Marketing Analytics, How Data Analysis Is Changing The Work

Being creative and visionary is important, but it is no longer enough: Data and analytics, and consequently a culture oriented towards measuring and quantifying results, are now intertwined with the marketing strategy. Here is the new scenario and mistakes to avoid

Marketing Analytics, or tools and processes for analyzing marketing data, are creating a new era in marketing measurement; everything happens faster than ever before, and because of these changes, marketers can no longer look at analytics as something external that supports them or an activity managed by a single person (like the Chief Digital Officer ). Rather, analytics is now an integral part of the marketing value chain. Customer experience management is a priority for all public and private organizations. 

Thanks to digital technology, it is possible to collect data and information with incredible granularity and being able to count on a wide variety of sources, including socio-demographic and contractual information, tracking of purchase and usage paths, use of products and services, calls to the call center and interactions tracked on the CRM, accesses, and use of web platforms and apps. Data which, cross-referenced with the registry of products and services, allow the construction of descriptive and predictive models of the future behavior of individual users and customers”.

Marketing Analytics In Successful Companies: Teams To Manage Data Always On

Several case studies of successful companies show that data and analytics are now so intertwined with a marketing strategy that the same expectations on the marketing side have changed, and it is no longer acceptable to say: “I’m a marketer but not a numbers person.” Many innovative companies have drastically changed their marketing activities through an “always on marketing” process.

While companies used to spend months planning and executing what they hoped would be a perfect marketing strategy, weekly team meetings are now held to review and respond to constant data streams. Not only does this approach enable more effective marketing strategies, but it has also refined its approach to teamwork with hubs for marketers, project managers, and a variety of other specialists who collaborate on day-to-day marketing activities.

Intuition And Vision Are Still Indispensable

Data and analytics are now so intertwined with a marketing strategy that expectations on the marketing side have changed. It is no longer acceptable to say: “I’m a marketer but not a numbers person.” Companies require more data-savvy as a prerequisite to being a good marketer. CEOs are comfortable with numbers and data-driven approaches, but an excessive focus on data, numbers and quantitative measures should not replace the value of vision. 

The data must integrate and be guided by the competitive strategy, the environmental context, and benchmarking with the reference industry, all elements that offer a broader perspective. It is necessary to start from the company business model, then implement and measure the actions that truly allow one to understand the company’s competitive position and customer needs. Thanks to this incredible amount of data collected and to the increasingly sophisticated machine learning algorithms.

it is possible, for example, to predict which customers are at risk of abandoning the service, minimizing the churn rate with appropriate commercial initiatives; or build recommendation engines, able to suggest to a customer other products or services in the portfolio and potentially interesting for the customer based on his previous behavior, or of customers belonging to the same cluster, or even select for commercial and communication campaigns only the customer segments with the highest priority of adherence to the offer or appreciation of the contents provided.

Marketing Analytics Tools: Web Analytics

In marketing, alongside the more usual skills of communication, creative planning, customer, relationship, and business management, highly analytical and technological skills are becoming increasingly important, linked to the management of digital platforms and data analysis. One of the fundamental pillars of digital marketing is Web Analytics tools, marketing intelligence, data analysis, and the most recent applications in artificial intelligence and automation.

Using Web Analytics tools means identifying the right metrics to understand the performance of your web platforms, your eCommerce, and your web apps. Through these tools, it is possible to analyze the results, make comparisons and then find out how they behave or how users use digital services to improve performance and Customer Experience. Furthermore, through Web Analytics tools, it is possible to analyze one’s digital platforms with excellent detail, carrying out benchmarks with data from the market or other organizations and sites in the sector.

Marketing Analytics, Three Mistakes To Avoid

1. Light Metrics: Too often, marketers rely on “light” metrics to justify their marketing spending. Increasing the number of social followers or the number of impressions may seem rewarding, but more is needed to provide insight into improved marketing performance.
2. Focus on quantity: focusing only on quantitative results while ignoring the qualitative aspects leads to results that initially seem good but do not generate profits.
3. Activities before results: it is easier to measure the expenses incurred than the results they produce, but if you don’t make an effort to do it, marketing is framed as a cost center. When it’s time to cut costs, the extra budget will be reallocated to a profit-generating department such as sales.

The Future Of Marketing Analytics

With digital transformation and further alignment between marketing and strategy, we also see a migration towards integrated reporting within the business organization. This requires the integration of different channels and initiatives into a coordinated and coherent set of information, and it is essential to move from “light” performance indicators to a focus on business results.

Integrated reporting combines multiple data sources into a single document to provide business decision-makers with more meaningful and in-depth information. Data accessibility is enormous, and today it is easier for professionals to use it, even in real time. It is up to marketing professionals to master them and spread their use, to maintain, and claim, the centrality of the marketing function within companies.

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