Why data driven marketing will be your strategy for success

Last year, our good friends at Salesforce released the third edition of their marketing intelligence report.
Packed with insights gathered from over 2,500 marketers worldwide, the report provides a compelling analysis of the issues and trends impacting marketing right now.

One part in particular stood out to us: the statement that, when considering the future of marketing, ‘success means data, and data means success’.

We wholeheartedly agree. Sure, data driven marketing is nothing new. Arguably marketers have been integrating data into marketing campaigns since the dawn of the digital era in the ‘80s.

Today, data based marketing has become an increasingly important part of modern business strategies. By leveraging data to inform marketing efforts, businesses can improve targeting, increase efficiency, create better customer experiences, enhance measurement and attribution, and gain a competitive advantage.

By leveraging data to inform marketing efforts, businesses can improve targeting, increase efficiency, create better customer experiences, enhance measurement and attribution, and gain a competitive advantage.

If you’re still on the fence about how much impact an investment in data based marketing can have on your bottom line, here are several pointers to get you thinking.

The benefits of data driven marketing

Data driven strategies improve many areas of marketing as they help businesses gain a better understanding of customer needs. In turn, this drives better campaign targeting, higher levels of prospect engagement, and crucially, increased sales and revenue.

Going beyond these top-level benefits, here are some other key ways data driven marketing is guaranteed to bring success for you.

Improve targeting and personalisation

One of the key benefits of data based marketing is improved targeting, which, in turn, allows for greater levels of personalisation in your marketing.

Traditional marketing efforts often involve a blanket approach, where the same message is sent to a large audience in the hope that it will reach the right people.

However, with data based marketing, businesses can analyse customer data to identify specific segments of their audience and personalise their marketing efforts for these groups. This allows you to reach the right people with the right message, increasing the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Crucially, this can lead to a significant improvement in marketing ROI – up to eight times greater, according to research by McKinsey.

Ramp up efficiency and reduce campaign wastage

Data based marketing can also help to increase the efficiency of marketing efforts. By analysing data to identify the most effective channels and tactics for reaching their target audience, businesses can allocate resources more efficiently and get the best return on their marketing investments.

For example, if a business finds that its target audience is more likely to respond to email marketing than social media advertising, it can allocate a greater portion of its budget to email marketing and see a higher return on investment.

When Barchester Healthcare conducted an analysis of its own campaign performance, it was able to make significant refinements to reduce budget wastage and improve results.

For paid search campaigns in particular, the marketing team was able to re-allocate budget away from keywords which don’t lead to new resident move-ins.

Deliver a market-leading customer experience

Another benefit of data based marketing is the ability to create better customer experiences. By using data to personalise marketing efforts, businesses can create more relevant and engaging experiences for customers. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and retention.

In fact, businesses that hone the customer experience using marketing data are often able to differentiate themselves much further from the competition.

Automotive brand Dick Lovett – a Mediahawk client – used its marketing data to do exactly that.

For years, data has played a key role in how the business has reacted to changing consumer behaviour, allowing the marketing team to make appropriate strategic decisions.

When they analysed their data following the Covid-19 pandemic, they found that many customers prefer to use the phone to make enquiries.

With this knowledge in hand, the team can now make sure every phone enquiry is properly dealt with – something that is essential for maintaining the Dick Lovett brand ethos of superior customer experience.

Hone campaign measurement and marketing attribution

Data based marketing can also enhance measurement and attribution, allowing businesses to track the performance of their marketing campaigns and attribute results to specific channels and tactics.

This enables you to continually optimise your marketing efforts and get the most value out of your data.

By understanding which channels and tactics are driving the most conversions, businesses can allocate their resources to the most effective tactics and see a higher return on investment.

Going beyond customer data

The use of data in marketing is not limited to just customer data. Businesses can also use market research data, industry data, and even internal data to inform their marketing efforts.

Market research data can provide insight into consumer behaviour and trends, while industry data can give businesses a better understanding of their competitive landscape.

Internal data, such as sales data and website analytics, can also be valuable in identifying opportunities for improvement and optimisation.

Investing in the right tech

There are a number of tools and technologies available to help businesses collect, analyse, and leverage data for marketing purposes. These include customer relationship management (CRM) systems, marketing analytics platforms, and data visualisation tools.

By using these tools, businesses can gain a more complete picture of their customers and the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

In conclusion, the benefits of data based marketing are numerous and varied. By leveraging data to inform their marketing efforts, businesses can easily:

• Improve targeting
• Increase efficiency
• Create better customer experiences
• Enhance measurement and attribution
• Gain a competitive advantage

As data becomes increasingly available and affordable, it is essential for businesses to incorporate data based marketing into their strategies in order to stay competitive in today’s market.