A lesson from "Goldilocks": Why getting the data “just right” is important

Growing up, one of my favorite fairytales was “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” There’s something about the personification of the bears that has stayed with me through the years: “Someone’s been sitting in my chair,” growled Papa Bear. And the way Goldilocks quickly navigates the chairs, the bowls of porridge and the beds of Mama, Papa and Baby Bear until she gets to the one that’s “just right” provides an important lesson to all of us struggling with big data.

Marketing and selling life insurance is a lot like this fairytale, or at least it is in my mind. Life insurers have so much information about customers and prospects and are constantly trying to find the right combination of data elements to make campaigns effective. In the world of big data, sometimes less is more, and better is bigger than big, but — at the end of the day — what truly matters is the connection you establish with your customer with data that is “just right.”

In addition to collecting more information, life insurers need to connect and analyze the data they have available to better know, understand and anticipate their customer’s actions. Today, more meaningful connections require high octane data — a fuel that provides insight, relevancy, timeliness and respect for privacy. By high octane fuel, I’m referring to data that feeds all marketing decision-making — data that is accurate and truly multidimensional, from multiple sources and channels, to create and maintain holistic relationships, especially with your best customers.

Just like Goldilocks, sometimes you have to experiment to find out what’s too hot or too cold or too big for you. But once you’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t, you’ll be able to go straight to what’s “just right” and reap the benefits of it.

As an example, we already know Gen Y consumers are an attractive segment for needing life insurance. They have purchasing power predicted to surpass that of Baby Boomers by 2017. There are specific reasons why these consumers may actually have a more acute need for life insurance than their parents and grandparents. Applying the right data elements can help you find this audience and their channel preference. It can also help you develop messaging relevant to the audience’s high levels of college debt, parenthood status, and the need to support their parents in retirement — all considerable factors that may lead them to purchase life insurance.

Consumers today have nearly unlimited choices and information. They are now more empowered to engage with brands when and where they want to. Marketing’s job is to help facilitate that process, which leads me to my conclusion.