DUP-Unternehmermagazin interviewed Managing Director Sylvia Türcke about the digitalization of sales and marketing and why AI doesn’t work without data.

DUP UNTERNEHMER-Magazin: From direct marketing to a customer data platform – how did the company manage this transformation?

Sylvia Türcke: We have translated our product range into the digital world. We have continuously developed our customer data platform “udo” – short for “universal data orchestration”. This also included a structural adjustment within the company, which triggered change processes. It is important to communicate transparently. A clear roadmap and its consistent implementation are the key to success for such a change.

What distinguishes “udo” from other CDPs?

Sylvia Türcke: “udo” is a combination of data value management and a customer data platform with new potential and consists of four stages. The first stage takes care of the database. While other platforms use the data as they find it, our CDP merges and cleanses data from various systems. In the second stage, the customer data is enriched with valuable additional information from the Schober data universe. As a result, “udo” offers broader analysis options – which leads us to the third stage: A deeper database is a veritable playground for machine learning algorithms. Also a USP of “udo”. AI simply doesn’t work well without data. In combination with the data universe, these analyses form the basis for stage four: this is where new customer campaigns are carried out via various channels or existing customer communication is automated.

The path to digitalization is fraught with challenges for many companies.
What typical difficulties do your customers encounter and how do you support them in overcoming them?

Sylvia Türcke: Digitalization is on everyone’s lips and the need for it is being exacerbated by the shortage of skilled workers in many areas. However, many companies don’t know where to start. It is clear that processes should be digitalized – for example in the sales and marketing area. However, many then stumble over their own data landscape. This is because data is often scattered and outdated in several silos and is neither merged nor cleansed, making it virtually unusable for automated processes.

Data is the foundation of your service.
What types of data are involved and how do you ensure the quality and currency of your data universe?

Sylvia Türcke: We are talking about 4.6 million company data with 5 million decision-makers, 58 million personal data, 22 million email addresses, 19 million building information and 120 million mobile advertiser IDs (mobile movement data). Unfortunately, this data is changing rapidly (due to company name changes, deaths, start-ups, relocations and insolvencies), which has been accelerated by the pandemic. We maintain some of the data from public sources, our own surveys and long-standing data partnerships using automated maintenance processes. Unfortunately, manual post-processing is still necessary for good data quality, but this also distinguishes Schober from many other providers.

What kind of data do your customers need to have and how does it need to be prepared so that your data enrichment can function optimally?
Is this a problem for your customers?

Sylvia Türcke: Upstream data cleansing massively increases the enrichment rate and makes sense to every customer. The type and condition of the data are irrelevant to us, because it is precisely this preparation, merging, formatting and cleansing that is our service.

What role does artificial intelligence play in data analysis and utilization?

Sylvia Türcke: The larger the database, the more likely it is that artificial intelligence can do its job well. Because without data, AI is just an empty shell and cannot develop any potential. That’s why the Schober data universe in udo is such a power. It’s not just machine learning algorithms that work better. AI allows much larger volumes of data to be consulted. So-called zero party data, first and third party data as well as weather data, for example, can provide valuable information. The more data, the smarter the AI. However, AI can also provide assistance. Content based on data and information provides valuable contributions to sales and marketing.

How do your customers actually benefit from the possibilities of the udo platform and the associated services?
Can you give one or two examples of successful customer projects?

Sylvia Türcke: Customers benefit right from the start. The data landscape is cleaned up and only valid information is used. With around 30% changes within the master data alone, udo subsequently saves budget within the campaigns. The data is enriched to provide valuable information. udo takes care of after-sales independently and fully automatically. For example, you are a tour operator and have sold a trip. udo independently analyzes times for the next best offer, tailored to the customer’s needs. udo sends the customer an e-mail after 3 days and independently offers travel cancellation insurance. And what do marketing and sales do with the free time? They are happy about udo and take care of other things that would otherwise have been left undone. udo not only helps to find the right new customers and expand existing customers. It also automates complex processes and frees up time for other issues.

How can the marketing and sales success achieved by using your services be measured or quantified?

Sylvia Türcke: udo’s success is quickly visible thanks to the acquisition of new customers, the reduction in CPO (cost per order) and the expansion of shopping baskets. udo has dashboards with which it can present its success across all channels. The ROI (return on investment) is achieved very quickly with udo. More customers, more turnover and more time in sales and marketing thanks to automated processes!

What trends and developments do you expect to see in the use of data in marketing and sales in the coming years?
What will be possible in five years’ time that is not yet possible today?

Sylvia Türcke: There will be some exciting trends and developments in marketing and sales in the coming years. For example, Gen AI (generative artificial intelligence) will become increasingly important for companies in many areas, as it offers an enormous increase in efficiency. Furthermore, brands will focus even more on the individual needs of their customers with hyper-personalization. The wealth of data available will make it possible to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time – something that marketers have been striving for for years. In this context, the connection between offline and online within the customer journey will also become increasingly important. AI and machine learning will continue to increase the efficiency of marketing measures and, finally, data security and data protection are of course key issues in view of the increasing use of data. In five years’ time, we will therefore see an increasingly individualized approach to target groups, data-based innovations and a seamless connection between digital and physical experiences.

You can find the original article in the DUP Entrepreneur Magazine here.