The marketing function is considered the powerhouse of any company. It is simply an art and science. It is an art since it is a way of understanding, communicating, and connecting with the audience and science because communication has to be measurable and monitorable.
Any marketing activity generates a large quantity of data. This data needs to be used effectively throughout the customer purchase funnel. This will lead to better leads, repeat purchases, and loyal customers who advocate the company and help the company become the most coveted brand.
The customer funnel is also known as the AIDA model in marketing terms. It has various touchpoints which generate data about the customers.
The AIDA model stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Let’s take a closer look at each step and determine the data points and how analytics plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of strategies at each stage.
Attention – This step involves grabbing the attention of potential customers. To engage the right audience marketers to identify the potential market. Segment the market based on demographics, geography, areas of interest, etc., and create campaigns targeting specific audiences.
Analytics plays a critical role in the identification, segmentation, and targeting of potential customers. The marketer collects data through primary and secondary research to identify the potential market. This data is then filtered and checked against the parameters of an ideal market set by the management. Demographic segmentation can be done based on geography, age, income, education, and gender.
The campaigns can be devised based on this information and customized to suit different target market segments. This can be done with the help of analytics. Data analytics helps to understand the mindset of the target group, create a buyer persona and help create content that appeals to the target segment.
Desire – At this stage, the target audience is identified and the aim is to create an interest in your product/service, and its benefits and convince them of the potential fit. At this stage, the marketers will develop engaging content that will communicate with the audience through various mediums. Analytics helps to identify the suitable medium for each target group, set the tone of the communication, and align the communication with their desires and needs.
In this stage, the campaigns implemented by marketers need to be monitored, measured, and analyzed to understand their success rate.
For example – A digital marketer is running an ad to promote a new range of sports sunglasses. the budget is Rs. 50,000 for 5 days.
The aim is to generate traffic to the website. It is observed that a certain set of keywords and certain social media platforms perform well. They drive maximum traffic per day at optimized Pay Per Click (PPC).
Thus, analytics, in this case, helps to understand the well-performing keywords. It helps to monitor the daily spending and traffic generated. This allows the marketer to decide on the modifications to the campaign, understand the trend, gauge the conversions and thereby decide the future strategies.
Interest – In the interest stage, the marketer aims to motivate the customers to purchase. The motivation is through effective marketing communication. The way information is presented in online or offline ad campaigns creates interest.
Data analysis in this stage includes setting the expected engagement, conversions, and revenue using the past data also forecasting the new benchmark.
The marketer is also in a position to assess the quality, and quantity of prospects, the effective mediums, and how the prospects are interacting and engaging with the ads.
Action – This is the most crucial stage in the pyramid where actual conversions happen. The prospects convert to paying customers.
The data generated at this stage is used to decide the success of the entire marketing mix and marketing plan. This data is utilized to predict future sales and to decide, the return on investment (ROI). It also helps to understand the extent of success and to decide, the direction of the marketing efforts.
Data forms the base of developing any marketing strategy. A structured representation and interpretation of the data show the way forward. Hence, Marketing Analytics and predictive analytics are integral constituents of marketing as a whole.
MIT School of Distance Education (MITSDE) is one such institute that understands the current skills gap in the market and strives hard to reduce it. For this purpose, MITSDE brings to you PG Diploma in Marketing Management (PGDM Marketing Management) or PGDM (Executive) in Strategic Marketing Management for those possessing 2+ years of experience. This online marketing course covers the basics & the latest concepts in marketing gives hands-on training on the latest analytics tools and teaches you to create a brand, analyse market trends, and design marketing campaigns.
Thus, to become a complete marketer the knowledge of marketing analytics and effective utilization of data becomes important.
