Why should businesses of all sizes be utilising their data to improve their marketing performance?
Historically business-consumer marketing was relatively un-targeted, think mass broadcast media such as TV, radio, and broadsheet newspaper/magazine advertising, which was very much only available to businesses with large marketing budgets.
Skip forward to the 1980s and ’90s which saw more segmentation and targeting in the form of direct mail and telemarketing, however, still relatively expensive, and often out of reach for SME businesses, that were typically more reliant on media such as directories and local advertising.
Thankfully, the digital age and advent of technology and engagement on the go, has meant that the number of digital touchpoints for marketing had grown significantly and opened opportunities for businesses of all sizes to leverage engagement with potential consumers.
These digital channels have meant that marketers can see how, when and where consumers are engaging with their marketing, and interact with potential consumers in a much more sophisticated way. As well as having a range of channels at their fingertips, by using their data effectively, they have also been able to significantly improve their marketing return on investment.
There is no doubt that businesses utilising data effectively see a marked difference in their operating performance. Back in 2014 McKinsey’s reported that businesses that were intensive users of customer analytics were 23 times more likely to clearly outperform their competitors in terms of new-customer acquisition than non-intensive users, and nine times more likely to surpass them in customer loyalty.
Fortunately, since then, the range of tools and technology for collating, sorting, and analysing data have developed extensively and has made data for marketers in SMEs much more accessible, making analysis quicker and easier, and at a much more reasonable cost.
So how can data specifically help your business grow?
The key for businesses of all sizes in our digital age is to use data effectively to leverage marketing performance. Here are our top reasons WHY businesses should utilise data to support their marketing and business growth:
1. Understand your ideal customer – data can help you to understand who your target audience is, as well as gain a detailed understanding of their purchase behaviours.
2. Utilise the most effective channels for promotion – understand where you can reach your target audience when to target them, and how to get more of the same type of customers. Identifying the most cost-effective channels for engaging with your audience and at what times, will ensure you make the most of your marketing budget.
3. Personalise the experience to existing customers - once you have a customer on-board, utilise data to increase their spend and frequency of purchase. Use your data effectively to build stronger connections with them.
4. Build loyal customers – utilise your data to develop loyalty programmes, to increase customer lifetime value, improve retention and increase their propensity to recommend.
5. Increase customer engagement and gather feedback – data-driven marketing enables greater personalised content and an ability to get a quick view on product and brand trust, loyalty, and engagement.
6. Real-time metrics and decisions – rather than having to wait weeks to see if a marketing campaign is driving performance, digital data enables immediate results tracking, quick decisions and the ability to change campaigns to optimise performance. You will be able to see which elements of your marketing are working and what areas need improvement.
7. Quick test and learn and optimisation – With digital and data-based marketing you can utilise an element of risk-taking on perhaps new channels, prices, content, and offers, and be able to see quickly if things are working. You will also be able to see what channels work together to optimise conversion rates.
8. Monitor and continually improve your marketing ROI – using your data effectively leads to continuous improvement and learning to deliver a significant increase in your marketing return on investment.
If you need a data strategy to support your marketing activities and improve your marketing ROI but aren’t sure where to start, please book a Discovery Call with us, and we can talk you through the options available to you.