Data analytics are very important and has always been in the business environment, whether you are offline or in the digital space.
For a business or brand to strive towards being a leader in its field, and for digital marketing efforts to be successful in establishing an impressive online presence, reflection is crucial because it allows for progress (or perhaps even the lack thereof) to be measured.
Without the opportunity to tangibly see and reflect upon a business or brand’s development, especially in the digital realm, it is impossible to measure digital marketing efforts that are effective and those which do not contribute towards success.
To determine whether your business or brand is on the right track, it is therefore important for you to gather relevant information for review so that calculated digital marketing decisions can be made based on those results and your goals for the future.
Data analytics can be super beneficial to digital marketing efforts because it allows you to spot patterns.
These patterns can pinpoint what works and what doesn’t, and can therefore help to refine your marketing strategy and improve your Return on Investment (ROI).
What is Data Analytics?
Let’s have a quick look at the meaning of the term Data Analytics.
What is it really, what does it entail, and why is it so important for you to understand for the sake of your business and its longevity, particularly when it comes to building an online presence for your brand with the right digital marketing strategies?
Data Analytics is, in layman’s terms, the process by which raw and relevant material is gathered from an investigation and then used to make conclusions based on what has been found (as we said, patterns – what works and what doesn’t).
It’s a scientific method that oftentimes involves comparison to draw informed conclusions, and it aids problem-solving and optimal planning for the future.
The emphasis here is based on facts that have been gathered from data.
The greatest benefit of Data Analytics in digital marketing specifically is the ability it provides marketers to pinpoint important information that observers would otherwise miss, information that is crucial to decision-making and refining one’s digital marketing strategy.
Target marketing is just one example of how Data Analytics can inform decision-making in digital marketing strategies because it can help content creators develop rich and relevant content that appeals to the core values of a business’s target consumer group.
Why is Data Analytics So Important?
As mentioned above, Data Analytics is important for digital marketing and the development of any business or brand because it allows for data-driven decision-making. In other words, it enables digital marketers and analysts to make better-informed decisions for their strategies based on factual data that has been gathered and reviewed.
By collecting and analysing relevant data, digital marketers can provide businesses with actionable insights; therefore, during the process of gathering information, it is important to focus on the quantity and quality of collected data.
Having as much relevant and insightful information on hand as possible is very beneficial for data analysts because it can reduce the risks that are inherent in decision-making such as imperfect predictions and emotional charge.
Access to this information also enables data analysts to formulate better sales strategies for companies and improve their ROI; therefore, Data Analytics should aim to be nothing short of factual and precise.
What are the Benefits of Data Analytics?
Data Analytics is a great technique to use in digital marketing when measuring progress and formulating digital strategies because it can help to reveal trends and metrics that are oftentimes lost in the mass of data collected.
Data analysts need to be familiar with the algorithms that impact the way that people interact and engage with content online, and they need to understand how the results captured here can then be used to increase the overall effectiveness of their digital marketing strategy.
We use Data Analytics to do more than point out where there is room for improvement.
We also use it to pinpoint what works and how we can leverage those results, especially when it comes to refining digital marketing strategies and improving brand awareness or sales.
Let’s have a closer look at the main benefits of Data Analytics:
1. Personalise Customer Experience
The best way to understand your customer and identify the successes and bottlenecks of your online efforts is to ask your audience: what works, what doesn’t, and how can we help to improve the overall experience.
We understand that not every business has the time to invest in capturing feedback from customers about their experience and where there is room for improvement.
Sure, customer reviews are important in understanding your target market and ensuring that they return, but there are other ways to gather this information and thus invest in brand loyalty.
Data Analytics play an important role in determining who your audience is and who you should be targeting so that you can create content that appeals to the right people.
Data Analytics can also help to refine your digital marketing strategy because it will assist with pinpointing what kind of campaigns to create, which types of ads are effective, and what content should be created so that you can attract new customers and retain existing ones.
Let’s have a look at customer experience in online shopping, for example.
Collecting data from the customer’s e-commerce experience or through social media are smart ways to begin your analysis.
Data collected here will provide insights into what the customer likes and dislikes, and this will ultimately allow your business to set up an effective plan of action to enhance the customers’ experience through personalisation.
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By analysing the data collected during the previous month’s sales, an online store can identify which products were popular purchases and which were not.
Analysing the data collected to then plan a digital marketing campaign is key to promoting the sale of those products even further.
The goal here is to give the customer exactly what they want.
