5th NOVEMBER 2018

Over the past decade, there’s been an explosion of data available to marketers, with almost every marketing tool, system and platform generating a slew of numbers that must mean something.

 

Countless hours can be spent collating long reports that have every data point imaginable, a feast of figures that’ll keep even the most enthusiastic marketing guru going forever.  Big business – with matching big resources – can gain competitive advantage by sifting through this data to drive performance.

 

The danger for medium and smaller organisations or subsidiary brands in big business, is that they fall further and further behind, unable to gain a foothold and grow, because they miss the critical insights hidden in their big data.

 

We see lots of different size businesses grappling with this data issue.  And it’s not just online B2C businesses that should pay close attention to data, B2B and industrial organisations have much to gain from getting to grips with their data.

 

Conker’s Method

Here at Conker, we’ve created a clear method to harness and analyse the data available.  Even more importantly, we use this data to help create an optimal marketing strategy to give best return on investment for our clients:

 

  1. It starts with objectives of the business, and how marketing can help achieve those objectives.
  2. We then look at what marketing channels could best support delivering the objectives and the review data available from previous marketing activity.
  3. 80/20 rule time: it’s an old adage but one that still works. In the time it takes to get the last 20%, you could have rolled out a campaign that transforms the business.  The great advantage medium and small businesses have is that you can be far more agile, learning and adapting on the move to beat the competition.
  4. Triangulation – there are so many points of data available, but when more than one tells you a similar answer, chase it down, hard!
  5. Be willing to say you were wrong, take a scientific approach instead; hypothesize, test, analyse, change your approach, repeat.
  6. No business has unlimited marketing budget. So, focus first on the channels that look like they will deliver the best return.
  7. Track your results with data that helps you understand the return on investment – this isn’t just online, look to your sales team and office staff to support this activity.

 

Never forget though, that brilliant, creative ideas are the lifeblood of strong marketing campaigns, so make sure your data tests and supports your creative ideas so that both together provide the spark that ignites the sales fire.

 

Want to know more about our approach to making data work for your business?  Give Martin a shout on 0161 445 9837 or martin@conkercommunications.com.

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