When it comes to figuring out how to best approach marketing and consumer behavior, data is crucial. Marketers may gain a great deal of insight from data driven marketing, which they can use to streamline the customer journey and improve conversion rates.
The problem is that even with all the data B2B marketers struggle to have a clear data driven marketing strategy. Here are some of the most difficult data driven marketing challenges that marketers confront. There are also suggestions for overcoming them to get the benefits of data-driven marketing.
1. Putting a plan into action
The purpose of integrating historical and real-time data across numerous platforms is to ensure marketing consistency through data to drive marketing. Despite this, it can be challenging for marketers to know where to begin and how to use it effectively. A recent poll found that 81% of marketers find implementing a data driven marketing plan challenging.
The first step is determining what your company hopes to accomplish in the long run. What are your most important KPIs, and what information might assist you in achieving them? Make sure your objectives align with the company’s goals, from stakeholders to sales. It would help if you integrated your business functions, such as marketing, finance, and customer support. To ensure the success of data-driven strategies, businesses must have a unified understanding of their customers and the metrics they use to gauge return on investment.
2. Identifying the appropriate metrics and data
There is no use in collecting data if you can’t do marketing data analytics. The value of data tracking and collection is in the organization’s ability to put that information to good use. The information is meaningless if you don’t interpret it.
After settling on a course of action, you should begin keeping tabs on your identified metrics. It is essential to establish metrics for measuring data driven marketing strategies. The three most valuable key performance indicators are visits, interactions, and sales. Set a date by which you will reevaluate the strategy’s effectiveness and make any necessary adjustments. It’s essential to zero in on the pieces of information that will lead to changes in your business. Pattern recognition, correlation analysis, and the ability to calculate return on investment are all essential.
3. Possessing adequate mediums and tools
Finding the correct software and infrastructure for your business is crucial for establishing trustworthiness and a single version of the truth. If you want to know what’s going on with your customers at every stage of their buying journey, you need a platform to collect data from all your channels.
Many data is sitting idle, even in companies collecting it for years. Studies have shown that just 10% of information is organized adequately for digital marketers to take advantage of it. Time is of the essence as data collection becomes increasingly sophisticated. To keep pace with real-time insights, it is essential to have the proper platforms, such as CMPs, DMPs, analytics tracking systems, etc.
4. Putting the pieces together
The ability to gather, standardize, and analyze data for actionable insights is crucial for marketing with data. This calls for a unification of all existing infrastructures. However, research shows that “increasing data quality” is the most prominent problem marketers face when seeking to tailor messaging for audiences. Make sure your data is accurate by ruling out any potential sources of error. Maintaining uniformity in data reporting and organization is essential for ensuring data quality.
5. Combining information from many sources
Data from many sources, in their respective formats, is essential to any marketing strategy worth its salt. This scenario may run into two problems: It’s possible that the data you combine is inconsistent since it was gathered from a wide variety of sources using complex technologies.
In a nutshell, data cleaning is the act of eradicating errors and inconsistencies from one’s data by pinpointing and removing the causes of such problems. Always look for duplicates, question the reasoning behind your data, and maintain a uniform structure for your data to guarantee its accuracy. Use the most common spelling when citing sources.
Conclusion
Data driven marketing is invaluable for companies. It serves as a framework upon which your marketing initiatives can be built. There are many challenges that you will face when using data to drive marketing. Keep in mind that solving data-driven challenges is not something that can be accomplished quickly. However, you will get better gradually and achieve your marketing goals.
