Data-driven marketing is the approach of 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 (ROI).
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Data helps to gain better clarity about the target audience. Information about customers allows marketers to gain a laser-sharp understanding of their target audience. Insights from the CRM, for example, can increase a marketer’s ability to predict customer behavior further. The result? Marketing campaigns that reach customers with the right message at the right time.
Data offers the ability to build stronger connections with potential customers. With data, marketers can build much better connections with their audience. What’s more, they can do so at a scale too. As Tom Benton, the CEO of the Data and Marketing Association points out in his Forbes article: “The sheer amount of data from a near-infinite combination of media, devices, platforms and channels allows marketers the opportunity to deliver 1-to-1 customer experiences at a massive scale. If these are leveraged adeptly, a business with a million customers can deliver an experience just as tailored as a business with a dozen customers.” For example, real-time campaign data would help a marketer adjust to match a customer’s engagement. As a result, they could deliver a campaign that is personalized to meet the expectations of each individual customer.
Uncover the best channels for promotion. Data can reveal not only a target audience’s preferences, it can also suggest what channels a brand should use to engage their audience now and in the future. Such insight, in turn, could help them position the message where its target audience is or is going to be.
Personalization. Today’s customers are skeptical about generic marketing messages they receive. One study revealed 74% of customers feeling frustrated by seeing irrelevant content from brands. 79% of them won’t consider an offer unless a brand personalizes it to their previous interactions. And so, to engage customers, marketers must focus on personalizing their experience. Here’s how data helps to achieve it. First, it delivers a holistic view of the target audience. It helps identify potential customers’ triggers and pain points. Individual customer information, then, can enrich brands communication with the person. And does it work? Studies have shown that businesses that use personalization deliver 5x – 8x higher ROI from their marketing efforts. This suggests the payoff from focusing on data first is huge. In fact, some of the advantages of the data-driven approach include: Greater customer loyalty, acquiring more new customers, Increased customer satisfaction and more.
Data driven marketing is an important tool in the marketer’s toolbox and allows marketing teams to create meaningful relationships with customers. These are just a few tools in the hands of data driven marketing teams.