We’ve all heard about data-driven marketing but do we really understand it? Maybe it’s something you claim to be doing but can’t be sure you’re doing it right. Or perhaps it’s something you’re doing without even knowing.
In this post, we set the record straight with data-driven marketing. We’ll define what it is, why it’s important and how you should be using it. So, let’s begin…
Data-driven marketing defined
Data-driven or data-led marketing is the process of gaining insights through data to make both strategic and tactical marketing decisions. There are two fundamental data types used, contact information and performance metrics.
Contact information is the data gained from users through contact touch points. This data is often stored in the CRM. It can be collected in many ways both on and offsite.
Any kind of data entry webform collects contact information data. Social tracking is also a good way to collect contact information as it can tell you the topics/ products individuals are most interested in.
Now we’ve established that contact information data is our “FBI” file on the audience, let’s look at performance metrics.
Performance metrics are sources of data reporting on all things performance. Consider Google Analytics, all those metrics and dimensions are related to performance.
Performance metrics are usually quantitative data. They provide overviews on how campaigns are performing and how users are interacting with your brand. If you’ve ever done any campaign tracking or optimisation, you’ll no doubt have used performance data.
Effective data-driven marketing requires the use of both contact information data and performance metrics data.
The importance of data-driven marketing
To quantify the importance of data-driven marketing we first need to look at the modern business climate and the impacts of technology.
We live in an exciting and switched on world. We’re all connected by the internet. Everything we say, do, even think is being recorded somewhere… at least it is in a digital capacity. Every link you click on, search you make or time you spend on a page is tracked. It’s kind of scary and big brotherish right?
Here comes the fascinating bit. Huge tech players like Google are actively shaping the way we as modern day marketers use this information. Recent updates to Google’s search algorithm place less emphasis on keywords, killing once and for all the old black hat trick of keyword stuffing.
For modern marketers to be successful they must take this wealth of data now available to them and use it to shape their organisations into data-driven, customer focused beasts. There are very few black hat tricks left and they’re getting fewer by the day. The only way is to listen, learn and evolve.
Quite simply, for modern marketers ignoring data is campaign suicide.
How to become a data-driven marketer
To become an effective data-driven marketer you must realise the importance of data and use it to base your strategic marketing decisions.
You must implement Google Analytics and begin monitoring performance metrics. It is important to gain an understanding of how your audience interacts with your online brand. To do this properly you must extend this to social and email tracking too.
The CRM cannot be underestimated when it comes to data-driven marketing. This is where all your contact information is stored. It’s important to be confident that your CRM is update and holds accurate information. You don’t want to be basing strategic decisions on inaccurate information.
With both tools, you should be looking to maximise their potential. You need to ensure you have access to as much data as possible. It all helps when it comes to analysing the figures and looking for opportunities.
Once you’ve setup systems to accurately collect data you need to begin to analyse it. Unfortunately, there aren’t any shortcuts here. It’s a case of learning what the data means and spotting the opportunities.
A good place to start is by profiling your “top customer” then recreating their user experience. You can use the data to follow their online journey to see where the blocks occur. E.g. Are your social campaigns driving engagement but lacking conversion? Perhaps there’s a landing page missing which could help to bridge that gap.
When you start reading the data you start to make decisions no longer based on intuition but decisions based on data. This is how modern marketers become successful.
In Summary
Data-driven marketing can often feel like a bottomless pit. The wealth of data points available to modern marketers can be overwhelming. However, this isn’t something that’s going to go away and the success of your initiatives depends on using it. So, start small and get involved.
Remember data beats intuition.