3 Marketing Strategies That Deliver – Part Two – Data-Driven Marketing

In Part One of our blog: 3 Marketing Strategies That Deliver, we took an in-depth look at Account Based Marketing (ABM) and outlined the steps you can take and the tools you will need in order to successfully engage in this bottom-line-boosting strategy. In Part Two, we continue our journey with the steps and tools that are essential to your ability to execute a brilliant data-driven marketing strategy.

Strategy: Data-Driven Marketing

Implementing a data-driven marketing strategy is a pursuit with endless benefits. Most marketers who are harnessing the power of their data have connected all of the data sources across their organization such as platforms, systems and software, in an effort to pool their inside information and put it to better use. In addition to fostering seamless integrations between their own data sources, many companies add second or third-party data in order to round out their lists and meet campaign goals. Of course, before you can master the art of data-driven marketing, you will need the following data-driven essentials: high quality data, integrated data and actionable data.

1. High Quality Data

The value of data depends on its source and quality. Ideally the most valuable data is information that is collected in-house. This is also known as first-party data. Next in value is second party data. This is another organization’s first-party data, i.e. an email list obtained from a partner organization. Third party data is information typically purchased in bulk from a company that specializes in aggregating data, such as Oracle or Salesforce. Regardless of where the data comes from, it is imperative to your data-driven strategy that the data be clean, complete, enriched and ever-ready for use. Integrating a data management tool into your stack is the best way to ensure the data you are using is actually useful.

Tools of the Trade: CRM; MAP; Data integration tool; Data management tool

2. Integrated Data

Peter Isaacson, a CMO and contributor to the popular industry blog, Marketing Land maintains that in 2019, connected data is king. “Getting a true 360-degree view of the customer has been a challenge that has plagued marketers since the beginning of marketing. By integrating technologies such as CRM, marketing automation, and ABM platforms, marketers can start to share data across these applications. And this will start to give marketers the complete customer view that we have craved,” said Isaacson. Beyond the insights to customer behavior that integrated data offers, there are things you can learn about the customer journey you have created, such as the point at which engagement drops or actions are taken. You can also identify new opportunities, competitive strengths and weaknesses, and so much more.

Tools of the Trade: Data integration tool; All in-house platforms, systems and apps that collect data; Data/marketing dashboard

3. Actionable Data

Using clean, enriched and fully-integrated data is as essential to your data-driven marketing strategy as being able to mine data in real-time for actionable insights. In the past, mining data in real time was an impossible quest, but modern data management tools and dashboards have made processing large volumes of information and highlighting trends and anomalies, a much faster and easier task. More importantly, these high-performance information processors enable anyone to run a query and report results, without the help of IT or a full-time data analyst on staff. Forbes writer, Almitra Karnik, maintains smart marketers are always mining their data for new insights. Karnik encourages leaders to “think of new and inventive ways to use the data collected to find new customer segments, identify characteristics of repeat customers and pick up on patterns and trends that lead to proactive marketing tactics.”

Tools of the Trade: Data management tool; Data/marketing dashboard

The Big Benefits of Leveraging Data

A study conducted by MIT found that companies that take actions based on data increase their profits by six percent and have productivity levels that are four percent higher than companies that base their actions on past experiences or gut feelings. Marketers across all industries are using data insights to make better decisions and experience greater results in three key areas:

1. CX — According to McKinsey Global Institute, “Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times as likely to retain customers, and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result.” In addition, a Marketo study found that 78 percent of customers only engage personalized offers that acknowledge their previous engagements with a brand (purchase history/customer communications, etc.).
2. Campaign Personalization – A recent study revealed that 57 percent of marketers identified personalization as their most effective campaign tactic. Research has also shown that marketers who send personalized and segmented email campaigns have experienced as much as a 760 percent increase in revenue generated from those email campaigns, compared to email blasts.
3. Opportunity Identification – In addition to generating more revenue, research performed by Harvard Business Review found that data-driven companies are better able to seize opportunities related to six areas: diagnosing and resolving data gaps; developing 360° customer profiles; revealing total addressable markets; building targeted campaign audiences; predicting future buyers; and orchestrating cross-channel campaigns.