Capitalize On Your Data: Think Small

I’ve always been a fan of Lego. By far one of my favorite toys throughout most of my adolescence. As an adult I’ve applauded the way they react to the shift in major trends and technology; but they’ve always stayed true to who they are, brick makers.

After watching the documentary, INSIDE: Lego, on Netflix recently, I became an even bigger fan of this global juggernaut and their marketing style. So when I came across this article in Forbes, highlighting one of their marketing tactics, I just couldn’t resist sharing.  It appears that one of the genius’ behind the brick-by-brick culture, Martin Lindstrom, has unveiled a rather unique approach to how he better understands his audience. Small data.

In Roger Dooley‘s article, Small Data: The Next Big Thing, Lindstrom points out that by studying smaller samples of your target audience, and applying keen intuition, you’ll be able to better understand who they are. Such a simple concept with a powerful result.

This sparks the thought, why not follow his same approach in any industry? Lindstrom points out that we often miss the mark with little details because we aren’t fully present. Scratch that – we aren’t present, period.  Whether it’s at home, in the office, watching television or in–transit, we are always ‘on’ and always multitasking. With a love of technology at our fingertips we really aren’t paying much attention to anything aside from what’s in our hands.

So the first step to try and mirror just a piece of Lindstrom’s success is to follow his advice of being present. You can’t be fully present and think creatively until you’re bored. My suggestion is start with a small focus group. Whether this encompasses your employees and current customers, or perhaps a mix of prospective customers; get a dynamic group of your ideal audience together and focus on one particular product or service. Break it out from the flaws to the benefits. But the key here is pay attention. Consider what the members of you group have to say, and how they say it.

Take the actual data you already have now; your email database, your social media followers and your active everyday customers, and really look at the information in front of you. You’d be surprised how many trends you’ll find in the data you’ve already got.

Or take your work straight to the customer. Find your ideal audience in their natural setting – at work, at home, on their commute. Being present during these moments when it’s more natural will truly bring about trends and traits that you can capitalize on in your marketing and production. You have the technology to now reach your ideal prospects at moments they are most likely to consider you. But it’s not going to work if you don’t understand who that audience is.

There is always a deeper dive but just think that by starting small and really being present in your observations, you can allow yourself to uncover so much more about who your audience truly is. As with all of your marketing efforts in 2016, you can’t be successful if you don’t know who you’re marketing to.

If you’re looking for more information on how to capitalize your data, then let’s chat!