Why Data-Driven Marketing Drives More Sales You can't afford to ignore your customer data when it comes to your marketing strategies. Make the right decisions, based on what your customers really care about.
By Greg Tinkler
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The idea behind customer data- driven marketing isn't complicated. You collect customer data and then use it to guide your marketing efforts in a more effective direction. While the idea is simple, the actual practice is not always as effortless.
The sheer amount of data being generated can be overwhelming, and often business owners are scared to try something new when they think their current marketing efforts are already working.
Don't fall into this trap. Customer data-driven marketing is the best way to curate and create marketing content for your audience, and personalise the message that you're sending. This is essential for driving more sales and higher revenues.
Why is it important to market according to data and research?
You Connect With the Right People
Data driven marketing allows you to pinpoint who your marketing campaigns should be targeting, and how to reach them. You don't want to waste time reaching out to people who aren't going to buy your product, regardless of the brilliant marketing content or discounted prices. Defining who your target audience is in the first place is one of the primary functions of data-driven marketing.
All the data you've collected from sales numbers, customer feedback, purchasing trends, page visits, and ad clicks, can be used to figure out which consumers are most likely to buy your product and be influenced by your marketing.
You Understand Why They Buy
Even if you know who your core customers are, all your marketing work can go to waste if you don't target them appropriately. You and your customer might actually have different ideas about why they're buying your product.
Think about it this way. If your business makes sports leisure wear, are people actually wearing your clothing to the gym, or are they buying it as a fashion statement and would hate to see it get dirty?
Knowing the answer to that question will bring a focused approach to your marketing efforts and help you decide if you need to change the way you portray your product or service in order to appeal to a larger customer base.
Your Content Hits Its Mark
When you use data-driven marketing to figure out who your customers are and why they buy your product, you will have an excellent idea of what content will reach them most effectively.
87% of marketers feel that data is their organisation's most under-used asset. So how do you incorporate data driven marketing into your business to get the benefits I have outlined?
- Start by using common tools like content analytics. Social listening technology and content marketing platforms are also great ways to gauge what your customers are saying and doing online.
- Capture data at events or in store promotions. This is highly effective as you can monitor and observe the customer in the shopping experience.
- Send surveys and questions to your customers. Link this to a competition or free download to encourage participation.
The next step will be to begin using the data that you have collected to create content.
You now have an idea of what's going to work based on the data you've obtained. At this point, you'll begin to see that you don't just have one typical buyer or you may have customers who come to you for totally different reasons.
It's up to you now to put the data to use. Create compelling content directed at the needs and wants of that specific customer and watch your marketing efforts prosper.
