Is Your Data Ready For AI?

Is Your Data Ready For AI?

A 2025 survey of data, BI and analytics trends across 1,795 business technology leaders has been released, and whilst there are some surprises in the placement of some of the trending topics, the top four are wholly what you’d expect given the emergence of AI over the last year or so.

On a rating of 0 (not important at all) to 10 (very important), tech leaders were presented with and asked to rate twenty different technology trends that they’d be, at some point, asked by their businesses to consider.

The Trends

In alphabetical order, these trends were: –

Advanced analytics/ML/AI

Cloud for data & analytics

Data & AI literacy

Data catalogs & data intelligence platf.

Data governance

Data lakehouse

Data mesh

Data Ops & Observability

Data prep. by business users

Data products

 

Data quality mgmt.

Data security & privacy

Data warehouse modernization

Data-driven culture

Decision intelligence

Embedded BI & analytics

Generative AI for data & analytics

Integr. platforms for PM & analytics

Real-time analytics & streaming

Self-service analytics & Data disc.

So, what were the top trends?

‘Unsurprisingly, data security & privacy came in top, with data quality management second, data-driven culture third, and data governance in fourth.

An important placement in the trends list for me to mention is data & AI literacy coming in at fifth.

What does this tell us?

Despite being listed in fifth place, AI is without question the hottest topic in tech all over the world right now, but most business don’t know how to implement it. Questions arise like ‘what’s it going to do for us? How best do we utilise it? If we don’t deploy it quickly, will we lost ground to our competitors that do?’.

These are all valid questions, but one thing has to be considered before you can effectively use AI:

How good is our data?

Why are the top four in the survey the top four?

Because each of them is vitally important to ensuring that you get the right output from anything AI related.

The adage is of course “you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out”.

One of the main pillars of AI is Large Language Models (LLM), which is designed to understand and generate human-like text responses based on vast amounts of data.

So, if your data isn’t accurate, you’re setting yourself up for a fall off the bat. You’ll be inundated with swathes of information generated, some of which is used to make business critical decisions, and it may very well be the rubbish we just spoke about.

The Top Four

Looking at the top four trends, let’s quickly summarise why they’re considered the most important for these tech leaders.

Data Security and Privacy

In the context of AI, this is one of the most important elements. When I start feeding these machine learning models with our business data, who’s going to see it? A robust security and privacy policy needs to be implemented to ensure that data remains safe and secure.

Data Quality Management

Data quality is crucial for AI because high-quality data ensures the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of AI models. Poor data quality can lead to biased, incorrect, or unreliable outcomes, which can negatively impact decision-making and trust in AI systems. Essentially, the better the data, the better the AI’s performance and results.

Data-Driven Culture

Put simply, everyone needs to be on the bus for AI to work. If you have an Operations department that are putting up a fight in adopting a data-driven culture, they may be lapse in conforming to the rest of the business’ policies of correct data entry, which ultimately skews the results of these AI models.

Data Governance

This is the framework of policies and procedures that ensures data is managed effectively, remains high-quality, secure, and compliant with regulations. Everything from making sure the data is accurate, to tracking its lineage, to complying with GDPR policies of data handling.

With each of these trends set out, we can now see why they are paramount for businesses, especially through an AI lens.

How JetStream can help

JetStream is our first-party data cleanroom, which cleans, enhances, and appends useful third-party information to B2C businesses customer data.

And it speaks to each of the four top trends specifically.

From a data security and privacy standpoint, JetStream uses pseudonymous match keys, meaning that no one outside of your business sees the underlying data. No more sending enormous data files to bureaus once a month to make sure it’s up to date (which JetStream does in near real-time at millions of records processed per minute).

Data Quality is ensured in exactly the same way. If you have deceased customers on your database, JetStream notifies you and flags them immediately, and it does the same for customers who have moved home.

Data Governance is ensured by standardising your customer data and filling in the gaps, ensuring that an AI model isn’t going to misinterpret free text information that is held in your records. This is also a safety net on the Data-Driven Culture aspect as well. If you have customer data that isn’t being captured across the business in a uniformed fashion, JetStream fixes it virtually instantly and brings it in line with your preferred formats.

