4 Steps to Transforming Data into Actionable Insight

In today’s world, marketers are focused on everything they can do to “move the needle” that little bit that makes them more successful. They fine-tune strategies to increase long-term marketing effectiveness, all driven by analytics.

Marketers in numerous industries tout this type of success as validity for their innovative strategies, and with good cause. And though I agree and think many of these businesses might be on the right track, I also think that most of these strategies should be more advanced for them to be as effective as they could be.

To achieve maximum success in today’s cross-channel marketing campaigns, the test is how well you turn that data into insight that informs wise marketing actions. There are ways to make sure that your business does this expertly, for maximum impact. You just have to follow a roadmap.

A roadmap will help you learn the best route for your business to process.

Your business has a Point A (where you’re at) and a Point B (where you want to go), but it’s prudent to know not just where you’re headed, but also how to get there and where to make stops along the way.

If you are taking a trip from L.A. to New York, it may be best to take the most direct route. Or it may be best for you to take a more unconventional route—visiting loved ones, popular eateries, and national parks (I recommend Zion and Glacier, by the way). But direct and unconventional are both better than simply deciding to drive eastward without guidance.

By focusing on both campaign strategy and analytics, you’ll make wiser decisions for the route of your business. Then, the return on your investment (in terms of finances, efficiency, and overall impact) will be greater than you could’ve ever anticipated, and you just may have one of the best trips of your lives. (Your customers’ trips could be special, too, but they’ll look a bit different than yours.)

Here are four steps that will ensure your company’s journey/campaign strategy is excellent, ultimately anticipating what’s next and optimizing on that insight:

Step 1: Descriptive Analytics

First things first, look in your rear-view mirror to what you’ve done. What worked? What didn’t? When you get a complete view, from a descriptive analytics standpoint, you’re on the right track.

Step 2: Attribution and Cross-Channel Insight

Take the data from those analytics and connect them across channels to get a clearer picture as to why things happened the way they did. Doing so enables you to support customers’ journey and adapt in real time to their behavior. Bring online behavioral info into the mix here.

Step 3: Customer Knowledge and Targeting

As you get a better idea of which results came from which actions, you get a clearer picture of your target audience (who they are, how they respond, etc.) and, quite notably, how to reach segments of potential customers who have not yet been reached.

Step 4: Predictive Intelligence

Finally, take your understanding of your customer and your knowledge of your own business/field to predict what type of actions will come. Then, you simply need to act in accordance with those predictions. This comes to bear not only for loyal and future customers but also for customers who might be likely to bolt for your competition. When you know what they want and need, you can offer it to them for their benefit as well as your own. And the results will show by increased response rates, improved decision-making, and overall increased marketing effectiveness. Every little bit counts and can be measured.

If you follow this map, you can go from generally travelling from one place to another to specifically journeying the route that is perfect for you and your business; save money, save time, make memories—whichever are most important for you and for your unique customers. That sounds like a pretty good journey to me.