What Influence Does Data Analytics Have On Marketing Decisions?

What Influence Does Data Analytics Have On Marketing Decisions?

Data analytics has the power to transform marketing strategies, as evidenced by the experiences of six industry professionals, including strategists and business owners. From aligning ads with audience habits to crafting marketing strategies from user feedback data, discover how these experts have leveraged data to make pivotal marketing decisions.

• Align Ads with Audience Habits
• Optimize Mobile Site for Conversions
• Streamline Lead-Generation Process
• Leverage Data for Content Strategy
• Make Search Bar Prominent on Mobile
• Craft Marketing from User Feedback Data

Align Ads with Audience Habits

A game-changer for our agency was when we decided to dive deep into a campaign that was underperforming. Engagement was low, and conversions were not meeting expectations.

We analyzed everything from customer behavior to engagement patterns across channels. The revelation came when we noticed a significant disconnect between the content of our ads and the platforms we were using. Our target audience was engaging more actively in the evenings, yet our peak ad placements were in the mornings.

Armed with these insights, we pivoted quickly. We adjusted our ad schedules to align with our audience's online habits and tweaked our messaging to resonate more deeply with their evening routines. The results were night and day. Engagement rates soared, and conversions increased significantly.

This example proves that if you can understand what the data is showing you, be able to iterate, and act accordingly, you can save a campaign from tanking.

Optimize Mobile Site for Conversions

A digital marketing team for an e-commerce brand noticed, through their data analytics platform, that a significant portion of their website traffic came from mobile devices, but the conversion rate for these visitors was much lower than for those accessing the site via desktop. Further analysis revealed that the mobile version of the website had a longer load time and a more complicated checkout process. Based on these insights, the team prioritized optimizing the mobile site's speed and streamlining the mobile checkout process. They implemented changes such as image compression, simplified forms, and clearer call-to-action buttons for mobile users.

Streamline Lead-Generation Process

One time where data analytics significantly influenced my marketing decisions was when I was working with a B2B automotive sales company in optimizing their website. I noticed that while users were coming to the site, they were not converting. Upon further analysis, I noticed that users were not converting and generating meaningful leads due to a bottleneck in the lead-generation form. The data revealed that the form was lengthy, requiring users to fill in numerous fields, leading to frustration and abandonment.

With this insight, I recommended redesigning the lead-generation form to streamline the process. Employing A/B testing, we experimented with variations of the form, testing different lengths and the types of information requested. I aimed to balance lead quality for my client and ease of completion for the site's users.

Through continuous analysis of user interactions and conversion rates, I was able to identify the optimal form structure, which perfectly balanced informative quality and time spent. My changes led to an increase in overall conversions compared to the previously unoptimized form on the site and improved lead quality.

Furthermore, upon further investigation of site traffic and its relation to conversion rates, I amended our PPC and SEO strategy to focus more on highly converting segments, maximizing the impact of our marketing efforts and further benefiting lead generation for the client.

Leverage Data for Content Strategy

Data analytics is an essential component of marketing decisions today. As a marketer, I constantly evaluate data from various dimensions, including customer behavior, competitor strategies, market trends, and product performance. During our recent quarterly review, we considered discontinuing content marketing through a specific channel. However, data analysis revealed a valuable insight: Users engaging with content from this channel were primarily in the consideration stage of their journey, based on their interactions with our website and other content. We identified this trend as an opportunity and took action to divert them to our landing pages. By optimizing the load time for these pages and adding strategic calls-to-action, we were able to significantly improve lead generation. This experience highlighted the invaluable role of data analytics in informing our marketing decisions and maximizing lead potential.

Make Search Bar Prominent on Mobile

We tracked our visitors through Google Analytics' data and saw that when people used our website's internal search bar on their mobile devices, the conversion rate was four times that of those who didn't. And over 75% of our traffic is from mobile devices. We immediately tested and moved it to being visible at the header of our website (previously only in the dropdown navigation). The results were pretty incredible. For those visitors that had the mobile bar visible, we increased our conversion rate from 3.1% to 4.2%. Due to these results, we now have it visible 100% of the time. All this was because of using data analytics.

Craft Marketing from User Feedback Data

One occasion where data analytics guided our marketing decisions was when we were launching an upgraded version of a software application. We relied heavily on user feedback data from the previous version to identify which features were favored and which ones needed improvement. Analyzing this data helped us craft marketing materials that highlighted the improved features and directly addressed any cited weaknesses in the old version. This data-driven strategy led to a strong product launch, with significant growth in user base and revenue. This experience demonstrated the substantial impact of data analytics on marketing decisions.