How Can Data Inform Marketing?
Data is the lifeblood of any effective marketing department. At the most basic level, we have to understand how our products and services are being bought.
Below is an example of how you can use data to shape a marketing campaign.
| What data do we get | What information does it give us? | Marketing benefits of this information |
|---|---|---|
| Count when customers shop | We can start to see if there are any trends.
Are we busier in the afternoon than in the morning? What day of the week is the busiest and quietest? |
When to send out our marketing communications |
| What products are selling | What is selling the most?
What is not selling? |
Which products to discount.
Which products should be featured in our marketing. |
| What products are being bought together | Start to look at the total customer basket. | Positioning products together in marketing.
Upselling additional products based on what others have bought. |
All of this transactional information is very important from a marketing perspective, but it is surprising how often it is overlooked. Now let’s look at how you can use the same data to inform a marketing campaign.
Even with the basic information in the mail-order company example above, we can:
- Start to use marketing to encourage customers in quieter times
- Bundle our pricing for items being bought together
- Run promotions for products that are not selling so well
Marketing: Know your Audience
How well do you know your audience? Are they predominantly young or old? Do they live in cities, or in the countryside? Are they rich or poor? If we don’t know who our customers are, how can we talk to them in a meaningful way?
The more we can learn about our customers, the better we tailor our messages to them. By understanding the trends in the data, we can discover what types of people are buying. Then, we can start to develop marketing approaches to target these people more effectively. This should, in turn, lead to greater sales.
This data should be used to inform every aspect of your marketing; from the choice of channel to the tone-of-voice and everything in between.
The Importance of Data in Marketing:
High profile data breaches have made customers increasingly aware of how their data is used by companies. The more trust you can build with your customers, the more data they will trust you with. The more data you have, the better your insights will be. It’s critical you ensure that any customer data, especially personal information, is kept safe and secure.
Join the Discussion
In what ways does an organisation or brand you are familiar with use customer data to shape advertising campaigns? Think of a recent example of an advertising campaign and describe the customer data which informed the tone and style of the advertising.
Introduction to Marketing: Understanding your Customers
Introduction to Marketing: Understanding your Customers
