There is no denying the increasing importance of data in marketing. In fact, according to Forbes Insights, 64% of global marketers “strongly agree” that data-driven marketing is crucial to success within a hyper-competitive economy. Similarly, a Gartner marketing analytics survey found that 69% of marketing leaders expect the majority of their decisions to be driven by data.
Why do data-driven decisions matter so much? Even the best marketers can be misled by going with their instinct. Think of some of the famous missteps in branding. Remember the disastrous introduction of “New Coke”? Or Gap’s infamous logo reintroduction that was universally hated by its customers? These were the result of great ideas not sufficiently backed up by data.
The same principle applies in marketing. If you are selling a new beauty product, do you need to create different messaging for women who are Gen Z versus Millennials? Are your customers more likely to respond to a call to action highlighted in yellow or red? Do response rates improve if you swap out images based on gender, age, or geographic location? These are the kinds of decisions that should be made based on data.
Here are three ways to do that:
Your marketing is too important to base it on guesswork. Use data as your “eyes” to make sure you are getting it right. If you need help, just ask!