The transformational shift across the industry of printing firms expanding into value-based marketing services is bolstering the need for service providers to acquire technology, talent, and ultimately competence in data-driven, cross-media marketing. While not all companies can (or should) make that transformation, those that decide to go down that path need to have vision, well-defined objectives, and a strategy to ultimately reach the desired end-result. Many times we talk about that end-result as a provider offering "solutions" to marketers. If you're offering a "solution", that inherently means you're trying to solve a problem. That begs the question: what problems do marketers have that you're trying to solve for them?

A continuing pain point for marketers of all sizes is dealing with data. There's a reason why service providers are finding success with complex personalized communications applications that leverage data mining and analytics. Data services and solutions that truly address the needs of the marketer, if executed well, can lead to new adjacent and white space opportunities for print and marketing service providers. So what do those needs consist of and how can they be met?

Data integrity, acquiring external data, and mining & analyzing data are the top three data-related challenges marketers currently face.

InfoTrends conducted an in-depth study of over 500 marketers and their use of cross-media direct marketing last year. One of the key areas we explored was the current state of data utilization for cross-media marketing purposes. Looking at the Figure below, we see that marketers have a wealth of data that can be leveraged for targeted, personalized marketing. Contact information is almost a given for any marketing organization; things like account history and additional personal or business demographics add a great deal of additional perspective on customers, especially when leveraged for marketing purposes. In other words, marketers have a trove of data, but they face issues when trying to utilize it.