You might have heard the marketing team described (in jest, we hope) as the Department of Colouring In. Or perhaps you know marketing as where the creative, and sometimes a bit mad, ideas come from.
And while we’d agree, we’re usually a very creative, imaginative, idea-generating bunch, any marketer worth their salt knows that for tangible results all that creativity should be built on a firm foundation of data.
Yep, data. Numbers, figures, research and all that lovely stuff that allows us to mix art with science. That’s where the magic really happens.
For us, there are three quite obvious, but very important, reasons why data is so important:
1. On your marks, get set…
Data is the perfect starting point for any campaign.
The process of putting together a campaign can sometimes feel daunting and typically the bigger the team the more ideas (and dare we say egos) in the mix.
Having some data readily available to drive that early-stage thinking means early thoughts can be easily stress tested and prioritised based on more than just opinion.
For instance, the below data can be particularly useful at this stage:
- Messaging and/or creative performance from previous campaigns
- Conversion analysis from evergreen activity or campaign
- Audience attitudes and actions analysis
These data sets allow you to match your creative, platforms and campaign structure to what you know resonates with your target audiences making for a more successful campaign from conception onwards.
2. Please, please me
Data can be your best friend when it comes to justifying your decisions or generating approval for budgets and ideas.
Not only does rooting it in data maximise campaign performance and streamline the process, it also has benefits when dealing with stakeholders across your organisation. Marketing and campaigns can sometimes be seen as an unknown art or just a ‘nice to have’ rather than fundamental to generating revenue and supporting a sales function.
The right data can be your closest ally when pitching for budget or selling concepts into leadership. Whether it’s forecasting models for how a particular platform might drive ROI or some early customer survey data on a creative route, evidencing with data how you made those decisions is a much more compelling argument.
A compelling argument and enthusiasm for the project goes a long way, but it can go that much further with data in your corner. With solid evidence of why and how a strategy will work, it’s difficult for an individual’s misgivings or creative opinions to stick.
Do yourself (and your budgets) a favour and make sure you present a case that combines creativity and number crunching.
3. A (not so) risky business
Data lead decision making means any risk is in all the right places.
Innovation always needs an element of risk, but it’s our job as marketers to make sure risks are taken in the right way. E.g. daring creative: good. Burning through ad spend: bad. Grounding of your decisions in data both before and during a campaign helps to minimise risk and give your campaigns the best chance of thriving.
For example, if you know your audience hasn’t interacted well with a particular platform previously, you can use this data to plan your next campaign weighting. Likewise, understanding the volume of your target segments and their propensity to convert, means you can allocate resources appropriately when producing creative.
A data-driven decision making process doesn’t eliminate risk completely and if we’re honest our jobs would be pretty boring if it did. But what it can do is help you model the different scenarios, make informed choices and choose where you place your chips when it comes to risk. In our book that’s much more satisfying than a scattergun approach where you see what sticks.
The ways you can use data to inform your campaigns are varied and this can be overwhelming. For us, the simplest place to start is with reviewing your previous activity. Look out for our upcoming blog post on the five pillars of reviewing your activity for a streamlined, methodical approach to this that you can action in your own organisation.
