There are many articles out there that will tell you about all the platforms that will help you collect incredible amounts of data and gather insights into your customers, what they are looking for in a digital agency, as well as into all aspects of your business management. Yet, although these sales-driven blogs will tell you countless times on how imperative it is to collect this data, many common questions remain answered. This article will address them.
Frequently, people know how to collect this data but struggle to properly understand what data they actually need to grow and adapt business strategy to changing client needs. The questions don’t stop there. How can you gain insight into that data? What to do next? How to properly integrate a data-driven approach into your marketing strategy?
This article addresses these challenges and more, allowing you to navigate the often- overwhelming world of data analytics with confidence and use these new insights to guide your business into an era of new prosperity and growth.
First things first: why is data important?
Before we delve into the specifics, it is constructive to better understand what is at stake here and how important it is to use data to drive decisions.
First and most obviously, it means that the decisions you make are informed, more accurate and therefore more likely to see higher success rates.
Secondly, it is a cost-effective solution to receive a greater return on investment (ROI) across all your business initiatives.
Finally, collecting this data is not simply about immediate and pressing business needs. When you begin to implement data-driven decision making into your business strategy, it is easy to feel that it is only useful reactively. However, over time you’ll see that it’ll allow you to be proactive and seize opportunities early on. Moreover, while I may not be able to convince you that your current business needs demand a highly data-driven approach that could (and probably will) change, you will thank yourself down the line when you have a rich portfolio of evidence to help you when you are inevitably faced with a momentous strategic decision – be it in a few months or a few years.
According to Gitnux, up to 84% of companies are investing in Big Data and AI to increase business agility. Data analytics is set to become a necessity to those businesses wishing to out-do the competition so now is the time to implement such techniques into your agency.
Step 1: Data Collection
Collecting data is perhaps the most time-consuming aspect of transforming your data into decisions. There are many examples of software in the market that will potentially support your business needs, but it is nonetheless down to you to sort through what will form your key performance indicators and what other data is imperative for you to keep track of.
Your agency will also want to consider how data should be stored and referenced at a future date. Developing an efficient system will foster a data-centric approach and allow for continuous improvement and effective adaptation to new situations.
Data though incorporates many and various forms of information. To make it easier we can loosely group the information that you’ll need to collect into three categories: customer/client, competitor and performance.
1. Customer/Client
Understanding your audience and their needs, wants and desires are the first step. Think carefully about who you are trying to sell your service to and find ways to research into relevant consumer habits and trends.
The easiest form of data to collect in this regard is demographic data such as age, gender and location which can then be used to tailor your advertising and marketing. This can be achieved by analysing sales data.
However, by taking this a step further and conducting your own audience research through surveys or monitoring social media users, you can then create your content to fit their wider interests, priorities and beliefs.
Another aspect of this that cannot be forgotten is keyword research. It is important to explore and regularly review what people are searching in relation to your niche and as a result of current trends or events.
This newfound understanding of your audience will allow you to expand your customer base and give you further opportunities to optimise your budget expenditure to better serve your clients and reach more customers.
2. Competitor analysis
It will take time to compile a solid list of competitors from which you can compare yourself but having a well-researched list will vastly improve your ability to strategize. There is both quantitative and qualitative data to be drawn from this research. You should be paying attention to more than their product offering and pricing model but also comparing their marketing approaches, branding and website content and structure.
A well-done competitor analysis will allow you to optimise across the board. By taking inspiration from others, you can see what appeals to customers and think about how your service can be improved to accommodate these factors. Similarly, this is useful for the marketing team to improve strategy and campaign performance.
Competitor analysis is incredibly valuable and a fruitful endeavour that has the potential to refine all aspects of business strategy.
3. Performance
Reviewing your own performance can be the most disheartening part of introducing data informed decisions into your strategy. Yet, the data is the easiest to collect. Wherever your website is hosted, whatever PPC campaigns you run and whichever social media platforms you utilise, there will be an analytics section.
It may be worth considering a platform that will allow you to look at these aspects all at the same time. Comparing data sets across platforms is a time-consuming process but software, such as Diginius Insight, will allow you to integrate all your key marketing platforms into one, convenient and easy to use interface.
It is also worthwhile to speak to your clients to see what they are looking for in their digital agency. Such qualitative data is just as valuable as the numerical metrics and by gathering such nuanced insights, you will have a more robust understanding of the problems you need to solve and where you should direct your resources to see growth.
Step 2: Data Analysis
It is time to stop and think again. What are your business aims? What sort of things do you want to learn from all the data you have collected?
Asking the right questions, based off your wider business aims, will make your data talk and allow you to get the most out of these raw numbers. As you become more confident in data analysis though, you will be able to use tools to help you leverage this data more effectively and even delve deeper into predictive analytics. The sky is the limit!
Step 3: Making strategic decisions
You’ve done all the nitty-gritty work and it is now time to put your findings into action, focusing on the problem areas you have identified. Bringing together different data sets to make decisions will allow you to make decisions that are sympathetic to multiple business needs.
Likewise, this information is not simply useful for substantial changes in strategy but for optimising what you already have. All the forms of data mentioned above will allow you to tweak existing business aspects to be better suited to the market.
Data informed decision-making is simply about building up a wealth of evidence from which you can assess your next steps. By nurturing this informed style of strategy within your agency,
An informed decision-making process nurtures a less stressful business environment, making it easier to come up with new ideas and giving everyone confidence when audacious courses of action need to be taken.
The results: drive strategy with data driven decision-making.
Turning data into decisions is not a quick process when done properly, but it is efficient. Utilising the right software and familiarising yourself with large data sets will simplify your business decisions. The main hurdle is knowing where to start, but hopefully this guide will allow you to take those first steps and experience the benefits of utilising data analytics to drive business strategy.
About the Author
Rhian Daniel
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Rhian is the Marketing Communications Specialist at Diginius, with 3 years’ experience in digital marketing and content creation. Recently, Rhian has focused on content around Microsoft Advertising but has helped with marketing for various business needs.