In Summary

Make sure your data is good before you trust what AI is telling you. It’s as simple as that.

AI is becoming more and more accessible to every business, not just the global enterprises, so get your data ducks in a row before you embark on your AI journey.

Speak to us about how JetStream can get you ready.

 

By Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Get in touch with The Ark

Home Movers – The Perfect Marketing Target In A Challenging Business Environment

Home Movers – The Perfect Marketing Target In A Challenging Business Environment

Navigating Economic Challenges with Strategic Marketing

The UK economy has been navigating turbulent waters following the most recent Labour budget. The budget, introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has been marked by significant increases in public spending, financed through tax hikes and higher borrowing.

While these measures aim to bolster public services and long-term economic growth, many companies are feeling the pinch due to squeezed profit margins and increased operational costs.

As businesses grapple with these economic challenges, the focus has shifted towards retaining existing customers and acquiring new ones to sustain growth and profitability.

One promising strategy for businesses is to target home movers. This demographic represents a unique and lucrative market segment, offering numerous opportunities for businesses to expand their customer base and enhance loyalty.

Why Home Movers Are an Ideal Target

  1. High Purchase Intent: Home movers are often in the process of setting up their new homes, which means they have a high intent to purchase a wide range of products and services. From furniture and appliances to home improvement services and utilities, their needs are extensive and immediate.
  2. Life Transition: Moving homes is a significant life event that often prompts changes in consumer behaviour and brand preferences. This makes home movers more open to trying new brands and services, providing businesses with a prime opportunity to capture their attention and loyalty.
  3. Increased Spending: The process of moving and setting up a new home typically involves substantial spending. Home movers are likely to invest in home décor, renovation projects, and other services that enhance their living space, making them a valuable target for businesses across various industries.
  4. Referral Potential: Satisfied home movers can become powerful advocates for your brand. Their positive experiences can lead to word-of-mouth referrals, helping businesses to organically grow their customer base.

Strategies to Effectively Target Home Movers

With decades of experience in marketing to home movers, we are well placed to help businesses target the home mover audience to generated exceptional results and ROI.  The following are some of the ways in which we can assist to get the very best from your home mover campaign.

  1. Personalised Marketing Campaigns: Tailor your marketing messages to address the specific needs and pain points of home movers. Highlight how your products or services can make their transition smoother and more enjoyable.
  2. Timing Your Campaign: Putting your offer in front of home movers at a time when they are ready to buy dramatically increases the chances of a successful outcome.  Too early or too late means the difference between failure and success.
  3. Targeted Digital Advertising: Utilise data-driven advertising strategies to reach home movers online as well as by Direct Mail. Platforms like social media and search engines allow for precise targeting based on location, behaviour, and interests and can increase response and sales dramatically when used in conjunction with a direct mail campaign.
  4. Loyalty Programs: Develop loyalty programs that reward home movers for their purchases and encourage repeat business. Offering incentives such as discounts on future purchases or referral bonuses can help build long-term relationships.
  5. Content Marketing: Create valuable content that addresses the challenges and needs of home movers. Blog posts, videos, and guides on topics like moving tips, home organisation, and interior design can position your brand as a helpful resource.

By focusing on home movers, businesses can tap into a dynamic and receptive market segment. This approach not only helps in retaining existing customers and acquiring new ones but also in building lasting relationships that drive sustained growth, even in challenging economic times.

For more information on our Home Mover Data Marketing services please see here or feel free to get in touch below.

Get in touch today!

Comparing the Effectiveness of Direct Mail, Email, and Programmatic Marketing Channels in the UK

Comparing the Effectiveness of Direct Mail, Email, and Programmatic Marketing Channels in the UK

When it comes to going to market, businesses have a variety of channels to choose from. Among these, direct mail, email, and programmatic marketing stand out for their unique strengths and capabilities. Today I’m going to explore the effectiveness of each channel within the UK market, focusing on coverage, accuracy of targeting, cost, measurability, engagement, and overall performance.

 

Other marketing channels such as SMS and outbound telemarketing are available, however these are tightly regulated, requiring unambiguous consent to be in place, which all but rules them out for prospecting.  They also are more intrusive than other marketing channels and for the purpose of this article we have excluded them from the comparison.

