Turning Complex Data Into Genuine Audience Connections
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How co-creation, offline engagement, and thoughtful targeting can help brands avoid being “creepy”
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This post was created in partnership with Inmar Media
Key takeaways
- Using multiple data sets allows brands to target customers authentically and without breaching boundaries.
- Targeting consumers the good old-fashioned way—aka surveys and directly contacting them—is still integral.
- When your users reach out to you directly with feedback, listen and take action where you can.
Marketing teams can use data to make educated guesses about a target audience’s purchase intent these days, but the standout brands are the ones that go beyond digital insights to form deeper connections.
During an ADWEEK House Possible group chat co-hosted with Inmar Media, panelists discussed how to combine multiple data sources, real-life interactions, and human listening skills to truly understand the motivations and aspirations of audiences while making long-lasting connections.
Building a data-informed audience strategy
Adam Goldsmith, head of agency partnerships and data solutions at Inmar Media, opened the discussion by acknowledging that there are sometimes gaps in what brands know about their audiences.
“Where we’ve seen success for a lot of our clients—and just overall—has been not looking at one single source of data,” Goldsmith said. “When you layer on multiple pieces of data, you’re able to really build a stronger foundation of your audience.”
Mark Bietz, CMO of HalloweenCostumes.com, discussed his company’s use of data and insights to shape creative, which is especially important since his brand is seasonal.
“One thing that shifted in the past couple of years is how good Meta and TikTok have gotten in terms of letting the creative do the targeting for you,” Bietz said.
For example, one of the company’s best customer profiles is Instagram moms who want the best photos and Reels of their family. “They’ll start shopping with us a little bit earlier. And what we do is we start to identify who’s engaging with our ads early on, and then we’ll make ads targeting them directly,” Bietz shared.
The key is to find the right balance of targeted messaging without coming off as “overly creepy,” said Goldsmith.
One way to do this is to talk with customers instead of at them, explained Kelsey Agostinelli, VP of marketing operations at Mars. She cited how its pet food brand Royal Canin aims to bond with pet parents over shared experiences, like training a new puppy or keeping a senior cat healthy.
“If you can co-create with your communities, then you really are personalizing in a way that’s going to be authentic to your brand,” Agostinelli said. “It’s also the co-creation and the building of the brand with your consumers that helps avoid the creepy.”
Leaving room for old-school tactics
Melissa Levy, president of Sparks, pointed out that it’s crucial for brands to recognize that important audience conversations take place offline, too.
“I think we’ve gotten so far away and have relied on the data so much. There’s nothing better than being in that booth and asking people questions, getting their opinions,” she said. “It’s really important to go old school and do some surveys. Make sure that you’re talking to your customers.”
Gregg Molander, senior director of brand experience for AARP, shared an example of how The Ethel, which started as a newsletter to reach women over 60, became an offline community. First, readers began engaging and organizing meetups in an open Facebook group, and AARP took notice.
“We then created a closed Facebook group, and more of these groups have sprung up to the point that they’re doing events in 48 states and D.C.,” shared Molander. “It’s a tremendous example of listening to what our audience is saying, really trying to understand what their needs are, and providing an environment for them to grow and connect with each other.”
Acting on and investing in audience feedback
Hudson Yards Experiences is another organization taking action right now in response to customer feedback, explained Greg Holtzman, the company’s senior director of partnerships and communications. While Edge is universally loved as the highest outdoor sky deck in the western hemisphere, on review sites and in Instagram DMs, customers noted that the indoor part of the experience wasn’t great.
“If it’s raining, and people have to go inside, there’s not much to do,” he explained. As a result, Hudson Yards is now investing millions of dollars into developing a stellar indoor experience and immersive environment to complement Edge’s outdoor fun. “You have to listen, and then you have to invest,” said Holtzman.
So how do you decide on how and when to react to what your audience data—and the audience themselves—is telling you? It requires a specialist to pull it together and make sense of it for brands, said Garrett Dale, chief media officer at Kepler.
“At the end of the day, there’s a little bit of art with it. And now more than ever, there’s a little bit of AI as well that’s helping make sense of a lot of different complex data sets.”
Featured Conversation Leaders
- Kelsey Agostinelli, VP, Marketing Operations, Mars
- Mark Bietz, CMO, HalloweenCostumes.com
- Garrett Dale, Chief Media Officer, Kepler
- Adam Goldsmith, Head of Agency Partnerships and Data Solutions, Inmar Media
- Greg Holtzman, Senior Director, Partnerships and Communications, Hudson Yards Experiences
- Will Lee, CEO, ADWEEK
- Melissa Levy, President, Sparks
- Gregg Molander, Senior Director of Brand Experience, AARP
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