Last month, we introduced a discussion about data-driven marketing. Now we wanted to share some interesting statistics about how both advertisers and users are valuing and interacting with it in 2015.
As you might guess, customers are well aware of ads that are being targeted to them based on their activity and preferences. Not only that, but they’re starting to expect it. There’s nothing worse than sitting through boring commercials — except, of course, when those commercials are for Pampers and your kids are in high school. That is to say: We want to see ads that have something to do with us, rather than ads that are so off the mark that our eyes glaze over.
According to AdWeek, global review of data-driven marketing by GlobalDMA and the Winterberry Group found that nearly all of their 3,000 surveyed marketing professionals recognized the importance of looking at data when putting together advertising strategies, and that it was imperative in gaining both customer engagement and satisfaction. About 77% surveyed noted they were confident in the practice and its prospects for great future growth. Unsurprisingly, the study also found that spending on data-driven marketing grew for 63% of those surveyed in 2013, and that a majority (71%) predicted that growth will continue throughout 2015.
To that end, there should be no surprise that most data-driven marketing is happening online right now (66%), followed by mobile apps (58%). That’s because it’s so easy to instantly rack up user information in real time, then store and analyze it digitally. (However, it’s interesting to note that social media is down at 49% behind good ol’ fashioned call centers at 51%.)
How should you start incorporating data into your marketing?
Not only do you want to know what your potential customers are doing now (what they’re buying, how they buy), which can admittedly be pricey to collect and hard to implement effectively. It’s also important to gather information about current customer satisfaction, which is a good way to get started since adding a data-collecting step into your sales is probably the most cost-efficient and can be done in-house.
Regardless, you might want to think about adding room in your marketing budget explicitly for data-oriented processes. According to a Teradata survey from 2015, 74% of marketers are increasing their budget in the next year to accommodate the need for better data in their campaigns.
The goal, per marketers’ survey responses, were effectiveness (49%) followed by getting to better understand both current and prospective customers (33%). Do you know what you biggest goal should be when acquiring that info? The more you understand your own needs, and the better you plan, the less you’ll need to spend accumulating both the data and the data-driven placements that will help you excel.
Remember, your investment in data-driven marketing could end up saving you time and money by addressing your most advantageous audience in an explicit, understanding way. This year’s padded marketing budget could be next year’s profit.
And guess what? Our data shows that the customer will appreciate it, too.