels is important to stay top of mind, cut through the competitive noise, retain that base and acquire the high value customers in the near term that you can.

For more information and insights on data-driven marketing, the U.S. Economy and the latest consumer credit trends, download our presentation deck or watch our June 9 webinar recording. Also, stay tuned for an upcoming Market Pulse podcast with Chase Miller from Claritas, as we continue the conversation. And if you would like to attend our next Market Pulse webinar on how student loans are impacting the consumer wallet, you can register here.

 

 

* The opinions, estimates and forecasts presented herein are for general information use only. This material is based upon information that we consider to be reliable, but we do not represent that it is accurate or complete. No person should consider distribution of this material as making any representation or warranty with respect to such material and should not rely upon it as such. Equifax does not assume any liability for any loss that may result from the reliance by any person upon any such information or opinions. Such information and opinions are subject to change without notice. The opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published herein represent the views of the presenters as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Equifax or its management.