A great example of data-driven decision-making is where the data collected is then used to provide a personal experience for the customer.
By identifying popular products or perhaps even the shopping habits of your customers through data analysis, those habits can be leveraged with email marketing and promotion codes, and sales can be boosted.
A method like this can make your customer feel seen, and who wouldn’t want to know that their purchase is appreciated?
Personalise your customer’s experience, and you’ll have brand loyalty in the bag.
2. Mitigate Risks & Setbacks
The secret to digital success is working proactively and not reactively.
Data Analytics allows you to identify possible risks in your digital marketing strategy and can help to alleviate them through mitigation.
In doing so, your business can use statistical models to limit possible precariousness and help to prevent it from occurring.
Let’s take the marketing efforts of an online brand, for example.
Data Analytics can help to determine which platforms are most popular based on the statistics collected, and which channels could use an increase in traffic.
By utilising this data, companies can then refine their digital marketing strategies and improve their ROI by making more calculated decisions when it comes to which marketing efforts work and which require more attention.
This can help to mitigate wasted efforts.
Although inevitable, especially for long-standing brands, setbacks are unwanted experiences for any business; however, the way in which these setbacks are handled plays a very important role in whether customers remain loyal to the brand or not.
Having a plan and being prepared for when a setback may occur is important, and this is where Data Analytics can be incredibly helpful, especially in terms of digital marketing efforts to mitigate these setbacks.
For example, sales data collected from a brand’s online store can help to identify which products sell at a loss, and how the customer’s experience with the e-commerce setup can be improved.
With this kind of insight, brands can then pinpoint which products to sell at a discounted rate, and where the drop-off may occur in the customer’s journey.
Data Analytics, in this example, can thereby assist with the brand’s digital marketing strategy by highlighting areas that need improvement and pinpointing how best to maximise their online performance, especially when it comes to increasing their sales.
3. Make Informed Decisions
Making choices based on a hunch or imperfect predictions can place any business at risk.
Data Analytics eliminates this risk and allows businesses to make informed decisions based on factual results.
As previously mentioned, having a proactive approach to decision-making in digital marketing efforts is oftentimes ideal, but the alternative reactive approach can sometimes be useful as well.
Predictive analytics aids in predicting future results based on previous data collected, whereas prescriptive analytics can be utilised to determine how your business should react to that speculation.
Data-driven decision-making is one of the greatest benefits of Data Analytics because it allows for appropriate steps to be taken in refining a digital marketing strategy based on the ROI.
By measuring performance and utilising concrete and trusted data, clear and unbiased decisions can be made for the betterment of the brand or business.
Modern data analytical tools in particular, such as interactive dashboards and the tracking of conversions, can help businesses or brands to make wise managerial decisions that work in conjunction with their digital marketing strategies.
Performance measurements used to evaluate the efficiency of investments are, ultimately, what can refine said strategies.
4. Improve Efficiency
The prerequisite of a well-oiled machine is:
a) knowing that the mechanics work, and
b) ensuring that the person operating the machine knows what they are doing.
For the mechanics to work, having all the necessary information to run that machine successfully is, therefore, crucial to ensure smooth sailing.
This is where Data Analytics can help.
Why?
Because it improves and maintains efficient operational services provided to customers and clients and it prevents a bottleneck effect from happening.
In essence, Data Analytics streamlines the internal and external processes of your business for optimal functionality and success.
For example, let’s say an online store has just completed a website rebuilding project.
It’s the same store but with a new look and feel, and the brand plans to run competitive sales on the day of its relaunch to celebrate its new design and functionality.
By analysing the sales data captured before launch, digital marketers can determine the average volume of daily online shoppers versus the probability of the number of customers expected on the big day (especially if digital marketing campaigns have been planned).
With this data in mind, the brand can then plan to increase its website’s hosting instance to support the influx of customers from social channels on the day and have additional stock and customer support available to help mitigate any issues that may occur.
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5. Enhance Security
Data security threats are a very real phenomenon that should not be taken lightly.
Protecting one’s business from these threats should be of utmost importance, therefore, one of the very first steps to be taken by any business should be the reinforcement of security measures to prevent data breaches and threats to security.
Data Analytics is a great method here to do so because it can help to decipher and identify any previous data breaches or threats using the statistics gathered, refined and encapsulated over time.
In fact, many IT companies have specifically utilised this method to unravel, study and evoke their audit logs.
In doing so, one can identify what may have caused the breach and how it essentially happened.
