A team of digital marketers using data to make decisions

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, meaning marketers must regularly adapt to the new best practices to ensure the best ROIs. Marketers have numerous factors to consider when devising marketing strategies, including customer acquisition costs, costs per impression, etc. 

The past few years have brought about a considerable transformation in the digital marketing landscape. Marketers and businesses were forced to eschew traditional marketing strategies for digital ones as the pandemic occurred. Most people were cooped up in their homes, which meant businesses needed to utilize digital channels to reach and remind them that they existed. 

The extenuating circumstances caused digital marketing’s popularity to skyrocket. As digital marketing and global social media agencies thrived, so did businesses. However, it also required digital marketers to alter their strategies.

According to SalesForce’s Seventh State of Marketing Report, 90% of marketers stated their digital engagement strategy had changed since the pandemic. In addition, 75% of marketers also mentioned that the pandemic affected how they collaborate and communicate at work.  

The report also noted that digital channels had become essential parts of most marketers’ toolkits, with social media, digital ads, and video content the most common ways to reach customers.

Marketers analyzing data

However, that’s not all. The digital marketing landscape has also changed how marketers devise campaign strategies and approach marketing objectives. It’s well-known that data has become essential for marketing and advertising purposes in the modern world.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others harness user data and sell it to advertisers, allowing advertisers to create more personalized advertisements for users. 

Marketers have also become accustomed to using data to empower their marketing strategies and campaigns. According to the SalesForce report, marketers saw a 40% increase in data sources used between 2021 and 2022. 

Why Should You Use Big Data in Marketing

Data in marketing matters because it helps marketers make better decisions. These decisions allow them to personally curate marketing campaigns for a brand’s ideal buyer personas.

Research shows that data-driven marketing strategies outperform decisions based on gut instinct, with two out of three marketers admitting they prefer data-driven strategies.  

Data Proves Insight Into the Target Audience

Data is invaluable for marketers because it provides valuable insight into a business’s target audience. For instance, a marketer can use insights from a CRM to predict future behavior.

Then, the marketer can devise marketing campaigns to target these customers accordingly. 

Data Helps Build Stronger Connections with Customers

Marketers can also utilize data to build stronger connections with the audience and at scale. Data from different platforms and devices allows marketers to create customized, one-on-one real experiences at a large scale.

As a result, businesses with millions of customers can target customers as effectively as a business with a dozen customers. According to a new Shopify report, Consumers want their shopping experience to be personal, instant and responsive.

However, that’s not all. The digital marketing landscape has also changed how marketers devise campaign strategies and approach marketing objectives. It’s well-known that data has become essential for marketing and advertising purposes in the modern world. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others harness user data and sell it to advertisers, allowing advertisers to create more personalized advertisements for users. 

Marketers have also become accustomed to using data to empower their marketing strategies and campaigns. According to the SalesForce report, marketers saw a 40% increase in data sources used between 2021 and 2022. 

Data Helps Marketers Discover the Best Promotional Channels

Marketers also use data to identify the best promotional channels to reach a business’ target audience once they’ve identified the audience’s preferences. These insights help marketers create engaging content which, in turn, leads to more effective actions by customers, such as sales. 

Data Assists with Personalization

The days of generic marketing messages successfully convincing customers are long over. Today, customers want relevant marketing messages and content. Otherwise, they’ll move on to another brand.

Research shows that 74% of customers feel frustrated when they find irrelevant content from brands. Similarly, 79% don’t consider offers and discounts unless a brand personalizes its offers based on previous interactions. 

Therefore, marketers must use data to create personalized messages and experiences for customers to target them effectively.  

Marketers discussing how to use data

Creating and Implementing a Data-Driven Strategy

Marketers often find it challenging to create and implement data-driven strategies that work. The idea sounds more plausible theoretically but can become challenging when implemented.

Here are some steps to follow to ensure a successful implementation of your data-driven marketing strategy:

  • Identify data sources: You’ll want to identify data sources because they’ll affect your strategies and campaigns. List the sources you’ll use to gather data to fulfill your marketing objectives. 
  • Data collection and analysis: Capturing data in real time is often challenging because most marketers don’t have the tools or resources to do so. In addition, analyzing real-time data is equally difficult. You’ll want to devise a strategy for collecting and analyzing relevant and timely data to ensure your strategies aren’t based on outdated data. 
  • Integrating marketing tools with data collection tools: Most marketers and businesses use CRMs for data collection. However, you’ll also need to integrate your marketing tools with these data collection tools to effectively use the collated data.  Some CRM providers, such as Salesforce and Hubspot, have product suites that make this integration seamless.

Using data to create informed marketing strategies: Once you have the data, you’ll  also need to devise ways to use it to create informed marketing strategies. For instance, let’s assume you operate a pizza shop in NYC and notice that pick up orders increase considerably on Fridays, and most are from repeat clients on the Upper East Side. You’ll want to use this data to inform your strategy and create a tailored marketing campaign accordingly.

A digital marketer creating a data-driven marketing strategy

Get Started with Dekaf Digital

Is your business looking for data-driven marketing solutions to drive brand awareness and increase conversions? Let’s talk.

Dekaf Digital is a minority- and woman-owned global digital marketing agency that uses data-driven strategies to help businesses achieve their goals.. In addition to providing affordable digital marketing services, we also offer Facebook ad management, pay-per-click management, and landing page design services

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