What is Data-Driven Digital Marketing?
Data-driven marketing is the approach to optimizing brand communications based on customer information. Data-driven marketers use customer data to predict their needs, desires and future behaviors. Such insight helps develop personalized marketing strategies for the highest possible return on investment. While taking a data-driven marketing technique was once rare, the throng of niche media channels and evolving consumer anticipations have made data analysis an essential process in modern marketing campaigns.
A data-driven media planning approach is now aided by the vast quantities of information that organizations have access to. Marketing teams collect data through the use of applications or various websites, and with good attribution modelling, can track each brand interaction along the customer journey. When all of this information is parsed and analyzed, marketing teams can see which creative assets drove more engagements, which channels offered the highest ROI, and more. Based on these findings, organizations can file their campaigns to ensure the best customer experiences and the greatest return on marketing investment.
The Benefits of Data-Driven Digital Marketing
Modern consumers are inundated with brand marketing and messaging. As a result, they have become increasingly wise about which messaging they will engage with. When using a data-driven strategy, marketing teams can drastically increase the chances that their target audience will click on their ad, join their webinar, read a blog post, or perform another action that drives a conversion goal.
Data-driven strategies improve customer experience and brand perception, as it gives organizations an understanding of consumer needs and interests. They also improve conversion rates, because the highly targeted messaging promoted by data-driven marketing is more likely to catch the attention of users.
Some of the top benefits of data-driven marketing are:
- Better Customer Experience
- Better Decisions
Better Customer Experience
Data-driven marketing focuses on using in-depth consumer profiles to make the customer experience better. This is essential to success, as almost half of the consumers report leaving a website to purchase a product elsewhere due to a poor experience.
The added personalization afforded by data-driven marketing builds trust between a consumer and brand while creating positive customer experiences. Personalizing the experience for consumers can have real results, with McKinsey finding that personalized experiences can provide 5-8 times with the ROI on marketing spend.
Better Decisions
Overall, taking a data-driven marketing approach allows teams to make more informed decisions, with 2 out of 3 marketers agreeing that it is preferable to base decisions on data than gut instincts. Data analysis allows marketers to make choices based on real-world use cases instead of theories. However, data-driven marketing does not discount the emotional considerations that can go into a consumer purchasing decision. Marketing teams must evaluate data within a framework that considers rational and emotional decision-making to ensure they are balanced properly in campaigns.
Best Practices for Data-Driven Digital Marketing
When developing a plan to implement data-driven marketing, especially at a time when global data-collecting policies are becoming more stringent (especially in terms of GDPR and CCPA), consider the following:
- Provide Value
- Outline Clear Advantages
- Be Transparent
Provide Value
Data-driven marketing is all about improving marketing success based on an enhanced customer experience, which is enabled by data insights. Customer experience is key to this equation. Each campaign designed with data should demonstrate a clear answer to the question “what is in it for the customer?”
With this in mind, creating a sheet that promotes your products is not enough to encourage downloads. Consider the user and what they would find valuable. Based on the data you have, what is the problem your customer is trying to solve? Where in the buyer’s journey are they? From there, determine the most helpful piece of content or information you can provide.
Outline Clear Advantages
Consumers are more likely to offer their personal information if they believe they will get better deals or more value out of their brand relations. Make it clear to customers that they will receive something useful if they allow your organization to leverage their data and build user profiles. This may be personalized product recommendations or insider information in a newsletter format. Marketers must highlight what consumers will gain.
Be Transparent
Many consumers are concerned with how organizations utilize their data – ranging from invasive messaging to the risk of having their data stolen in a breach of your network. Marketing teams must be highly transparent with what information they are collecting, how they will use that information, and how it will be stowed and secured.
Additionally, give customers control to change their data or to delete their accounts. This is required by GDPR and CCPA. Maintaining a high level of visibility into where data resides will allow marketing teams to track and modify data as requested by customers.
