Data-driven marketing tops the lists of priorities for 55% of marketers today. This is according to research by eConsultancy. According to survey respondents, 42% also stated improving customer intelligence for a holistic customer view and integration of marketing tools for greater efficiencies as important areas of focus for this year.
In an Adobe study conducted in 2017, 1 in 4 enterprise organizations across North America and Europe stated they rely on data “as a foundation for all of their digital efforts.” As more and more organizations understand the importance of driving strategies with data, higher emphasis is being placed on implementing data-driven strategies.
How are Marketers Implementing Data-Driven Marketing?
With all the focus on Big Data and how quickly it multiplies and the proliferation of new technlogies, marketers certainly do not have a shortage of data or technology to choose from to drive their efforts. So what are the top ways marketers are using to augment their efforts? According to Adobe, the top methods include:
- CRM – 48%
- Real-time data from analytics – 40%
- Integration of analytics across channels – 38%
- Data visualization – 38%
Data-Driven Marketing Challenges
While data-driven marketing may be a top priority for many companies, many challenges continue to thwart efforts. 50% of companies say integrating data across platforms is the most significant barrier to achieving data-driven marketing success. (Ascend2)
Additionally, 49% pointed to enriching data quality and completeness as a challenge and 42% stated that measuring data-driven marketing ROI was a challenge.
Most-Effective Data-Driven Tactic – Email Personalization
When data-driven marketing techniques are successful, email marketing is seeing the most benefits, especially in the ability to use data insights to personalize mesaging. 47% of companies in Ascend2’s survey stated that email personalization is the most effective data-driven marketing tactic.
So why personalize emails? With consumers demanding more personalized messaging, email is one of the easier channels in which to implement personalization. Personalized emails are more apt to stand out within the inbox, make an email more likely to be opened on, and strengthen customer experiences by sending the right content to the right people at the right time.
Take a look at some of these other compelling statistics:
- 74% of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement. – eConsultancy
- Only 39% of online retailers send personalized product recommendations via email. – Certona
- Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. – Campaign Monitor
- 53% of marketers say ongoing, personalized communication with existing customers results in moderate to significant revenue impact. – DemandGen
- Marketers have noted a 760% increase in revenue from segmented campaigns. – Campaign Monitor
What Will Drive the Demand for Data-Driven Marketing?
In research by IAB, survey respondents were asked about the factors that they expected to be most influential in driving their data-driven marketing.
- Demand/interest from customers was ranked as the main factor expected to drive data-driven marketing and media initiatives (69.4%)
- The growing emphasis on investment measure-ability/accountability was ranked as the second most important factor (47.2%)
- General desire to be more “customer-centric” was ranked as the third mst important factor to drive data-driven marketing (38.9%)
Effectiveness of Data-Driven Marketing
So just how effective is data-driven marketing?
A study by Forbes showed that 64% of executives “strongly agree” that data-driven marketing provides a competitive edge in deciding on how to compete with other companies in the same field.
According to Media Math, 53% of digital marketers said “a demand to deliver more relevant communications/be more ‘customer-centric’” is one of the top driving factors for companies who are investing in data-driven marketing.
According to Attomdata, companies with data-driven marketing are six times more likely to be profitable year-over-year and 75% of companies see increased engagement when they use data-driven marketing.
Is your marketing data-driven? Check out one of our resource guides to learn more about data-driven marketing practices.
Interested in learning more about additional marketing strategies and tactics to provide today’s consumers with exceptional experiences? Download our Customer Experience Marketing eBook.
Learn how Porch Group Media can help you get to know your customers better and reach them across channels to boost your marketing success. Contact us to get started!
