Digital marketing: can data improve creativity?

Marketing   |   
Published August 21, 2019   |   

There are all sorts of data flowing through your network. From customer data that includes contact information as well as purchase activity to the daily hits on your website to posts on your blog that generate a lot of attention.

If it hasn’t sunk in yet, that data can be used to create a powerful digital marketing campaign. All you have to do is take a fresh look and relate it back to the sales and marketing process. Here are some examples of how to use data to generate more revenue and improve your brand’s reputation at the same time.

Spot trends and know where they’re going

The combination of the data you collect in-house coupled with external data about industry trends offers insight of historic proportions into what consumers want now. You also have access to information that gives you a good idea of what they wanted yesterday. Combined, the historical and present data create a foundation for projecting what consumers will want next week, next month, and next year.

Projecting those market movements is simpler today than at any time in the past. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence and the ability to assimilate and analyze data, it’s possible to create a scheme for predictive analytics that’s highly accurate. Think of how you can use this type of knowledge to structure a digital marketing plan that remains fresh for more than a couple of months.

Refining your ideal customer profile

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If you’ve never heard of an ICP, don’t think it’s some complicated novelty. The term is short for “ideal customer profile.” It’s a way of identifying the type of consumer who is most likely to be interested in the products that you offer for sale.

Current and past customer interactions will help you refine the ICP and possibly uncover ideas that you’ve overlooked in the past. That includes data that’s landed on your business network and been forgotten. Along with creating a clearer image of your primary customer demographic, you may identify a couple of secondary consumer markets that would also be a good fit for your products.

Adjusting website content to attract more visitors

Content is a major resource in terms of attracting and retaining consumers. The content found on your website must speak to the needs of those who find their way to those pages. That means you need to know what’s motivating them to visit your website.  And which pages that keep them engaged over a few seconds. And how those pages perform from month to month.

Monitoring the data related to page hits helps you understand what topics hold the interest of visitors. That in turn makes it possible to structure the digital marketing campaign to focus more attention on those topics. Along the way, you may need to tweak the content in order to keep it up to date. Doing so will ensure new visitors are not disappointed when they make a first appearance on your pages.

Gauging the success of your social media efforts

Social media is not going away. If anything, it will figure more prominently in your digital marketing campaigns moving forward. That means you need to pay attention to how well your posts are attracting readers and getting them to go where you want them to go.

The right social media posts will encourage readers to engage with your company, visit the website and blog, and even click over to an order page. By setting up and responsibly using those social media accounts to engage with your targeted client base, you bring another layer to your digital campaign, one that’s relatively inexpensive but has the potential to produce a significant return on your investment.

The eCommerce juggernaut runs on big data

For many online entrepreneurs, about half a million and counting, Shopify is a popular eCommerce platform for building and monetizing a retail audience, and it’s proven to be an excellent way to integrate the power of Big Data into a marketing plan for small business practitioners. Take a look at this list of strategies for a sense of the possibilities.

Does the data indicate there’s a problem with acquisition or retention? Could be trouble with your marketing content or even bad site design. A deep dig into data might be the tool needed to help you pinpoint the exact issue and rectify it. The good news is you don’t need a degree in computer science. What you may find is that a few simple changes to the site is all it takes to make visitors stay longer and spend more.

Making your blog more relevant

Any digital marketing campaign must address the use of a blog. You want the content to be informative and helpful to the readers. At the same time, there must be an obvious connection to what your company has to offer. This makes it easier to include backlinks designed to drive traffic to your website.

What does data have to do with this process? It helps you identify the posts that are consistently getting attention. And the links that redirect readers to your website. Analyze that data and use it to plan future blog posts and the choice of links. The result will be more revenue and probably more social media shares by your readers.

Include options to opt into a mailing list or get notifications about new blog posts. Remember you also want to include a way for readers to remove themselves when and if they like. That keeps you in compliance with current regulations and trending public sentiment in regard to data handling and makes it clear you’re not trying to run some sort of scam involving unwanted contacts.

As well as making the most of guest blog opportunities

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Does guest blogging help your marketing efforts? Many site owners find that it does. You generate interest by posting on an authoritative blog. Include links to relevant pages on your site. Monitor the traffic from those links and get an idea of how much is coming from the guest post.

Enhancing your text, email, and video marketing campaigns

The data you collect from website visits, social media comments, and responses to blog posts provides fodder for creating the email, video, and text components of your digital marketing campaign. They provide inspiration for creating unity between each of those components without necessarily falling into the habit of dull uniformity. The thrust doesn’t change, even if the message is differently worded.

Final thoughts

Have you fully explored all the data that’s at your fingertips? If you have a sneaking suspicion that you aren’t taking full advantage of everything it can do for your marketing, you’re probably right. Big data has come a LONG way in recent years. And continuing advances make it more accessible than ever to businesses of any size. The thing is, a golden nugget of information could very well be hiding in plain sight, the kind of nugget that takes you to the next level, but you’ll never see it without the insight and processing power that only modern data analytics can provide.