If you haven’t seen the latest episode of Game of Thrones (Season 5, Episode 8), we suggest closing this window… NOW! Maryel Roman, Associate Marketer at Acxiom ANZ gives us the lowdown on what marketers can learn from these undead.

The White Walkers have finally arrived and they definitely did not disappoint. Marketers could learn a thing or two from these glowing blue-eyed creatures.

1. There’s always strength in numbers

But that’s not enough… numbers are only as good as scaring off the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings. The same goes for marketing, since the dawn of digital communications, marketers cannot just blast the same message to everyone, everywhere.  An email blasted to 8,000 email addresses could perform really poorly compared to a targeted email sent to 2,000 segmented customers and prospects.

Segmenting data to send relevant and timely information to customers and prospects also allows better tracking and measurement. Acting on these results would then help in making better business decisions and reducing marketing wastage.

2. Element of surprise

Last year’s buzz word was ‘Big Data’ and every marketer wanted their hands on it. The year before that, it was ‘Native Advertising’ again, every marketer was doing native advertising. This year, its video and personalisation at scale and every marketer…. you get the drill.

Jon Snow really knew nothing. The White Walkers attacked at the right time, at the right place and no one saw it coming.

Marketers have been told since time immemorial to think outside the box, if there’s one thing that never changes in the world of marketing; that is that.

3. Outsourcing

We’re not suggesting turning the living into the undead to build a huge army. We’re talking about the famous proverb ‘No man is an island’. Outsourcing when used effectively is a cost-effective way of leveraging others’ expertise to your advantage.

Marketers now more than ever have quite a myriad of things ahead of them, no matter the size of your business or budget. The help of the right service provider, consultant, vendor, or agency could drastically change the results of your efforts for the better.

Photo credit: HBO