Marketing decisions based on data has a higher chance of converting than relying on opinions. Any online business should not take data for granted. It’s the key to unlocking growth. Data about how your prospective customers interact with your site, product or app can help you improve how it’s delivered and what you should be doing to win even more customers.
Data can help inform decisions on how to reach your target audience, and help you decide how to commit scarce resources efficiently across various marketing platforms for optimum return on investment. Marketers are using data to understand the type of message that resonates with their audience and the best channels on which to amplify that message.
Research from Twitter shows that 90 percent of Twitter users who see a TV show-related tweet are likely to immediately watch the show, search for more information, or share tweet-based content about that show. That information can help companies in the entertainment industry make informed decisions about where to allocate marketing resources.
Data communication tools like Geckoboard allows its customers to communicate their data instantly across their organisations. Companies are able to pull in the data they need from the services they use, see their data in real-time and make informed decisions.
Kigu.me (Australia’s largest importer of animal onesies and authentic kigurumis) needed an instant way to keep track of their sales. According to Aidan Lister, serial entrepreneur and Co-founder at Kigu.me, Geckoboard help them during their crucial growth stage. “We wanted a really simple solution to being able to see the health of the business on a daily basis. Once you see those numbers, you start to subconsciously understand more about your data. There were a lot of opportunities that presented themselves simply from being aware of our data and having that instant visibility.”
Look into the data and growth hack from there!
According to Neil Patel (founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, KISSmetrics and Quick Sprout), businesses should be looking into the data, and growth hack from there. He stresses at the Tech Cocktail Celebrate, “I’m a big believer of big data: if you want to grow, base all your decisions on the data over opinions. When you analyze the data, you will eventually grow your business,” said Patel. “What I do is go for the lowest-hanging fruit first – where are the clogged arteries? What’s causing things not to grow? Then from there, I’ll move on to figuring out what will make the biggest impact and what’s the easiest thing for me to do.”
Data drives revenue.
The possibilities for data based customer insight are almost limitless. Take e-commerce, an industry with increasing growth every year. Within e-commerce, data analysis can inform and improve the customer journey and online buying experience, as well as drive growth through a more refined and targeted marketing strategy. Industry leaders like Amazon know this and they are using every available insight to serve customers better and recommend products they are most likely to be purchase.
Amazon sends some of the best email marketing around and this campaign they sent to me is no exception. This email campaign is sent when you browse or buy in a particular category and the recommendations are very accurate. You may have received this kind of email from most companies you have done business with.
Amazon’s success demonstrates the rewards that can be reaped when analysis of data becomes a priority for a business and these insights are fed directly into the customer offering. Retailers are expected to provide an experience that will keep customers coming back. It has never been easier or more crucial to understand your customer, identify and determine trends and react quickly to changes in the norm. Earlier this year Werner Vogels, Amazon’s chief technology officer, told the BBC that: ‘’You can never have too much data – bigger is definitely better.’’
Data can lead to improved employee performance and morale.
According to reports released by Xerox, the utilization of big data helped them to get ahead of when an employee may be looking to leave and ultimately reduced attrition by 20% since their initial deployment of the service. Xerox analyses over 500 million data points from employees social media activity to the price of gasoline to provide insights that can lead to improved employee performance and morale.
How data is helping department stores.
Department store Kohl’s uses an indoor positioning system that “walks the aisles” with customers. Their mobile-based technology allows shoppers to opt in for promotions as they enter the store. Throughout their visit, people receive lifestyle content in real-time based on the products they appear to be looking for. This makes it easy for customers to make a decision to purchase faster because they are actually seeing products they want.
You can deliver a more relevant, personalised information with data.
Netflix is one of those brands that creates innovative, personalized user experience. When a user logs in using his or her Facebook account, Netflix gets the permission to access the user’s friend list. Netflix is then able to show the user a list of his or her Facebook connections’ favorite shows and movies, as well give him or her the option to view individual friends’ recently watched items.
Netflix also makes personal recommendations based on the user’s own unique viewing history, ratings and preferences. You are more likely to watch a show or movie if a friend has already seen it or recommends it and Netflix makes it a priority to get it right for you.
Personalisation is one of the most effective methods for improving conversion rates. Get it right and your customers will appreciate most of your recommendations. Get it wrong and you could lose most of your existing customers. Being “data-driven” is no longer an option for modern marketers. Your company should be taking advantage of data-driven tools to make the most of data for business growth.