Data is awesome, but data by itself is not enough. Data by itself can actually be overwhelming. You need data + a lot of other things and hopefully, this will help you understand what you need and what happens when you don't have it all in one place.

1. DATA (BY ITSELF)
IS NOT ENOUGH
DEVELOPED BY: CORY TREFFILETTI
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY ON DATA…

2. LET ME BEGIN BY
SAYING, SIMPLY,
I LOVE DATA.

3. HOWEVER…WE OPERATE IN
THE DATA-CENTRIC WORLD
OF ADVERTISING, AND WE
NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
DATA IS NOT THE SOLUTION.
AT LEAST NOT BY ITSELF.

4. DATA BY ITSELF CAN ACTUALLY CREATE
MORE CHALLENGES THAN IT SOLVES
• What is my data strategy?
• What do I do with the data?
• Which data is the most important for me to use?
• What companies should I work with for data?
• What’s the difference between data management and activation?
• Do I have the right people to manage/activate the data?
• Do I even know what data I have access to?
And a whole litany of additional questions that you are inevitably
being tasked to deal with every single day in your role.

5. YOU NEED MORE THAN
DATA. YOU NEED DATA +

6. DATA +
• Strategy (for how to unify data and make it actionable)
• Technology (to harness the power of data and activate it)
• Insights (into the motivations of your audience)
• Expertise (in a category, in analytics, in the use of data)
• Content (that can deliver a message of value)
• Measurement (to prove the value of the data)
• Time (to optimize, to improve, to generate results)

7. DATA + STRATEGY
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Strategy is an intangible word, but
one that acts like glue when it comes
to data. A strategy is a roadmap,
enabling you react proactively by
establishing a plan. With a plan, you
create vision and with vision you
g e n e r a t e b u y - i n a c r o s s t h e
enterprise. This leads to testing,
which leads to innovation and
e v e n t u a l s u c c e s s .
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4
5

8. DATA + TECHNOLOGY
D M P
Technology is the foundation of how
you will use data and harness it for
your needs. Technology at an
enterprise level is what makes the
use of data feasible. The technology
c o m e s i n a n u m b e r o f n e w
acronyms, some of which may not
make very much sense, but getting
to know how to use technology is
k e y t o s u c c e s s .
D S P
D C M
D O D
I P A
M I A

9. DATA + INSIGHTS
K n o w n U n k n o w nThe knowledge gap between them…
Data enables you to close the gap between the
unknown audience and the known audience.
When you know the audience, you can generate
insights and the more insights you have the more
you can personalize the message to them and
d r i v e R O I .

10. DATA + EXPERTISE
Knowledge
Experience
Understanding how to use
data is not enough. You
need practical experience
within key verticals and with
specific use cases in order
to generate results. Just
because you read a book
on car racing doesn’t mean
y o u c a n r a c e a c a r.

11. DATA + CONTENT
Data + content is the formula that bridges the world of paid,
owned and earned media. Data is the new media and content
is the new creative. Without data, your media is ineffective
and without content, your creative will not resonate.
B r a n d Consumer
D a t a
C o n t e n t

12. DATA + MEASUREMENT
R e s u l t s
Simply put, if you can’t
m e a s u r e t h e
effectiveness of your
strategy, then you are
wasting your time. Data
goes into your efforts to
create efficiency, but
data comes out to prove
the value, so measure it.
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13. DATA + TIME
And hey – Rome wasn’t built in a day. To
transform your marketing you need time. Time
enables you to get the right people and processes
in place, along with the right data, the right
technology, the right expertise, the right
partnerships, the right content and the right
m e a s u r e m e n t .

14. DATA + (X) = RESULTS

15. BONUS THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…
OPTIMIZATION IS EASY
It’s simple to optimize singular interactions with consumers
based on data. You can easily and readily know a little about
almost everyone you encounter in the digital landscape and
optimize the delivery of a creative message based on that
data.

16. CREATING RELATIONSHIPS…
THAT’S HARD WORK
The difficult part of being a marketer today lies in
recognizing your consumer across multiple channels
and devices, creating a rapport that is built off a
common understanding and using that understanding
to establish a trust resulting in a relationship, which
creates loyalty. Trust creates loyalty and loyalty creates
sales.

17. BRANDS TOO OFTEN TAKE THE
EASY WAY OUT WHEN TRYING TO
ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP
Just like in real life, there are many different kinds of
relationships and some are disingenuous. Some are
desperate. Some are one-sided. Brands can create bad
relationships just as much as any inter-personal pairing.

18. IT’S NICE
TO MEET
YOU…
OMG – WE
ARE GOING
TO BE BEST
FRIENDS!!!
Needy, desperate,
simply too much.
When a brand
repeatedly
“blitzes” a
prospect with the
same
transactional
messaging over
and over.
Trying to get them
to “convert now”!!

19. IT’S NICE TO
MEET
YOU…AGAIN
.
WAIT…
HAVE WE
MET? WHO
ARE YOU
AGAIN?
WHAT’S
YOUR
NAME?
WHAT ARE
YOU INTO?
Oblivious,
inconsiderate.
When a brand
doesn’t use data
to identify their
customers when
they see them,
across any device,
channel or
platform.
They treat every
interaction like it’s
the very first time.

20. OMG. I HAVE
GOT TO TELL
YOU ALL
ABOUT WHAT
I DID TODAY!!
LOL… IT IS
AWESOME!!
LETS TALK
ABOUT ME.
ENOUGH
ABOUT ME…
WHAT DO YOU
THINK ABOUT
ME?? OMG –
BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH
BLAH…
One-sided
conversation.
When a brand
doesn’t offer a
truly reciprocal
value. Ask
questions. Listen
and learn about
the audience.
Don’t just talk at
them – engage
them in a
conversation.

21. DON’T BE A BAD MARKETER.
Build a strategy for using data, generate insights,
implement technology and do all the other things
mentioned herein so your marketing performs better.
(your customers will love you for it)