Data-driven Marketing and AI in Marketing are required to stay competitive!
Implementing data-driven marketing strategies is essential for modern businesses aiming to stay competitive. According to BCG “Brands that have successfully adapted to the cookie-less future have seen their digital marketing performance improve by 10% in the case of mature enterprises and up to 100% for small and medium-sized businesses, based on BCG experience.” (BCG, 2024) In today’s competitive landscape, relying on gut feeling just won’t cut it. Implementing data-driven marketing strategies empowers businesses to make informed decisions, improve campaigns, and ultimately achieve superior results.
Here are key steps and considerations to ensure success in your organization:
1. Data Literacy
Outcome:
– Employees who understand data can make better, evidence-based decisions and formulate better questions to understand and solve problems.
– Data-literate teams can communicate insights more effectively across all organizations. They know to understand results because they create a starting point so you can compare and understand what needs to change.
– Encourages innovative thinking by providing insights that drive new strategies and approaches.
Mitigate:
– Investment in training programs is needed.
– Developing data literacy takes time and can be a continuous investment
– Give examples and create a data champion across the organization
2. Modernising the Marketing Stack
Outcomes:
– Modern tools streamline processes, reducing manual workload and gut decisions, getting more time to the customer and less time in processes.
– Finding customer journey touchpoints that need to be improved.
(example: behaviour for customers or potential customers reading a blog post, newsletter or social media post and go to buy add to cart to checkout)
– Customer centricity using data lakes connected through golden record makes it possible to personalize offers in every channel, making omnichannel easier considering privacy regulations and preferences.
– Advanced analytics offer deeper insights into customer behaviour and campaign performance and faster decision-making
– Modern tools can easily scale with your business, accommodating growth and increasing complexity using Cloud
Mitigate:
– Upgrading technology can be time-consuming and expensive if not done right
– Software tools need to be integrated with existing systems but need to be mapped earlier.
– Employees will need time to learn and adapt to modern technologies.
Key Steps to Implement Data-Driven Marketing Strategies
1. Assess Current Capabilities (audit)
– Evaluate existing data capabilities and find gaps in data literacy and technology. Find an independent consultancy that can understand your organization and create a plan in partnership with you that takes into consideration industry best practices and your reality.
2. Invest in Training:
– Develop training programs to enhance data literacy across the organisation and use outside experienced professionals to help every step of the way. Use a mix of internal and external staff to go further.
3. Upgrade Technology:
– Adopt advanced marketing tools such as Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), advanced analytics, and automation tools. Remember that you can make it according to your pace and use case.
4. Integrate Systems:
– Ensure seamless integration between new tools and existing systems for a unified view of data and a unified customer view.
5. Create a Data-Driven Culture:
– Foster a culture where data-driven decision-making is encouraged and rewarded
6. Measure and Optimise:
– Continuously measure the impact of data-driven strategies and optimise based on insights.
Conclusion
To stay competitive, companies must:
- Invest in first-party data strategies.
- Prioritise enhancing customer experiences with advanced digital tools.
- Build robust, scalable capabilities for data integration and analytics.
- Prepare for a future without third-party cookies by adopting initiative-taking measures now.
Adopting data-driven marketing strategies and modernising your marketing stack is crucial to remain competitive. While there are challenges associated with these changes, the benefits of improved decision-making, efficiency, and innovation significantly outweigh the drawbacks.
The high confidence level is due to the well-established benefits of data-driven marketing and the accepted need for modernising marketing technology stacks. The minor uncertainty comes from the variability in implementation success based on specific organisational contexts.
Contact us to start or restart your journey!
See our roadmap to a data-driven marketing organization!
Sources:
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/creating-a-data-advantage-in-marketing
