The "Guesswork" in Marketing is Over

Over the last few years, data has become essential in companies' business development and is a trend in the world of technology. Data takes center stage; everyone is talking about analytics, artificial intelligence, customer journey, etc. "Data is the new oil", as someone has already said, but, in fact, data per se... is useless!

 

For, the use that is made of data and the ability to transform data into "intelligence" is the great differentiating factor.

 

Despite not being a current theme, it is, in fact, a reality still somewhat distant for some organizations, which do not recognize its value and the real differential factor that data can have as an essential tool for the development of their business, improvement of productivity, efficiency, better decision making, among other areas. These organizations, despite having access to data, need a data-centric culture. A study conducted by Qlik, found that only 24% of business decision-makers feel comfortable with the effective use of data.

 

Data Literacy is, therefore, a significant issue in today's and modern management. The ability to access, read, interpret and demonstrate the insights discovered and subsequently act and make decisions based on these insights is often the difference between success and failure. In today's organizational ecosystem, it is no longer only large companies that can create large information repositories, data lakes or real-time analytics. Fortunately, these are increasingly democratized concepts and have been made available to organizations. Therefore, it is no longer enough to have data, installed capacity to extract, process and make it available and technology. Everyone can have that. The real differentiation lies in training resources and teams to interpret all the information collected and made available.

 

As far as marketing is concerned, the situation is similar. Analytics and analytical profiling have an increasing place in marketing departments. In marketing, data is the essence of decision-making and strategy definition. We live in the analytical age, there is no going back. As I often say, the "guesswork" in marketing is over! Marketing strategies must be increasingly based on data, with a growing concern to measure, as accurately as possible, the real impact and return on marketing. No longer are campaigns made just because we "think" they will have an impact or because they are disruptive or very creative. Decisions are made based on data and the strategies implemented must be measured and evaluated.

 

In 2019, the Harvard Business Review stated: Customer experience has become the new marketing. And, only with analytics is it possible to design a compelling customer journey, to know customers, their consumption habits, purchasing behaviors, "moment of life", and history of interactions with the brand. In these channels, in which way, etc. Data... and more data. Marketing of the Future uses all this data to extract relevant insights, allowing you to create unique customer experiences.

 

The Marketeer is a manager who makes informed decisions and has to be increasingly data literate, able to understand the business, analyze data, and define and interpret KPIs. These are core competencies for any marketing and communication professional who wants to impact their company's business.