Why The Modern Marketer Needs to Be Data-Driven

Today’s customers have come to expect relevant, personalized brand experiences—and understandably so. With the average person generating 1.7 megabytes of data every second, there’s no excuse for failing to develop a deep understanding of their desires. However, many brands still struggle to create messaging that really speaks to their customers.

In order to stand apart, you need a data-driven marketing strategy that adapts to your customers’ ever-changing needs and preferences. But before we dive into how to create that strategy, let’s take a look at the benefits of doing so:

1. Personalization. Data offers valuable insights into each customer’s preferences. When you track how users interact with your brand, you can develop highly-targeted campaigns with messaging that’s tailored to their needs and desires.
2. Segmentation. Data lets you continuously update your brand’s customer profiles. As customers move in and out of segments faster than ever, a consistent flow of accurate, actionable information about your users’ preferences and behaviors can support a responsive, in-the-moment brand experience that adds real value.
3. Predictions. Data lets you pre-target customers. By understanding their behaviors and preferences, you can predict who’s in buying-mode, who might be at risk of churning, and which types of messaging will resonate on which channels.
4. Analysis. Data helps you identify which messages are effective when it comes to encouraging key behaviors or building stronger relationships with your customer base. You can use this information to decide where your time and budget are best spent.

How to Implement Data-Driven Strategies

Now that you’re up on the benefits, let’s move on to developing a strategy. Fortunately, it’s easier than you think. Here are a few tips to get started:

1. Set goals. If you haven’t already, take some time to decide what success looks like for each campaign and the channels you use. This will give you a baseline for how well your strategy is performing.
2. Create a single customer view. Data silos make it easy to miss out on vital customer information. By creating a singular view of your marketing metrics, you’ll gain better insights into how your customers interact across channels.
3. Use real-time data. With today’s fast-paced sales cycle, data quickly becomes outdated. To have a truly data-driven strategy, you need continuous updates.
4. Develop marketing automation workflows. All the data in the world won’t do you any good if you’re still sending the wrong messages to the wrong customers at the wrong time. You can avoid errors like these by using marketing automation tools that keep customers engaged.

Final Thoughts

Data-driven marketing can deliver incredible results. However, it does rely on a thoughtful, customer-first approach. To learn more about what effective, data-driven campaigns look like, check out the Braze Inspiration Guide.