Coverage

Direct Mail: Direct mail has a broad reach across the UK, effectively targeting specific geographic areas and demographics. It is particularly effective in reaching older demographics who may not be as active online.

Email Marketing: Email marketing offers extensive coverage, with a high penetration rate in the UK. It allows businesses to reach a wide audience instantly, making it a powerful tool for both B2B and B2C marketing.

Programmatic Marketing: Programmatic marketing leverages automated technology to purchase ad space in real-time across various digital platforms. This ensures wide coverage, reaching users across websites, social media, and mobile apps.

Accuracy of Targeting

Direct Mail: Direct mail can be highly targeted using data on demographics, purchasing behaviour, triggers (such as moving home or having a baby) and geographic location. Datasets like our UK Household File and NetZero File provide precise targeting options which are fully compliant with GDPR.

Email Marketing: Where available, businesses can segment their email lists based on user behaviour, preferences, and past interactions, ensuring personalised and relevant content. 

Programmatic Marketing: By leveraging data and machine learning, programmatic can target users based on their online behaviour, demographics, and psychographics, ensuring ads are shown to the right audience at the right time. 

Cost

The cost of direct mail, email and programmatic channels are very different, but so is the ROI. 

Using a marketing channel just because it is cheap(er) doesn’t mean it delivers a better ROI and can be a false economy.  It is important to consider and understand what the cost of each channel is and how targeted your campaign will be as both of these directly affect ROI.  Using a higher cost channel to achieve a greater ROI sometimes makes better sense than spending a lower amount on a poorly performing campaign. 

You should also consider whether a combination of marketing channels works better than relying solely on one option (as explained below). 

Direct Mail: Direct mail is more costly due to printing, postage, and distribution expenses. However, it very often yields a high return on investment (ROI), especially when targeting specific demographics.  Collaboration mailing packs such as our Moooove home mover pack (where costs are shared between two or more brands) bring down the price of a mailing to a fraction of the cost of a postage stamp, making this a very cost-effective option for companies. 

Email Marketing: Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective channels. The cost is primarily associated with email marketing software and list management. 

Programmatic Marketing: Programmatic marketing can be cost-effective due to its real-time bidding system, which ensures that ad spend is optimised. However, costs can vary based on the competitiveness of the target audience and ad placements. 

Measurability

Direct Mail: Measuring the effectiveness of direct mail can sometimes be a challenge, however, tracking mechanisms like QR codes, personalised URLs, and unique discount codes can help gauge response rates.   Additionally, businesses can match mailing files to recent customer orders / sign-ups and precisely calculate conversion to sale and ROI.

Email Marketing: Email marketing offers robust measurability. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates provide clear insights into campaign performance.

Programmatic Marketing: Programmatic marketing excels in measurability. Real-time data and analytics allow marketers to track impressions, clicks, conversions, and ROI, enabling continuous optimisation.

Engagement & Trust

Direct Mail: Studies show that direct mail helps companies to get a 95% engagement rate on average, due to its tangible nature. Recipients are more likely to remember and act on physical mail, especially when it includes personalised content.  When it comes to privacy, millennials fear digital methods more and find direct mail safer and more secure, with 33% of customers considering it trustworthy compared to only 16% for email.  Direct mail also helps drive online activity, with 70% of customers motivated to complete a task online after receiving offline mail. 

Email Marketing: Email marketing can sometimes achieve high engagement rates, particularly when emails are personalised and relevant, but it rarely performs as well as direct mail, being considered less personal and less trustworthy. It can also suffer from issues like spam filters and email fatigue.   

Programmatic Marketing: Programmatic marketing can drive significant engagement by delivering relevant ads to users. The use of dynamic creative optimisation ensures that ads are tailored to individual preferences and behaviours, although this does depend on the underlying data used, which needs to be both accurate and comprehensive.  Where data isn’t available ads can be targeted at entirely the wrong audience, creating confusion and potentially impacting brand reputation. 

