Enhance marketing efforts with data analytics to improve ROI

Introduction

Marketing analytics enables teams to use data points about prospects and their path through the sales process to increase the performance of their go-to-market efforts while maximizing return on investment (ROI).

The process of crediting profit and revenue increase to marketing initiatives is known as marketing ROI. Organizations can measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns on a global or campaign-by-campaign level, leading to revenue growth by determining the return on marketing investment. Marketing ROI is typically used to justify marketing spending and budget allocation for current and future initiatives and campaigns.

When handled appropriately, the positive effect can be felt throughout teams and business units. Marketing analytics, for example, uses data to assist advertisers in identifying prospects, calculating the return on current efforts, and forecasting demand. Selecting the right analytics tool brings together vital prospect data for a more comprehensive perspective of the buyer’s journey, removing guesswork and allowing teams to develop a more personalized, successful strategy.

Marketing analytics has three primary applications

Any effective sales and marketing plan requires marketing analytics. Teams can gain insight into their potential prospects by focusing on the proper data points and using the right marketing analytics tools. This results in more relevant content that engages customers, more productive teams due to the elimination of manual duties, shorter sales cycles due to a more direct buyer’s journey, and – ultimately – more income. You can answer your prospects’ requirements sooner and better than your rivals by understanding their difficulties and the information they consume. To better understand their main prospects, marketers employ a number of technologies and data.

There are 3 primary use cases for marketing analytics, which are backed by a wide range of tools:

1. Prospect identification and list quality improvement
2. Tracking campaign results
3. Demand forecasting and finding new possibilities

How can marketing analytics enhance ROI?

Marketers can utilize marketing analytics software to put data into perspective, allowing them to detect trends which can be leveraged to improve corporate performance.

Account managers may be able to use this information to gain new business, reallocate resources to the most efficient marketing channels, and forecast new opportunities. The benefit is clear: incorporating marketing analytics tools into the sales procedure can save time and money.

Lead prospecting

Customer acquisition initiatives can benefit from marketing analytics programs in a variety of ways.

To begin, many campaign managers gather data on people who interact with advertisements or visit the company’s website. Advertising networks are frequently used to get this data. However, such programs typically only collect the most basic demographic information. This makes having an in-depth understanding of your prospects and their true needs difficult.

For a more complete picture of their visitors, advertisers resort to third-party data suppliers. These companies can link internet monitoring cookies with profiles stored in their databases. The integration of demographic and firmographic data converts clicks into prospects for the future, allowing advertisers to examine specifics such as location, job titles, industries, and company names.

Third-party data can help campaign managers develop a more complete picture of prospects, making it easier to identify qualifying leads. Audience targeting is the process of configuring campaigns to only reach these users or people who fall into similar categories.

Campaign performance monitoring

Campaign managers can typically evaluate ad performance in real time with online advertising. Clicks, impressions, and conversions are all metrics that assist them to figure out which ads are the most effective.

For the modern marketer, real-time campaign tracking is a tremendous tool. Underperforming placements are delayed or changed, while those with a strong ROI may be given more ad dollars. These findings frequently result in more effective ad spending. Information from different media channels can be combined with web applications to better understand the client’s journey.

Demand forecasting

Marketing analytics are fueled by timely data. However, archiving past data is essential for marketers to discover trends and forecast demand. Seasonality, for example, can have an influence on the efficiency of marketing campaigns, and analytics can help identify these aspects.

Complex forecasting models can also be used to determine how adjustments to a campaign will affect performance or which products are going to be in high demand as a result of short supply next quarter. These models, which are based on predictive analytics, are the nearest approximation marketers have to a crystal ball. You have an advantage over the competition if you have this information at your fingertips.

Locating the most effective marketing analytics solution

The marketing technology (MarTech) industry has exploded in recent years. Marketers have a large number of options from which to pick. The greatest marketing analytics solution for your company is mostly determined by your needs and existing systems.

Consider the following questions when seeking a solution:

1. What marketing difficulties does your business face? Do your salespeople need assistance generating new leads or are you having trouble keeping customers? Different difficulties necessitate different approaches.

2. Will your present sales and marketing software work with the new software? Many MarTech tools are built on top of existing software, like e-commerce platforms. You’ll want to make sure that several programs work well together.

3. How trustworthy is prospect data? If you decide to use a third-party data supplier, be cautious to inquire about their data collection methods. For instance, you’ll want to know how they verify the details so you can trust their advice. Analytics are only useful if you use high-quality data.

4. Is the solution scalable? Hundreds of campaigns executed by hundreds of account managers may be tracked by enterprise-level firms. Not all solutions are up to the task. If you don’t make sure the solution fits your requirements and is a match for your team, onboarding and uptake will be a nightmare.

Marketers’ use of marketing analytics tools is only going to grow. The first step in utilizing these powerful tools is to gain a thorough awareness of their capabilities and how to avoid errors when it comes to building and utilizing marketing analytics.

What are the difficulties of measuring marketing return on investment?

The equations required to calculate marketing ROI may appear straightforward at first, but they can soon become sophisticated and layered. Consider the following:

Marketing metrics are too simple

Many aspects must be considered when determining genuine marketing ROI. For marketers to evaluate it, there should first be a consistent and clear revenue baseline. External factors that affect campaign success, like seasonal trends, weather, and other events, ought to be considered into ROI calculations.

Marketers are concerned with immediate results

Many marketers measure their success using particular, instant measures. They look at impressions, social shares, click-through rates, and other metrics all too often. The impact of long-term initiatives such as customer connections, customer retention, and brand recognition, on the other hand, can take months or years to materialize. With this in mind, it’s critical to match success measures to a campaign’s overall purpose and timeframe.

The omnichannel marketing landscape

Today’s omnichannel initiatives span several touchpoints throughout online and offline channels. Measuring marketing ROI on particular channels will only give marketers pieces of the total marketing impact puzzle. Accurate marketing ROI evaluation now depends on unified marketing metrics capable of bringing different data points together to create coherent, detailed insights.

Several touchpoints prior to purchase

A consumer must go through 6-10 touchpoints before making a purchasing decision. Marketers must comprehend the influence of online and offline touchpoints throughout the marketing mix in order to truly assess marketing ROI at the granular level. When calculating marketing returns, the link between any of these touchpoints in the sales funnel must also be considered.

Outdated attribution models

Misattribution can skew ROI estimations if marketers use outmoded attribution methodologies to measure and associate the effect of touchpoints and channels. Aggregate metrics, such as media mix models, will not give the granular information that marketers require. Granular measurements such as multi-touch attribution models, on the other hand, will not reveal the impact of offline channels as well as external factors on marketing ROI.

Unsuitable analytics software

Finally, measuring marketing ROI can be difficult without the right analytics software. There are a great deal of diverse analytics tools available, with various features to satisfy a wide array of business needs. Business intelligence software is one solution that can make data analytics and visualizations simple for even non-technical marketers, thus equipping each individual with the tools needed to contribute to a greater marketing ROI.

Conclusion

Analytics are essential if you want to know how effective your marketing efforts are working and where you can improve. Using marketing analytics to improve ROI and obtain insight into how business campaigns are functioning is crucial. Unfortunately, most organizations have trouble collecting and interpreting reliable data in a way that benefits their bottom line.