If you were a philosophy student you might be inclined to argue that most of the marketing industry is built on the ‘fallacy of misplaced correctness’. By and large, the same products are marketed to the same people based on generalised information – such as demographics.

We know that two individuals are not going to have the same desires and interests simply because they are in the same location and profession, or the same sex, age or socio-economic group. Yet, most marketing campaigns are based on the premise that this is true.

So what’s the problem? It’s obviously not a collective delusion on the part of marketers. The reality is, that up until very recently, this type of targeting was the best available approach.

Thankfully new data science techniques, a surge in ways to collect and analyse customer data, and a glut of new channels to reach them has eroded the ‘misplaced correctness’ of the marketing industry.

One new approaches is marketing campaigns built around ‘life events’. This could include weddings, moving home or city, having a child, taking a sabbatical, starting a new job and so on.

The financial services industry has previously led the way in this field, for obvious reasons. Your bank will know if you’re getting a mortgage, you’re probably buying a home.

Now, thanks to the amount of data available on individuals, there’s an opportunity for pretty much any company to identify these life events and tailor their marketing accordingly.

A lot of companies get to know when you buy a new house

The Royal Mail recently undertook research into the marketing surrounding life events. It found that only 33% of marketers recognise life events as an opportunity to increase sales. Slightly bizarrely, the most important life event recognised by marketers was a change of email address.

Use of ‘dynamic data-sets’ by marketers to analyse customer behaviour was also paltry.

An explanation as to why why life events are not yet a central part of many marketing campaigns could be because marketers do not have the skills to identify these events.

This is where data science comes in. By marrying seemingly disparate data sets and applying various data science techniques, patterns that are indicative of a person approaching a milestone can become clear.

This goes way beyond the usual technique of fitting people in a certain demographic milestones they are ‘likely’ to be reaching. It involves identifying people who are actually or about to get married, move house or switch jobs.

To do this, a brand needs to collect, monitor and analyse a variety of data sources. Social media activity, online and offline purchasing history, and browsing behaviour can all be used to paint a very vivid picture of what is going on in a customer’s life.

Crucially, this information can be collected and analysed in real time, which means a brand can tailor the right communication to reach the customer at exactly the right time.

The marketing message can range from the very obvious – a furniture retailer sending a special discount to someone who has just bought a new house – to the more subtle, a clothing retailer targeting a professional man who is looking for a new job with an offer for new formal shoes or suits.

It's easier than ever to identify and reward consumer behaviour

The reality is that when people undergo big ‘life events’ they tend to re-evaluate a lot of different aspects of their life simultaneously. If you are having a child, you don’t just buy baby clothes and a cot. People tend to look at their financial arrangements, review utility suppliers, change shopping behaviour, buy a bigger car, get new health insurance and so forth.

Brands need to insert themselves into these conversations because they present both a big opportunity and danger. There is scope for a business to showcase their value to its customer and increase conversions, but also a need to protect its position.

The truth is, life events will eventually become a crucial component of nearly every brand’s marketing campaign. Businesses that fail to invest in data science and build their campaigns around these events will lose out to their competitors.