If you were asked to share how a potential customer found your business solution, service or product, could you do it? How do the majority of customers find your products? Does a loyal customer use your marketing information differently than a one-time consumer? Marketing analytics serves to answer these questions and many more about the effectiveness your brand communications and the connectedness of your marketing approaches.
As a business leader, you need to know that the marketing investments you make for your brand are improving the chances of gaining new clients or making a sale with an established one. In one recent study by Millward Brown Digital, the results indicated that 74-78% of respondents would invest more in social, mobile and digital media channels if better return on investment measures were developed. Much of what is used for marketing effectiveness is indirect, such as ad impressions or click through rates. These measures act as proxies for the customer’s experience with your brand. The demand for better analytic tools continues to evolve.
What can you do as a business owner regarding marketing analytics? First, start with the data you already have. Are there key performance indicators (KPI) that reliably predict which visitors to your website or other online marketing apps will become customers? Second, use comparative or A/B testing for marketing campaigns. Experiment with the marketing delivery across several media sources and keep track of what’s working. Third, trace the path your customers are taking. You can begin by assigning values for various campaigns or marketing channels then determining which customers have the best overall score. Finally, use data modeling to predict the ultimate value of a customer over the lifetime relationship with your company. When all is said and measured, you can ask “Are We There Yet?” and invest more in the paths that bring you and your customers together most often.
