Business success doesn’t happen by happenstance. Brands must be intentional in everything from research and development to recruitment and hiring and, of course, in their marketing efforts.
Companies are marketing on more fronts than ever before. There are traditional channels, such as print, broadcast media, and point-of-sale. Digital channels encompass far more than just a website. And content marketing and social media platforms are invaluable marketing tools.
All that digital presence has created another opportunity. That is, to gather a variety of data, analyze it, and use it to inform marketing strategies. But just because brands have access to data doesn’t always mean they know how to utilize it to their ultimate advantage.
Data takes most of the guesswork out of deciding what’s working and what’s not in your marketing efforts. You just need to know how to use it. Here are four tips for doing that to create better marketing strategies.
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1. Employ AI
There’s little doubt that AI is a force to be reckoned with. Some brands have jumped right into applying it for a variety of purposes. Others are unsure how to use it or are employing a wait-and-see attitude about it. Wait too long, and you might find your brand lagging behind your competition.
The power of AI in marketing is its ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of data. Moreover, it handles the task at lightning speed. Companies who wield it can adjust marketing strategies based on that data quickly, avoiding investments that aren’t working as planned.
Case in point is the performance marketing agency Hawke, whose AI marketing platform constantly monitors clients’ KPIs, alerting them immediately to inconsistencies. The platform uses AI to analyze data by goals, market segment, and campaigns, with greater ease and insights than Google Analytics. Client marketing operations have all the information they need to pivot strategies quickly and monitor performance.
If you aren’t using AI to its full potential or not using it all yet, get on board. Your competition is probably already there. Gather all the intelligence you need to take the lead.
2. Set More Detailed Goals
The increased amount and types of data you can collect these days mean your marketing goals should be far more detailed. The website captures hits, pages opened, and time spent on them is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The same is true for impressions and follower counts on social media.
Your goals should reflect your ability to track engagement and activity over all your marketing platforms. And as the third-party cookies crumble over privacy concerns, you have an opportunity to capture first-party data. It’s more reliable and detailed, which can both inform your marketing goals and measure progress toward achieving them.
Stop just monitoring your social media and start listening as well. Monitoring will provide some insights into conversations about your brand. But social media listening will help you understand why those conversations are happening and the motivations behind what’s being said. For example, the popular shoe company Zappos uses social listening to find new product ideas and ways to engage with customers.
Your marketing goals should reflect the deeper dive you can take into data regarding engagement with your brand. If they don’t, you’re only getting half of the picture. Discover what data you can collect, then make sure you set goals that will put that data to work once you do.
3. Test Multiple Strategies at Once
Your teams will spend a significant amount of time devising marketing campaigns. Once you believe you’ve developed a winning strategy, you’ll invest a lot of money in taking it live. Then, you’ll sit back and cross your fingers, hoping it works.
If it doesn’t yield the results you want, you’ll go back to square one. Sure, you might have gained some insights that will help you with your next campaign. But you’re losing ground to your competitors while you’re developing plan B.
Instead, roll out a single campaign that tests multiple factors, like offers, messaging, platforms, colors, and more. If you’re set up to capture, monitor, and analyze a range of data, you can forget just A/B testing. Multivariate testing allows you to look at a lot more variables during the same campaign.
If you’re going to invest in a key marketing campaign, make the most of it. Test as many variables as you can distinguish and know right away what’s working and what isn’t. Then, adjust quickly to those results and garner the best return on your investment.
4. Divide and Conquer
Gathering a broader range of precise data will help you learn more about your target audience and your customers. In turn, you will be able to create an accurate profile of your audience by segment. That will allow you to engage each of them on a more relevant, if not personal, level.
Data will reveal what certain segments are most interested in, what problems they’re addressing, and what their values are. Imagine then being able to create content across all your marketing platforms and efforts that hit home with your audience. The result will be increased engagement, conversions, sales, and customer loyalty.
Although accomplishing this level of audience appeal may sound time-consuming and unwieldy, it doesn’t have to be. This is where AI shines. It can provide you with the right data plus the analysis that helps you hone tightly focused marketing strategies.
You understand the probable difference in results when you try to sell something to someone you know versus a stranger. Data can turn strangers into well-known acquaintances. Use it to your advantage.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The difference in the data you can mine now versus what was possible just a decade ago is remarkable. Just remember that it must be mined, analyzed, and acted upon. None of that happens on its own. The numbers don’t lie, but you’ll need to start the conversation.
