There is no shortage of data available. The rise of digital marketing has led to a surplus of metrics, from clicks to impressions to page views. The ability to measure these metrics in real-time allows marketers to make quicker, more informed decisions. However, sorting through a pile of data without knowing what it can provide you or how to use it can be a waste of time. Here are a few ways that data can help you build a more efficient marketing strategy.
1. Better Understand Your Competition
Nearly every brand has a competitor. With millions of new brands entering the marketplace each year, competition is inevitable. While it can be annoying to share a market, it also helps keep brands on their toes, ensuring they are consistently delivering the best products and services. Watching your competitors from afar, whether that’s browsing through their site or scrolling through their social channels can be advantageous. However, analyzing certain types of data can give you a leg up and help you better understand your competitor’s actions and content strategy.
Predicting your competitor’s actions can include everything from product launches to new marketing campaigns. By looking at market trends, research reports, customer surveys, and web analytics, you can better predict what their next move may be. Anticipating their actions can help prepare you for action as well. You can be more proactive in your promotional offerings, for instance, or have a response to one of their new product launches.
Another way to better understand your competition through data is by getting a sense of their content marketing strategy. A competitive content analysis tool can easily identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This tool will show you which SEO keywords you can rank on, allowing you to capitalize on content gaps on their pages. It can also help you with the creation of new content, ensuring your blog posts are structured in a way that is optimal for SEO. That way, your site will show up above theirs on search results pages.
2. Enhanced Campaign Optimizations
Even if you know your customers well, you can’t be 100% sure that your latest marketing campaign will resonate until it’s live. You can spend all the time and resources in the world for this launch, but hitting the “go live” button is just the beginning of the process. You’ll need to measure performance by looking at different data metrics. These include click-through rate, cost per click, and conversion rates.
By monitoring your campaign performance metrics, you can identify which channels are performing optimally and which you can scale back on. This ensures that you’re using your resources wisely and not wasting them on ad spots that aren’t performing well. If you’re targeting a younger demographic, you may look mainly to Instagram but are you getting the best ROI on these advertisements? The metrics will tell you, so you can put your dollars toward the channels that are truly giving you the most bang for your buck.
When it comes to an ad campaign optimization strategy, think about your main campaign goals and subsequent KPIs. If your main goal is website traffic, having a clear call-to-action such as “learn more” or “find out here” is essential. The corresponding KPI for this goal may be brand awareness. With this in mind, you can look at the campaign’s click-through rate and see how you can best adjust for the main objective of brand awareness.
3. Anticipate Audience Needs
Lastly, data can also be leveraged to not only better understand your audience but to anticipate their future needs. Customer needs are the main driving force behind their motivation to purchase a product or buy a service. In 2020, when many shoppers were scared of going to the store, companies responded by offering curbside pickup or delivery. This new consumer demand was met by large-scale grocery stores including Kroger, Whole Foods, Target, and more.
Having the right data can help inform future product iterations, thereby giving audiences what they need before they may even realize it. By looking at themes on your social media comments, for instance, you may be able to identify where your product can be improved upon. Developing either a new product entirely or enhancing your current one can generate more sales. It also shows consumers that you are listening and hearing what they have to say.
Numerous types of data can help you better understand your core demographic and anticipate their needs. Demographic data, including race, gender, age, income, and geographical location, can help paint a picture of who your consumers are. Psychographic data, which includes their behaviors, interests, and patterns, can reveal their intentions when it comes to making a purchase. The key is to look at these types of data holistically, and sort your audience into different segments that you can target individually.
Conclusion
A more efficient marketing strategy starts with analyzing your current performance. Take a look at how your digital and social campaigns are doing, identifying any trends or patterns. Then, see how you can be more efficient in future campaigns. Perhaps you can reach your audiences better on a different platform? Or maybe an alternative call-to-action will drive better results. Whatever the case, by keeping an eye on the data you can make more informed decisions than gut instinct alone.