It’s no secret that data-driven marketing is on the rise. And no wonder: marketers would be six times as likely to report higher profits if they use data-driven strategies.
For individuals that are already leveraging the power of data, this isn’t much of a surprise. But the power of Big Data has yet to be harnessed by all marketers. This is a still an uncommon (and incredibly valuable) skill in our industry.
Why? Many organizations still struggle with the sheer volume of data available to them. And because data is dispersed across so many disparate platforms (e.g., CRM, marketing automation, analytics), it’s become increasingly difficult to merge and analyze it in meaningful ways.
In recent years, however, innovation has made it easier to bridge the gaps among siloed data sources, providing a unified view of data across platforms. Big Data staffing and analysis of historical data are being used not only to spot inefficiencies (and opportunities) in past marketing campaigns but also, in many cases, to identify patterns that can predict future outcomes. Enterprising individuals who have been able to stay abreast of the latest tools and technology have tremendous opportunities to quickly grow their marketing careers and become indispensable to their employers.
Watch it: The Role of Data Driven Marketing Today
video from Forbes Insights
Data has empowered clever marketers to serve prospects with superior customer experiences across industries. For instance; 55 % of data-driven retail executives already claim to have enjoyed a competitive advantage in both customer loyalty and acquisition.
Here are three ways you can improve your performance and reap the rewards of a more data-driven outlook:
1. Engage with high-value consumers at the most opportune time
The rise of data-driven marketing benefits your audience as much as your company. After all, a great customer experience starts with reaching the right people (or accounts), at a time when they are most in need of your product.
Using a combination of internal data (tracked in native systems such as CRMs and marketing automation platforms) and external buying signals (from publicly available sources, such as social media), you can gain an intimate understanding of who your most promising customers are.
Aided by predictive technology, marketing analytics experts and Big Data staffing can look at their data to pinpoint common characteristics among current customers–based on demographics and behavioral information–to develop an ideal customer profile. Use that to target prospects with similar traits.
Similarly, data can show you when your target audience will be most receptive to your message. By monitoring behavioral data of past buyers (e.g., when a prospect is most likely to engage with emails or take calls), you dramatically increase the likelihood of response.
2. Finely tune your campaigns
Marketing owns more of the sales cycle than ever before. Buyers increasingly prefer to independently research before ever engaging with your brand–something they’re doing later and later in the purchasing cycle. As a result, the ability to effectively inform potential customers and act as a trusted adviser has become a top differentiator among high-performing marketers.
Using data, you can use analytics to not only highlight and connect with target audiences at the right time but also deliver the right message in the right place. Effective Big Data analytics staffing can see, in real-time, which channels and campaigns are delivering the highest-quality leads or making the most conversions. That information can be used to weed out underperforming channels and grow investments in channels that consistently deliver.
Furthermore, data can help you fine-tune your offers and messaging. Helpful, informative and entertaining content continues to grow in importance, and data can facilitate the creation and delivery of high-quality content at scale. Analyzing cross-channel data, you can identify the trends and themes that are resonating with target audiences and optimize future campaigns accordingly.
3. Make better investments and grow ROI
When reliable data from various sources converges, you can figure out precisely where to increase investments and where to cut back.
With the ability to process and apply machine learning to Big Data, marketers finally have a scientific reality-check on what is working and, more importantly, what is not. Understanding how a change in activity will result in a change in revenue over time, marketers would be able to remove the guesswork from marketing, save their hard-earned budget, and focus on the people, channels, and campaigns that have been proven to translate into sales.
When marketers adopt a data-driven culture, everybody wins: your customers reap the benefits with more efficient, timely, and personalized experiences; your employer wins customers’ trust, business, and loyalty; and you gain the ability to drive demonstrable value and grow your career.
Article source: MarketingProfs
Related Reading on Big Data Staffing:
Headache Or Opportunity? The Profusion Of Marketing Data
Marketing data is flowing all over the place these days. Research from Teradata this year shows that 78 percent of marketers now use data systematically, versus 36 percent in 2013. The proliferation of data from a continuously expanding number of sources is creating headaches and opportunities — depending on your perspective. Those who see opportunities will thrive in this new tech-driven marketing environment. More
Forget Big Data, Start With The Right Data
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