Performance

Direct Mail: Direct mail remains effective for reaching specific demographics and creating a lasting impression. Its high engagement rates and tangible nature make it a valuable channel.  74% of marketers report getting the best ROI through direct mail compared to the other channels.  It is an eye-opening percentage since many companies think direct mail still is dead. It also means it is easier to convince people to purchase from your brand using an offline, personalised channel instead of sending thousands of bulk emails.  

Email Marketing: Email marketing is a versatile channel with extensive reach and robust measurability. It is particularly effective for nurturing customer relationships and driving conversions, particularly when used in combination with a direct mail campaign. 

Programmatic Marketing: Programmatic marketing stands out for its targeting, cost-effectiveness, and real-time optimisation. It is highly effective for reaching a broad audience with personalised ads, making it a key component of modern digital marketing strategies, but again it should be considered alongside other marketing channels, particularly for certain age groups, where direct mail is the preferred marketing channel. 

Multi-channel Performance

On the face of it Programmatic and email channels represent the most cost-effective way to communicate with customers and prospects however, very often a combination of marketing channels works far better than relying on one channel in isolation.

For example, our broadband clients have achieved conversion to sale of 10% using direct mail to target home movers.  The addition of targeted emails to the same households increased conversion to over 18%, demonstrating that a multi-channel approach dramatically increases awareness, conversion and ROI, for a very modest increase in the marketing spend.

Additionally, the age of the target audience and their engagement with direct mail, email and programmatic channels should be considered.  For example, if the majority of your customers are 65 or older a direct mail campaign is highly likely to produce a better ROI than an email or programmatic communication will. 

The type of the product or service being communicated can be also an important factor, where some channels lend themselves better to certain products and services. 

For all these reasons an open-mind and test and learn approach to multi-channel marketing will produce the best results and highest ROI.

Conclusion

Each marketing channel—direct mail, email, and programmatic—has its unique strengths and can be highly effective when used strategically. Direct mail excels in engagement and creating a lasting impression, across all age groups but particularly the 65 plus audienceEmail marketing offers extensive reach, and programmatic marketing provides precision targeting and real-time optimisation. By understanding the strengths of each channel, UK businesses can craft integrated marketing strategies that maximise their impact and drive success. 

 

by Martin Jaggard – Director at The Ark

Want to find out how a multi-channel approach can help your business?

Combating Customer Churn Using Data

Combating Customer Churn Using Data

Retaining customers is more crucial than ever. A recent report highlights key strategies for reducing customer churn, emphasising the importance of leveraging appended data to enhance customer records. This article will summarise the report’s findings and explore how appending data and enhancing it can help businesses maintain a loyal customer base.

The Report’s Findings

Summary of the Report’s Findings

Data-driven marketing strategies are a top priority for UK professionals in the coming year, with nearly two-thirds identifying first-party datasets as a key goal for 2025. The focus is primarily on using customer data for retention rather than acquisition, with reducing churn being the most pressing issue. This is one of the key findings from the fifth iteration of AudienceXpress’ Streaming TV Uncovered study, conducted by CoLab Media Consulting.

The report reveals a positive outlook for marketing budgets, with optimism increasing for the second consecutive year. UK companies are leading their European counterparts in gathering customer data, driven by the uncertainty around things like third-party cookies and the fragmented audience identity ecosystem. This push aims to increase loyalty through more targeted and informed advertising.

Key insights include:

  • Increased Use of Data Clean Rooms: About 30% of UK marketers plan to use data clean rooms, like The Ark’s JetStream, to share and append aggregated first-party data in 2025
  • Focus on Campaign Effectiveness: Investing in campaign effectiveness measurement is a priority for a third of marketers
  • Streaming and Connected TV Investment: Nearly half of UK marketers want to increase spending on streaming and connected TV, with significant interest in free, ad-supported TV channels

The Power of Enhanced First-Party Data for Reducing Customer Churn

Appending data to existing customer records can provide businesses with a wealth of information that helps in understanding and anticipating customer, and ultimately the power to keep them as customers.

