The Importance of Data Analytics for Marketers In 2024

A prompt generated by the OpenAI model ChatGPT. Note - this prompt is just a result of play and doesn't represent the present nor predict the future.

Marketing in the digital age is an art that increasingly relies on science to make the most impact. Data analytics is the perfect example of this phenomenon. It's a discipline that is transforming the way marketers work by helping them make more accurate and profitable decisions. Data analytics is the not-so-secret weapon that businesses are leveraging to derive key insights into their audiences and expand in saturated markets.

Before the boom of digital marketing in the early 2000s, marketing campaigns were essentially open-ended nets cast wide to reach as many people as possible. The scarcity of deep-reaching consumer data meant that emotion and persuasion were the primary drivers of any campaign. The advent of big data and the subsequent evolution of data analytics changed the game altogether. Marketers now have highly specialized and segmented insights into market trends, consumer behavior, demographics, and purchase preferences. This allows them to craft personalized messages to target the right consumer at the right time and on the platforms of their choice.

Research suggests that chief marketing officers are now spending around 6.5% of their budget on data analytics.

Types Of Data Marketers Need To Use

Let’s begin by examining the three different types of data that are relevant to marketing teams.

Customer data: This refers to a combination of demographics (names, addresses, age, gender, location, income, educational background, employment status, marital status, and so on) and psychographics (behavior, preferences, values, religious beliefs, political affiliations, etc).
Financial data: This includes data internal to a business, like balance sheets, revenue figures, sales and marketing statistics, production costs, advertising campaign costs, customer acquisition costs, pricing, profit margins, and so on.
Operational data: This covers details about key internal functions and processes, like productivity, research and development, manufacturing, shipping, logistics, and many others.

The Role Of Data Analytics In Marketing

The customer is the proverbial center of the marketing universe. Data analytics is the tool that offers marketers the ability to better understand customer needs and adapt their strategies and processes accordingly. Let’s look at two kinds of insights that data analytics can help marketers discover:

Channel effectiveness: There are multiple avenues marketers use to reach their target audiences. These include print, television, social media, SEO, emails, cold calling, and so many more. Because marketers often rely on a combination of these marketing channels, it becomes very hard to quantify which ones are actually working and which are not. Data analytics can help you quickly understand not only which channels are productive, but also to what degree. This will help you consolidate your resources around marketing initiatives that deliver the best results.
Marketing impact: With data analytics, it becomes easy to understand the type of marketing campaigns that are resonating with audiences and creating the highest impact. For instance, your target audience may be most interested in short-form videos and influencer marketing, and not in social media posts or sponsored ads. Insights like these can help marketers achieve maximum impact by tailoring their messaging and content around known customer behavior.

Data Analytics Use Cases In Marketing

Now that we’re clear about the kind of insights marketers can gather with data analytics, let’s look at the kind of activities it can help you with.

Targeted reach: Let’s say your business sells products for babies and new mothers, for instance, or apparel and gear for extreme sports enthusiasts. In both these cases, your marketing efforts need to be hyper-focused on a narrow subset of consumers. Data analytics can help you target these audiences based on demographic and psychographic information, and suggest the right content and delivery channel to reach them.
Predictive analysis: This refers to the use of statistical models and historical data to predict market trends and demand fluctuations. Predictive analysis helps businesses forecast future outcomes. It can help marketing teams optimize their strategies, develop new products and services, drive sales, attract new customers, and improve customer experience and revenue.
Market research: Data analytics has made traditional market research practices outdated. It has helped marketers develop a deeper and more holistic understanding of their customers in terms of their values, attitudes, belief systems, and preferences. Today’s AI-driven data tools can analyze complex decision-making processes in consumers to deliver actionable insights and trends for marketers.
Behavior analysis: This refers to the examination of how customers engage with your brand. It is based on their digital activities like interactions with your website, purchase and payment patterns, and feedback history. Data analytics can help you develop a deeper understanding of consumer behavior and drive conversions, engagement, and retention.
Personalization: Digital marketing has amplified customer expectations when it comes to their experience with a business or brand. This means personalizing the customer journey for thousands or millions of different buyers, depending on the size of your business. Data analytics can crunch mountains of data to deliver hyper-personalized recommendations to suit individual customer needs and preferences.

Studies have shown that businesses employing data-driven personalization have increased their ROI on marketing spends by up to eight times.

The Future Of Data Analytics In Marketing

The digital transformation of the last few years has radically altered the marketing landscape. The emergence of agile marketing techniques and omnichannel solutions requires marketers to rapidly develop cross-functional abilities. The ability to leverage data fast and independently is key to making better marketing decisions and achieving desired outcomes.

The priority now is the real-time availability of insights, and 67% of top marketing performers believe speed is critical to getting the most out of data-driven marketing. Marketers who still depend on other teams to analyze data and deliver insights will need to quickly adapt to these changing demands or become obsolete.

Get Skilled In Data Analytics With Turing College

Mastering the intricacies of data analytics is easy with specialized distance learning programs from Turing College. Our courses are curated by the brightest talent in the industry, all drawn from leading tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Unity.

Our learning modules prioritize hands-on learning and one-on-one projects and feedback. You also have the flexibility to cover the course at your own pace, without having to quit your current job.

Log on to Turing College today to explore courses in data analytics and take your career to the next level.