Data has become a big deal in marketing over the last few years. As marketing went digital, companies used data to measure the results of their campaigns. Indeed, the rise of quality analytics tools is an excellent way to prove that your marketing campaigns are having an impact. However, what is seemingly less popular is using analytics tools to influence and inform marketing strategies.
So, what we’re saying here is that campaign measurement is good. Knowing how your campaigns have connected with your audience is essential to marketing. However, you can use data across the campaign lifecycle to inform your strategies so that they are much more effective.
Let’s dive in.
#1. Better audience targeting
Collecting user data allows you to identify and segment your audience across several different planes, such as:
- Demographics
- Psychographic information
- Devices
- Interests
- Behaviors
- Goals
- Purchase history
Understanding this information brings you closer to your existing and potential users. By leveraging this data, you can produce more meaningful and resonant marketing with more effective messaging.
#2. Personalized messaging
Continuing from above, collecting user data helps you understand groups. It also enables you to understand individuals. The upshot here is that you can use various user segments for personalized communication. Tailored messaging that speaks to an individual’s aims, pain points, and goals in their language can really cut through the noise.
Marketing automation tools make this process much easier, too, and allow you to deliver targeted and highly relevant marketing across a variety of channels.
#3. Identify new market opportunities
Data can help businesses unearth new opportunities. By collecting data from various sources, such as user surveys, competitor data, and other forms of research, brands can learn more about consumer behavior, industry trends, and emerging preferences.
There are several ways that businesses can leverage this information, including:
- A deeper understanding of consumer needs that uncovers pain points, preferences, and goals of particular cohorts. Businesses can analyze areas where products fall short and pivot to provide solutions.
- Data can help brands discover market gaps or underserved communities. This information can help inform which channels or individuals are part of your marketing efforts.
- You can also use historical pricing data, demand, and competitor pricing to find the sweet spot to attract your customers. This data can have a significant impact on sales and allow you to implement dynamic pricing strategies.
#4. Competitor comparison
Understanding your competitors is an effective way to wrestle some extra market share. Collecting data on your rival’s marketing campaigns, website, and social media can give you an idea of what they do well and where they fall short. Understanding this information can help give you good ideas and present opportunities where you can take a lead.
#5. Drive marketing process efficiency
Collecting data on your marketing campaigns is an excellent way to ensure your spending is worthwhile. However, you can also use data to ensure your marketing processes are efficient.
Teams can use data to evaluate their workflows and ensure the mechanics of delivering marketing are efficient. An example of this tip could include process mining to identify which marketing tasks are repetitive, time-consuming, or prone to error. Teams can earmark these tasks for automation and benefit from more accurate and efficient marketing that frees up their workers for creative and value-driven tasks.
#6. A/B testing
A/B testing is a great way to decide between different versions of marketing copy. You can use it to test landing pages, email or social media ads, or even particular marketing assets like images, calls-to-action, headlines, and so on. By showing two or more ads and seeing which performs better, marketing teams can feel confident that they are getting proven ads in front of their prospects, which can lead to more efficient ad spending and better ROI.
#7. Data-driven decisions
As we said above, a fair amount of marketing still relies on gut feeling. Choosing the right images and copy is more of an art than a science, but there are plenty of decisions that can use the cold, hard logic of a computer. Again, machine learning is particularly effective here because it can find patterns, insights, or relationships that are counterintuitive to human beings.
#8. Predictive analysis
Prediction analysis is one of the biggest benefits of machine learning (ML) and business intelligence tools. By looking at huge swathes of historical data, analytics tools can tease out underlying patterns that can help with forecasting trends, churn rates, revenue predictions, and more.
All of this can help you target the right kind of customers for your business. For example, if a particular cohort is likely to churn quite quickly, the customer acquisition costs (CAC) you allocate to these groups could be wasted. On the other hand, predictive analysis can help you understand which type of customers become loyal users, advocates, or repeat customers. This knowledge can revolutionize your return on ad spend (ROAS).
#9. Continuous testing and improvement
Of course, perhaps the best part of collecting and using data for your marketing campaigns is the way it allows you to test and improve your marketing continually. Part of this process is about tracking the results and outcomes for your campaigns, but as our list shows, there are many ways that you can use data to get a better insight into your users, prospects, rivals, and overall market.
Regular and careful data analysis means fine-tuned strategies, more dynamic marketing campaigns, and marketing that can adapt to changing market conditions.
Final thoughts
Most marketing teams use data to analyze the results of their campaigns. However, there are several other ways that you can use data to boost the efficiency of marketing campaigns. The right insights and predictions can have a powerful effect on how, where, and to whom you display ads. The data is out there, so make the most of it.
