The data-driven approach has only one meaning: making decisions by studying numbers. The literal translation of the terms is crystal clear: data-driven. Those who follow this line make fewer mistakes.
Or at any rate he is less likely to improvise and ignore everything revolving around the scientific method. A path that has reliability and verifiability as its pillars. All this:
“It consists of the collection of empirical data under the guidance of the theoretical hypotheses to be tested and the rigorous, logical-rational and, where possible, mathematical analysis of these data.”
WIKIPEDIA
So what does it mean to be data-driven? Being guided by information retrieved from the field using certain and verifiable methods. Sure but it’s not just about reading the figures: you also have to cross-reference them, evaluate them and use them along with other information to make decisions.
Decisions that are valid and useful for a strategic approach. All this is true in web marketing too, you know? But how to become data-driven in your professional approach? Let’s start with some definitions first.
What is the data-driven approach?
Having a data-driven approach means more than just reading and using numbers collected by analytical tools. Being numbers-driven means looking toward empirical, systematized, and numerous information known as Big Data. A growing trend thanks to mobile and digital.
Big Data is a set of data intended to inform the owner. The characteristics: large volumes, speed of storage, and variety of types. All this requires great computing power.
For example, just glancing at Google Analytics from time to time is not enough to claim to be doing data-driven marketing. The effort is to collect lots of information, systematize it, and organize it with appropriate tools. Then get the information you need to make decisions.
For more: how Google search works
Why invest in data-driven?
The reason is simple: decisions driven by big data, and especially by analyzing it as it crosses over are strategically better.
You can know what works well for the business and what doesn’t through analysis based on the data-driven approach. So you can make better and better decisions for the future and apply a continuous Deming Cycle to optimize your business. To improve your process you need organized data.
The path of data-driven decisions is applied in different areas, it becomes a fundamental tool for lean production but also for web marketing. Let’s focus mainly on this area.
Data-driven and web marketing
One of the areas where analysis based on a data-driven perspective yields excellent results is web marketing. First, because there is good compatibility between tools and means for monitoring.
The industry allows for digitization of information flows. And the big players – Google, Facebook, etc – allow marketers to work in this direction. Providing unique tools and opportunities to do data-driven marketing. Let’s start listing why it pays to work in this direction.
Benefits
Numbers-driven decision making allows you to observe reality and process predictive information. As ppcexpo.com suggests, there are 6 reasons to use this strategic approach.
- Change Time – With the right tools, you can quickly filter out what you need and focus attention on the important data. This provides a unique approach on what changes need to be made.
- Segmentation – Use data to create better audiences. You can learn about the different types of customers who interact with your brand and make strategic decisions on how to best satisfy them.
- Personalization – Through customer segmentation, you can provide personalized experiences and messages based on preferences and needs. Personalization is key.
- Customer experience – Data-driven marketing allows you to deeply analyze feedback, survey feedback and other sources to develop customer experiences.
- Product development – If you understand what customers want, you also improve products. Data-driven marketing helps brands develop assets that accommodate customer needs.
- Multichannel – Marketing needs different channels. The data-driven approach helps you outline and activate diverse strategies with the right content for each occasion. Without improvising.
If you study and analyze big web companies – primarily Amazon – you realize that everything is based on numbers and the ability to store and manage large amounts of data.
Data that we consumers sometimes give away or hand over to companies without even realizing it. Of course, to capture the best results from data you also need to know what to watch and store.
Mindset
Data-driven marketing is important. But to what extent? And how to manage this path? With an appropriate mindset. This means having an empirical method-oriented approach to development. Tools, skills and technologies come later: first you need to have the right mindset.
This is why data-driven mindset is a mindset directed toward the use of data. It occurs when an individual or company makes decisions based on data analysis and not on emotion or intuition. Having a data-driven mindset means that you are not trusting your gut.
More importantly, it means you must have a mind-and an internal structure-ready to accept a response that does not fit your beliefs. Unfortunately, data can hurt in pointing the way forward. Sometimes you look for solutions so you can refute the obvious and agree with your ideas. Which are unfortunately wrong. Data can help you gain clarity but you have to accept the contribution.
No amount of experiments will be able to prove me right; a single experiment will be able to prove me wrong.
ALBERT EINSTEIN Tools
The data-driven mindset in marketing is not enough-you need the right tools. As anticipated, the field is full of possible sources that allow us to enrich our data universe.
A few examples? Let’s start with Google Analytics, which collects information about visits to the site but also the simple internal search field allows us to have the topics searched by users.
Then we have Search Console and all the possible advanced tracking – like banner clicks, for one – that we can manage with Google Tag Manager. We then move on to more articulated tools like Google Optimize or the various:
- Hotjar
- Crazyegg
- Clarity
These tools record user sessions and create heat maps to understand how users move, what they click. To all this we eventually add numbers from external databases such as contacts, leads, purchases on an ecommerce, inventory and shipments.
In these cases, for example, I suggest that clients work with custom dashboards based on Google Data Studio. This tool is key to building custom reports.
Its strength is its flexibility: it allows all information to be retrieved from platforms common to those who chew on marketing and web performance issues. Of course, underlying this is always a superior overview. The custom dashboard I create is the facade, the useful schema for retrieving information and collecting data. Underlying it is always a strategic plan.