The importance of digital marketing analytics

Data is steadily changing the game. Big data has become necessary for both large and small businesses as it offers important insights that are easily accessible – as long as you know where to look.

For decades, business and advertising have been somewhat of a speculative affair. There was no way to directly track ad campaigns and if you wanted information on customer demographics and their lifestyles, you had to stick to manual data collecting and calling; both very low response approaches.

According to Mick from VR Digital Marketing Agency in Canberra, Data from Analytics helps businesses understand the market where they are operating as well as their target customers and their online behaviour. It brings efficiency and value to the marketing campaigns.

Even when this data was available, the technology wasn’t there to examine, compare and compile it into a readable actionable format. Larger companies were able to find data from their customer base but small businesses did not have this luxury.

Now, with the advancements in computer technology and powerful systems that can do a ton of work in a blink of an eye, the landscape is much different. Mass data collection efforts combined with the increased computational prowess had made it easier to decipher and understand customer behaviour like never before. Most importantly, this information is available to all companies, both established firms and little startups.

That fact alone should emphasise the need for data. When technology becomes more advanced and enables better services for a business, it is important to take that chance otherwise there is no doubt your business will be left behind (remember those phone manufacturers who didn’t get into smartphones until it was too late?). This point, however, pales in comparison to the rising demands of consumers who are now entrenched in the digital world. A quarter of today’s consumers who complain to a company’s social media accounts expects a reply in less than an hour while emails triggered by specific behaviours have a 71% higher open rate than general mass emails.

All this indicates that customers want a personal and responsive service through channels they are comfortable with. Long hold times will not work today nor will sending mass (copy-pasted) mails – they do not convert when your competitors continue to deliver the service that customers are now used to.

The simple picture is that data collection and analytics, now easily available with the internet, deliver better insights into consumers’ lives and preferences. Additionally, it offers a business owner the ability to estimate how efficient his or her business practices are and gives actionable information that can be used when making decisions.

With the extensive analytic services available today such as Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel, it is easy to monitor the actions of your customer, their behaviour as well as preferences. With access to all this data, a business can easily construct a persona of the perfect customer, which in turn allows the business to better curate their consumer experience. As mentioned above, creating a buyer’s persona will assist in delivering highly relevant content and ensuring the store experience is shaped to the customer’s experience. Everybody wins.

In summary, if you are convinced about the importance of digital marketing, you can not ignore the analytics.

Mick runs a Digital Marketing agency in Canberra and has been providing Technology consulting for 17+ years.