Gathering this information can help to identify the Achilles heel of your security methods and processes, and help to decide which can be arranged or improved to prevent data security threats from happening again.
Sourcing the root of a security breach prepares your business for the future and helps to avoid repeating mistakes made in the past.
This is a benefit unlike any other and while often overlooked, it is one of the most advantageous.
6. Increase Brand Awareness
If people are unfamiliar with your brand, they will (obviously) not talk about it with their peers and so your business will have little opportunity to grow and achieve online success.
This is usually where digital marketing strategies come into play, and Data Analytics is the perfect ally to those efforts.
Why?
Because success needs to be measured.
Boosting your brand awareness is always a clever digital marketing strategy, especially when seeking company growth and online success; however, not all businesses know which are the best steps to take to ensure top results through those strategies, and this is where Data Analytics steps in.
With the help of captured data and insights, as well as deciphering those results with analytical tools, brands can assert themselves in a well-informed position so that how their business is received by the public may be identified.
Data Analytics helps to pinpoint which audiences are interacting with your business, and who your target market really is.
Therefore, this kind of insight can provide the foundation for a digital marketing strategy that is focused on creating appropriate content and follows calculated steps to boost brand awareness and strengthen brand loyalty.
What’s more, this degree of analysis can also help to pivot campaigns toward greater success and guide future digital marketing tactics.
7. Identify Data Types
Every digital marketer or data analyst needs to understand and be able to categorise the three most important types of data so that they can learn
a) how these types correlate and
b) where they are useful in marketing strategies.
Here’s a quick summary of the three main types of data:
- Customer Data: any information gathered from your customers i.e. who they are, how to contact them, their demographics, when they are most active on social media and what content they prefer, etc.
- Financial Data: any information about your business’s sales and marketing statistics; these include pricing for products and services, costs for shipping and tracking systems, the online spend for campaigns or clicks, etc.
- Operational Data: any information on your business’s daily performance and operations i.e. logistics, shipping, and any other systems that help your business to run smoothly.
Once these types of data are recognised, areas that require improvement for a brand or business to function more efficiently can then be identified through data analysis.
These results presented in digestible reports can help with the process of pinpointing those areas, and they can be used to refine iterative marketing strategies.
How Data Analytics Can Improve Your Business Strategy
Collecting raw data with no concept of how to analyse it would be like having a sports car at your disposal but not knowing how to drive.
This is, essentially, a wasted opportunity, and Data Analytics can help you to get the most out of your ride.
Having relevant data captured and knowing how to interpret it will enable you to plan strategically when it comes to your digital marketing campaigns, and this process begins with identifying where to utilise the results so that you can improve your strategy and tactics.
Data Analytics can be a great asset in online spaces.
Why?
Because not only can this data be presented in an insightful and digestible report, so that recurring digital marketing strategies can be better refined, but Data Analytics can also assist with interim campaign reporting that uses measured performance to adjust marketing campaigns for better results.
Post-campaign reports can also be created using Data Analytics to better inform data-driven decision-making for future digital marketing campaigns and tactics.
This data will essentially enable you to strategise how to approach challenges and setbacks so that digital marketing strategies and other business operations can ultimately flourish.
Four Types of Data Analytics and How We Can Help
Let’s do a final recap of the four types of Data Analytics that can help any business to identify where they currently are in their progress, how to analyse their growth, and what the next steps are for them moving forward.
These include the following:
- Descriptive: identify what happened
- Diagnostic: acknowledge the reason why it happened
- Predictive: predict what will most likely happen in the future
- Prescriptive: agree upon the best plan of action
This may seem pretty straightforward, but unfortunately, it’s not enough.
Relevant data analytics tools need to be used to thoroughly research and understand what is seen in the data recorded.
Tools like Google Analytics are great ways to help finish the job, and if you still struggle with understanding the data recorded, we can help you.
Whether to improve the workforce of your business or amplify the digital marketing efforts of your company, Data Analytics plays an imperative role in allowing your business to achieve its goals and realise the objectives laid out in the blueprint of your company.
Arora Online can help to analyse the raw data captured and formulate a digital marketing strategy that suits your specific needs.
Our meticulous analysis and marketing strategies can boost your business to the next level and ensure that well-informed business decisions are made for the development and sustainability of your company.
Reach out to us and let us provide your business with the information needed to improve your digital marketing strategy.
We know how to collect and understand data from the right audience that is relevant to your business and create an effective course of action that is sure to produce results.
