Marketing. An art or a science? For many an immediate answer springs to mind, and it’s certainly not universal.
As many a marketing professional will tell you, the sphere of marketing encompasses much more than meets the eye. Whether delving into big campaigns, its aesthetics and all things creative or crunching the numbers, evaluating performance and quantifying KPIs, marketing can be considered very much both.
So, in the spirit of buzzwords, effective and purposeful marketing ultimately comes down to the synergy and mastering of both these subject matters. Here on the Custard site, you’ll find a catalogue of powerful insights to support marketing implementation, however, today is very much about the science, and more so data.
In science, data constitutes the field of study that combines domain expertise, programming skills, and knowledge of mathematics and statistics to extract meaningful insights from?data. Sounds pretty nerdy right? Well, in marketing terms, this data is utilised to curate and continually optimise targeted strategies and tactics based on insights into consumer behaviour, whereby we can gain an accurate understanding of our audiences’ needs, desires and future behaviour.
Here at Custard, we focus on outcome and not output, and data is the lifeblood of such a mindset. Whether interpreting or programming CRM systems, delving deep into analytical programmes, such as Google Analytics and Lead Forensics, or evaluating our client’s sales and enquiry levels, it’s data that informs us of our every move and ensures that what we’re doing is always strategic and well-informed.
One of the greatest benefits of working with an agency is that you gain access to a plethora of skills, mindsets and approaches all at once. Require a website whizz? You’ve got one. Need to be seen in key press? We’ve got that covered too. In the same sense, an agency has very much mastered both the art and science of marketing, so if you’re reading this unsure of the purpose data serves in your role then here are some key considerations to get you started.
- What data reflects my KPIs? Is your marketing budget being evaluated against total sales volume, financial figures, perhaps customer feedback? Understanding how your performance is being evaluated and where to access any supporting data should be your first priority to ensure your marketing efforts align with the overarching business objectives of the organisation. For many, Google Analytics’ financial goal tracking is a great place to get started.
- How am I measuring my marketing objectives? If your marketing goal is to increase traffic to the website, conversion or spend then it’s essential that these are all being tracked via the most appropriate platforms. Not all objectives are quantitative in nature, so consider others means of evaluation and processes to quantify and measure outcomes. Triangulation is a leading method for doing just that, where key themes can be interpreted, coded and measured accordingly to support evaluations – think customer feedback, brand perception
- Am I reaching the right people, at the right place, at the right time? How much data can you extract from the platforms you use? Have you fully explored its capabilities? Most platforms allow you to correlate a range of elements when evaluating marketing engagement and trends. Google Analytics offers a range of variables to measure meeting exactly this quota, allowing you to see who is engaging with what messages and when.
- How am I evaluating the effectiveness of my activities? Now here lies arguably the most important consideration. As mentioned, effective marketing is all about synergy between activities and outcomes. Art and science. To continuously adapt, improve and understand the effectiveness of your marketing activities it is essential to evaluate the impact of these on a weekly, and at times daily basis. In doing so not only can you determine what’s working and what isn’t, but you can also shape longer-term strategies for success.
With so much data at our fingertips, it’s all too easy to get fixated upon every minor number, pound or detail, so it does remain essential that you strike the right balance and avoid sacrificing your creativity for the expense of numbers. Data should demonstrate, not dictate, and should be harnessed to study your own hypothesis around the most effective ways in which you can achieve your marketing objectives.
So, if you’re struggling to come to terms with what your key metrics are, how to access the right data for you or how to interpret this to support more effective marketing strategies then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at louis@custardcommunications.com.