Outdated data modelling, as well as a sometimes poor understanding and mistrust of data-based decision making, are holding many CMOs back from the rich rewards that come with well managed data and actionable insights.
A data-driven approach to marketing remains underutilised by many CMOs in South Africa. Brandon Janse van Vuuren, conversion rate optimisation lead and data scientist and Rory Little, data science lead at Incubeta, look at how local marketing leaders are responding to the data opportunity and share eight tips on how best to take the first steps in building a data-driven marketing approach for 2022.
The Gartner Marketing Data and Analytics 2020 survey showed that analytics influences only 54% of global marketing decisions. The company said the biggest reasons for this are poor data quality, results that are not actionable and unclear recommendations.
Despite this, marketing executives surveyed said they see huge potential for analytics, with 85% saying that by 2022, ‘significantly more’ of their marketing decisions will be based on marketing analytics.
Local leaders remain hesitant
The ability to understand data and turn it into useful information is not ubiquitous in the broader marketing industry. This may be because it is a fairly technical requirement and can be intimidating. What’s more, traditional marketers who have never had to rely on statistical data and advanced modelling often have a natural distrust of this new way of decision making.
Another problem is that there is often a general lack of understanding of the technical side of data when it comes to leaders hailing from a more traditional background. Of course, we don’t expect CMOs to learn Python, but if data is not understood it will not be trusted. And if it’s not trusted, it’s often ignored. Most importantly, this lack of understanding, and resulting mistrust, will stop leaders from investing in the right solutions as well as the right people to turn their data into insights.
Things to remember when crafting a data-driven approach
1. Achieving good data for strategic insights is not a once-off effort. To begin with, it’s important to know what you plan to do with the data when you have it. For example, a car dealership would probably define its data goals as maximising test drives to secure meaningful leads that result in sales.
2. Ensure you have readily accessible data. This is often an issue as there is a fine line between security and convenience. While you certainly want to keep bad actors out, you must ensure that those with proper authorisation do have fast access to the data. Good logins and access permissions help the right people access data appropriately.
3. Make sure your data is clean. Reducing duplicates in data helps improve accuracy and ensures you have a clear view of your performance.
4. Find your Excalibur. The use of a quality data management platform makes the life of data professionals so much easier. Platforms like BigQuery or other alternatives must be the weapon of choice for data scientists. Insights such as lifetime value and data driven attribution only work when you have well managed data.
5. Installing an analytics tool is not enough. You need to connect all the platforms that you are using to get a holistic look at your digital business and also to ensure that the data represents your entire business. However, there are a lot of steps that go into accessing the data that represents what’s really going on in your business and the dangers of a disconnect are big. This process will often require assistance.
6. Good insight requires accurate tracking across platforms. A conversion in Google Analytics must be the same as a conversion in Facebook Analytics. Uniformity goes a long way to helping you make decisions and changes. It also makes sense to integrate offline with online. This is especially important for the click and mortar retailers. By generating a unique identifier to help you see how customers behave across platforms and devices, you will be able to get a clearer view of your customers.
7. See data as a long-term, strategic investment. While the rapid growth in cloud computing is the perfect driver for data driven insights, the cost of delivering meaningful data insights can be daunting. But using this as an excuse for delay is a short-term approach that should be avoided. Data is an asset in your business. It’s an understanding of your customer as well as your business and how it’s performing. C-level execs should be jumping at the opportunity to have accurate data on how to run their business and make smart decisions and investments.
8. Find a trusted partner to share your data journey. While in-house skills are valuable, working with data specialists has clear advantages. Firstly, data scientists can be an expensive resource, and once the initial heavy lifting is done and the major automation is completed, keeping them busy full time may be difficult. More importantly, working with an experienced data specialist will also mean your company has access to a wealth of real world experience. They will be able to quickly identify and build out a solution best suited to your needs, cutting down on time and potential costs, while maximising your return in a lower-risk environment.
A data-driven approach to marketing gives leaders an excellent oversight of what is happening in their business and in their market. This allows them to quickly react to changes, allowing faster, better decisions and delivering a clear competitive advantage. What’s more, entering another mercurial pandemic year without that insight may be the biggest risk facing marketing leaders in 2022.
INCUBETA
https://www.incubeta.com/
