Data-driven decision making
Marketing has always been a broad term, with the goal of growing consumer awareness and business revenue. However, with the digital marketing revolution, the term marketing is continuing to cover more ground.
Data and reporting are directly impacting the marketing industry and evolving the roles of marketing professionals. A marketer’s approach must now include more analytical thinking, with a focus on data, as well as creative and messaging. Data-driven decision-making has become a key component of any marketing strategy and even has a strong influence on the overall foundation of a business’s branding, values, and goals.
So, why should marketers focus on data to drive results? The answer is simple: When you understand the data presented, you can ask effective questions, which leads to strategized solutions. Therefore, you can adjust your campaign/branding/values/etc. accordingly to achieve the best possible results.
How Your Data and Reporting Tell a Story
There is a thin line between marketing and data analytics. An experienced data analyst understands that in order to ask the right questions, you need to have the right data, along with the right people to interpret that data. The goal of a data report is to tell a story and create a visual; this is called data modeling.
Data modeling keeps your data consistent and organized, which makes it easier to understand and implement. From there, you can adjust the data you want to display to map out your story. Without a story flow, or the correct data, marketers won’t be able to ask the right questions, and therefore will not come to the best solution.
A good data report is easy to read and takes you from start to finish of the business or campaign goal. If your goal is to create brand awareness, for example, you wouldn’t need to show data for dollars spent by each consumer. (Although that is a fun piece of information to know!)
The story of a brand awareness report could focus on data such as the source from which consumers discovered your brand, how many impressions or clicks your website has received in a certain time frame, or even the type of device consumers are using to access your website. This data can then create questions such as “Where should funds be allocated for online ads?” or “Who is our target demographic versus our main demographic, and what adjustments need to be made?”
These questions will allow your marketing team to strategically create their next campaigns and adjust efforts accordingly to make an impact on your brand’s awareness.
Using Good Data for Data-Driven Decisions
For good data modeling, a data analyst must have “good data,” which means the information must be accurate and complete. In addition to accuracy, the data must include all the possible information required to come to the most accurate conclusion. Good data must be consistent and there should be no conflict between sources.
Consistency also includes timeliness and uniqueness; data must be current and should not include duplicates. Additionally, validity is key. Is your data authentic? Is your source valid? These are areas to focus on when creating a data report.
In summary, good data leads to good questions, which ultimately leads to good solutions.
If you’re ready to leverage your marketing data and reporting to make data-driven decisions for your business, contact us today. We’d love to start a conversation.
