Often, consumer outreach is considered a soft science, in which the focus is creative content, and numbers get pushed to the side. However, analyzing data is not just for the accountants and engineers on your team.
Data analytics is an important aspect of any successful business. Without analyzing what is and isn't working in your business, you will not be able to build a successful and predictive strategy.
Consumer outreach is no different; it is crucial that you understand your target demographic in order to nail down your business' niche.
"Marketing is all about connecting with the consumer in a way that makes you stand out," says Max Schwartzapfel, CMO of Fighting For You New York. "You can't do that without first knowing who your consumer is and how your business fits into their life."
Consider using data to better understand your consumers' interests and behaviors in order to fine-tune your marketing strategy.
10 Ways Data Can Help Optimize Consumer Outreach
Use data to hone in on your outreach strategy. Reviewing the numbers found in your demographic data, engagement information, and sales can help you build a strong marketing strategy destined for success.
1. Understand Your Target Demographic
Use data on your clients' demographics, such as geography and age, to better optimize consumer outreach. An analysis of who is currently engaging in your business can help you build a profile of your target demographic, which allows you to create a more niche marketing strategy.
"Analysis of the consumers who most frequently engage in your business can offer important insight into who your target demographic is," explains Max Ade, CEO of Pickleheads. "Then, you can outreach more intentionally and accurately."
When you understand your target demographic, you can better understand your business' niche. This allows you to cater more specifically to the needs and interests of those most excited about what you offer.
2. Fill the Holes in Your Marketing Strategy
No marketing strategy is perfect; consistent engagement across the board is difficult to come by. However, using engagement data to understand where you're not receiving as much follow-through allows you to fill the holes in your marketing strategy, making it stronger than ever.
"Oftentimes, businesses get so caught up in the processes they're used to that they forget to take the time to find where those processes are no longer serving them," Amanda Howland, Co-Founder of ElleVet Sciences says. "Understanding missing links in engagement can really help hone in on a strategy that actually works."
Optimize consumer outreach by reviewing engagement data, like click-through rates, social media engagement, and time spent on your page. Then, you can strengthen the areas of low engagement and continue to bolster methods of high engagement.
3. Optimize Organic Search Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing strategy that is focused on optimizing your website for organic search traffic. An SEO-optimized website will load quickly and easily, feature relevant keywords, and display original and enticing photos.
"Too many marketers cobble together marketing tactics because of shiny object syndrome, chasing competitors, or simply acting on intuition," explains marketing strategist Lee Odden. "If data about your buyers reveals their preference to use search for top-of-funnel discovery and then forums to flush out solution ideas, then it makes sense to use SEO and social media to be where your customers are."
Analyzing the keywords your website ranks for and the search engines that bring in the most traffic to your site can help you build a strong, SEO-focused website.
4. Be Prepared for Busy Seasons
By analyzing year-round trends, you can better prepare your business for busy seasons. A prepared business is better equipped to offer premium customer service and a smooth experience for the consumer.
"Every business experiences peaks and valleys," shares Jason Zhang, CTO of Tapin.GG, a company that allows gamers to get an elo boost from highly skilled players. "It's not uncommon for businesses to have busy seasons and periods of low revenue based on normal, annual trends."
Prepare yourself for these peaks and valleys by reviewing your own business trends. You can then spend the low season preparing for a strong and efficient high season and the high season bringing in consistent revenue.
5. Boost Your Most Popular Products and Services
Looking over sales data allows you to better understand the products and services that are most popular with your customers. This allows you to boost these products and services with high engagement while reconsidering the ones with lower engagement.
"Knowing what products and services excite your customers the most is a great jumping point for strengthening your marketing strategy and creating new offerings," explains Owen Martinetti, Co-Founder of Snoozy.
Consider highlighting popular products or services on social media or even creating a "popular" landing page on your website. This will allow you to open the door to new consumers with a well-loved product, building the possibility of high-engagement returning clients.
6. Understand Customer Behavior
Customer behavior like purchase frequency, product affinity, and average order value are essential insights for your business. By reviewing and analyzing consumer behavior, you can build a stronger strategy based on your consumers' needs.
"There is so much insight to be found within the trends of your sales and engagement. What products or services go well together? What incentives shoppers most to spend more?" asks Lindsay Swaik, VP of Digital at 2XU, a company known for their line of mens compression pants.
Optimize your consumer outreach by analyzing trends in customer behavior. Understanding behavior trends will allow you to better understand your demographic and the offerings most enticing to potential customers.
7. Gain Insights on Conversion Rates
The conversion rate is the number of clicks that turn into actual engagement, like buying a product or signing up for a newsletter. Reviewing the numbers around your conversion rates on tools like Google Analytics can offer valuable insight into consumer behavior.
"Sure, click rate is an important value for understanding the success of your marketing strategy. But, what is that click rate worth without a high conversion rate to match?" says Asker A Ahmed, Director of iProcess Global Research.
Reviewing conversion rates allows you to gain insight into when a consumer is and isn't following through on a desired action. This will allow you to create a more enticing offer that sees better follow-through.
8. Develop a Deeper Understanding of Customer Value
Customer value is the perceived value that a customer assigns to a product or service. By determining customer value, you can prioritize products and services that bring in higher revenue and engagement.
"Ideally, a business strategy aligns with what the customer perceives as valuable," explains Michael Solcz, Founder of Frizbowl. "Offering a service that has very low engagement at a high price, for example, may show that you are not aligning your strategy with customer value."
When your business strategy is aligned with customer value, your products and services are more likely to sell. This allows you to focus on high-value offerings while re-evaluating offerings that might appear low-value to the consumer.
9. Gain Insights on Customer Satisfaction
(Photo : NongAsimo on Adobe Stock)
Sending out surveys and offering opportunities for feedback is a great way to receive valuable insights on overall customer satisfaction. You are then able to review this data and find if there are any commonalities among complaints.
"A satisfied customer is much more likely to return, buy more, and recommend your business to their friends," shares Jason Swilling, Executive Director of Mt. View Treatment Center. "Making the customer feel valued is a marketing strategy in and of itself."
By reviewing data and feedback on customer satisfaction, you can build a stronger customer service base for your business. This is integral to a successful business that prioritizes the needs and satisfaction of the customer.
10. Maximize Value by Analyzing Competitors
In a highly saturated market, it's important to understand how and what your competitors are doing. You can maximize the value of your products or services by keeping an eye on trends in the market and understanding your competitors' weak spots.
"Your business doesn't operate in a vacuum. It works under a market with certain rules and trends, alongside other businesses that want to succeed just as badly as you," says Natalia Kuvelas, Marketing Manager of Custom Goods.
You can make your business stand out among the crowd by developing a marketing strategy with your competitors in mind. What can you offer that your competitors can't? How can you best highlight these strengths?
When you understand the market, you are better equipped to survive and excel in the ever-changing world of business.
Use Data to Strengthen Your Outreach Strategy
Analyzing data on engagement, trends, and sales is a great way to build a strong, foundational outreach strategy. Without reviewing the numbers, you won't be able to outreach productively and understand what is and isn't working in your current strategy.
"Use first- and third-party data to inform the brief, aka your creative mission. Throughout the creative development process, evaluate using quantitative testing and measure the efficacy of the creative against a particular target audience," Emily Ketchen, chief marketing officer & VP at Lenovo, explains.
Data is a powerful tool for your business while building your marketing strategy. Strengthen the foundation of your consumer outreach by integrating data analysis into your work!
