4 tips on building data-driven online campaigns

Speaking at the Big Data and Digital Innovation conference, Tin-tin Siapno, head of marketing communications at Nestle Hong Kong shares tips on how to use big data to build an online campaign.  She uses the example of Pak Fook, a tofu brand under Nestle.1. Get data by going online and listening to your customersSiapno says that listening to what consumers say about your brand is the first step in the process of creating a digital campaign.“We realised that no one was talking about our brand online.  The information told us that if we wanted to bring in new and younger customers, we needed to do more,“ she said.Upon further research and speaking with customers, the brand found that people were not buying tofu from the brand because they preferred to buy tofu from the wet market rather than the supermarket, they think tofu has no taste, it is a side dish because it is not meat and that many people are too busy to cook and prefer to mix pre-cooked ingredients instead of fresh ones.2. See the consumer as a real person rather than a collection of numbers by connecting the dotsSiapno argues that developing a holistic view of the target customer is important for building an effective online campaign.“Big data is about real consumers, not just numbers,“ she said.  “If you are looking to do anything on digital, after you gather the data, try to look beyond all that information and see the people they represent.  Connect the dots in the data so that you have an idea of the complete person in front of you.“For example, it is easy to find out that customers are too busy to cook or their perceptions about tofu, but if you look at the data points separately, it wouldn't make sense.3. Honesty is the best policy for onlineAuthenticity for Siapno means being clear that the content is branded and keeping negative comments on online videos.“If you do anything digital, don’t be apologetic about your brand.  More people will be annoyed and angry at you if you try to cheat them into thinking it's not advertising,“ she said. “Either you are bold about it or you waste your money on unbranded advertising.  As long as it fits in with the brand and content, it's okay.“She says for the series of One Heart Tofu videos where a guy asks users to submit recipes to help him salvage his relationship with her girlfriend, who loves tofu.“The video is so heavily branded but we never got any comment saying that it’s advertising.  Customers actually saw us trying to appeal to young people and to get them to eat tofu,“ said Siapno.Negative comments also give online content the authenticity that is characteristic of organic content.Siapno said, “Don’t post other comments to put down a negative comment.  Instead, address the comment and you can ask them, 'Can we talk to you offline?'  Do not be afraid of negative comments because that will validate what you are doing.“4. Use digital platforms with clear objectives in mind“Digital is such a hot topic that people will just go digital for the sake of doing so.  You need to have the right framework for digital campaigns to thrive,“ said Siapno.Clear objectives will probably help with pitching digital campaigns to senior management in a city like Hong Kong.  Siapno admits that it is harder to demonstrate the connection between digital and ROI compared to other types of media.She said, “It’s very difficult to relate digital activities to sales, unlike with TV, which is already a very established medium and you can correlate how much you spend on TV with sales.  With online, if you get awareness there, you cannot easily correlate it with sales.“