Here are some ways in which appended data can be beneficial:

  1. Understand when your customer is moving home: The Ark’s Mover Alerts notify companies when a customer has put their house up for sale or rent. This information is crucial as it allows businesses to proactively reach out to customers offering relevant products or services that cater to their new circumstances and retain their business
  2. Understand where and how your customer lives: The Ark’s UK Household File includes over 100 variables about a customer’s property, such as house type, total income, and propensity to adopt Net Zero products. This detailed information helps businesses tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to better match customer profiles, increasing engagement and satisfaction
  3. Data Hygiene: Keeping first-party data clean is essential for effective customer relationship management. Removing deceased customers and those who have moved away ensures that communications are directed to the right individuals, reducing wasted resources and improving the accuracy of customer insights and retention statistics.

Be Proactive

By appending data such as Mover Alerts and the UK Household File to existing customer records, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customers and respond more effectively to their needs. This proactive approach not only helps in reducing customer churn but also enhances overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

By Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Get in touch to speak to us about reducing your customer churn today

Breaking Down Data Silos: Achieving a Single Customer View with JetStream

Breaking Down Data Silos: Achieving a Single Customer View with JetStream

Organisational constraints such as siloed data and technology continue to hinder senior marketers.

This is according to a recent report by Merkle (part of Dentsu’s annual CMO Navigator Report), which found that two-thirds of CMOs admit their companies still struggle with orchestration across marketing, media, and customer experience. This challenge persists despite the vast opportunities presented by new technologies like artificial intelligence.

The report, which surveyed over 1,900 CMOs across 13 countries, highlights a critical issue: while CMOs are eager to leverage new digital capabilities and emerging customer behaviours, they often feel unsteady about their organisation’s digital maturity. Instead of overhauling their tech stacks, many CMOs are focusing on extracting more value from existing capabilities and making highly targeted investments in technology, partners, and growth strategies.

 

“More than half of the CMOs are looking to new strategies to navigate forward, with a growing trend of prioritising customer experience (CX)”

Only a quarter of CMOs are heavily investing in digital transformation efforts, indicating a significant need for technologies that maximise data utilisation. More than half of the CMOs are looking to new strategies to navigate forward, with a growing trend of prioritising customer experience (CX). As they transform existing processes and data, CMOs remain optimistic about the future, with an overwhelming majority expecting marketing budget increases to support further AI adoption and more impactful customer experiences.

This is where JetStream, a revolutionary solution from The Ark, comes into play. JetStream is a cloud-based data matching platform designed to break down these silos and enhance customer experience by creating a Single Customer View (SCV).

Here’s how JetStream addresses the key challenges faced by CMOs:

Single Customer View

JetStream standardises and anonymises different customer data sets within the same organisation’s ecosystem. By consolidating disparate data sources into a unified view, JetStream ensures that all customer interactions and data points are accurately matched and integrated. This comprehensive view allows CMOs to understand their customers better and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

GDPR Compliance

JetStream operates within a ‘Data Clean Rooms’ environment, where sensitive data derived from unique identifiers, such as emails and names, can be leveraged while preserving privacy. This allows customer data to be matched without exposing any personally identifiable information (PII), ensuring compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations. This secure approach builds customer trust and maintains data integrity.

Highly Accurate Data Matching

JetStream simplifies the complexities of matching customer names and addresses to third-party data sets. It deals with poorly formatted data and varying levels of data accuracy and completeness, providing a consistent and highly accurate match every time. This ensures that CMOs can trust the data they are working with, leading to more effective marketing strategies and customer interactions.

Proactive Alerts

JetStream provides near real-time alerts as changes occur within your customer data. This proactive approach allows CMOs to act fast and anticipate customer needs, enhancing the overall customer experience and enabling more timely and relevant marketing efforts.

Super-Fast Processing

With JetStream, there’s no need for monthly batch processing. The platform offers near real-time processing and matching, eliminating the need to export and transfer customer data every month. This speed and efficiency enable CMOs to stay agile and responsive in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

 

By leveraging JetStream, organisations can overcome the barriers of siloed data and technology, enabling a more cohesive and effective customer experience strategy. As CMOs continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, tools like JetStream provide the necessary insights and capabilities to drive meaningful engagement and growth.

 

by Steve Clarke – Commercial Director at The Ark

Want to know more about breaking down data silos?