The measurement dilemma
While nearly all businesses measure the effectiveness of their online marketing activities, many use an array of tools and techniques that don’t necessarily provide a holistic view. This may lead to problems such as inaccurate or low-quality data, which can affect their ability to properly measure results. As such, businesses tend to be less willing to act on any insights the data provides.
There is also the question of what to measure. The explosion of devices and marketing channels means customer journeys no longer follow a straight line from brand awareness to conversion. It’s instead a complex process that makes it more challenging to measure campaigns and understand how they’ve impacted sales or business growth.
A modern customer journey
Customers may see a sponsored post of a brand on Instagram* and a few days later decide to search the brand on their desktop. They may then see an ad for the product on television or in a magazine and visit a physical store before clicking a Facebook* ad weeks later to finally purchase the product.
Understanding the customer journey—the one they actually take, not the one you expect them to take—is key to targeting customers who will convert; and this means looking at the bigger picture. Often, teams are focused on their individual KPIs such as increasing leads or engagement, without considering what the customer is really feeling or thinking during that particular stage of their journey.
Looking at the bigger picture
While business growth relies on these individual improvements, understanding the quality of leads for your business is just as important as boosting the quantity of those leads; so is understanding the length of time it takes for a prospect to become a lead and whether a lead has the intent to convert into a customer. If you’re getting a lot of leads but conversions are stagnating, then it’s time to question whether those leads are of any value to your business.
At Datalicious, we spend a lot of time on funnel analytics, to really understand the customer and how they interact with your business. We also focus on what you’re trying to achieve as a business, to connect the dots between high-level objectives and everyday tactics. This provides a more holistic view of your efforts, so you can see where improvements can be made.
Targeting life moments
Humans are emotional creatures. We tend to make decisions with our hearts, not our minds. When marketing to your customers, it’s important to think about how, when and where you can add value to their life. Instead of focusing on the end result, it’s more effective to think about the life moments of when your customers are open to hearing your message.
For example, if you sell furniture, your customers may be more willing to engage with your ads at a time in their life when they’re looking for a new house. That’s when you can target them with information on your latest sale. To get to the level of marketing maturity where you know the life moments of your customers and can target them accurately, you need to measure what matters.
Data that drives business success
Sourcing data from a range of tools on an ad hoc basis makes it very difficult to understand customer behaviour and how they engage with your business. To allocate marketing dollars effectively, it’s important to map customer journeys and to pinpoint the life moments when they’ll be open to hearing your message. This enables better targeted ads and messages that motivate customers to take action and improve the marketing return on investment.
At Datalicious, we help businesses make data-driven decisions to improve the effectiveness of their marketing. Our expertise combined with premium marketing platforms provide you with a clear vision for who your customers are, their behaviour and how often they interact with your brand. This helps you quickly understand what the data means and how to take action.
In October 2018, a study titled ‘How Holistic Marketing Measurement Drives Business Success’ was conducted with 300 organisations in the United States, by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Equifax. The results showed that organisations which implemented this idea of holistic marketing measurement saw an average of $74 million in additional revenue**. They also enjoyed an average decrease of $2.18 million in marketing spend**, as well as higher rates of lead generation and customer satisfaction.
Many businesses want to improve and optimise their marketing efforts but don’t know where to start. By integrating multiple data sources, measuring what matters and looking at the bigger picture, you’ll have the insights you need to understand and reach your customers in a meaningful way, so you can make better marketing decisions.
Email us to find out how we can help.
* Instagram is a registered trademark of Instagram, LLC, a Facebook company. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. References do not represent any endorsement by those companies.
** Based on 300 marketing leaders responsible for marketing strategy, customer experience and/or customer insights.
