At some point, you may well have come across the term data-led marketing.
And we’re going to go out on a limb and say there’s a fair chance you’re under the impression you need to be a big company to execute it to full effect.
Well, if that’s the case, your assumptions are wide of the mark. While the term may conjure up images of teams of analysts with hefty budgets, it’s important to recognize this for what it is: a misconception that’s guiding you down the wrong path.
Any company is capable of implementing a data-led marketing strategy. And the beauty of it is there’s every chance you already have the information at your fingertips to get started.
In this article, we’re going to delve into the nuts and bolts, focusing specifically on what data-led marketing is, why it’s beneficial for your business, how your CRM can help and how to use existing data to kickstart your efforts.
TL;DR
- Data-led marketing means using real customer information, rather than guesswork, to shape your marketing decisions.
- You don't need a big budget, a marketing team or fancy analytics tools to do it. Chances are you already hold the data you need, in customer contact details, purchase history, email engagement and sales notes.
- Bringing that information into one place with a CRM makes it far easier to spot patterns, group your customers and send messaging that actually lands.
- Integrating your CRM with a marketing tool, like Capsule and Transpond, takes things further by letting your customer data flow straight into your campaigns.
- To get started: gather your data, look for patterns, group your customers, pick one small thing to act on and then send it and learn from the results.
What is data-led marketing?
As the name suggests, data-led marketing simply means using real data and information about customers to inform your marketing strategies.
It replaces any element of guesswork or internal assumptions, meaning you can make decisions based on hard, statistical facts.
The benefits of data-led marketing
When you’re running a business, time’s precious and money isn’t free-flowing. It’s important to make the most of every marginal gain to free up as much time as possible so you can drive as much revenue as possible.
Enter data-led marketing…
Let’s take a look at how it helps:
Target the right people with the right marketing
“We can launch a marketing campaign without an understanding of who we’re targeting and what they want - customers will roll through the door, and revenue will skyrocket.”
Said no successful marketer, ever…
Instead of throwing mud at the wall and waiting to see what sticks, data-led marketing gives you the information needed to focus your efforts on marketing that’ll really move the needle.
For example, if upon reviewing your data you find there's a higher click-through rate to your sign-up page from LinkedIn, rather than your blog posts, it’d make sense to focus more time on social media campaigns. Likewise, if you send SMS campaigns and open rates are through the roof, then it’s clear this is a medium you ought to factor into your plan.
Again, there’s no guesswork. No hitting send and keeping your fingers crossed. You can publish knowing the campaign’s supported by what’s worked well previously.
Send messaging that lands.
We all know what happens when you receive irrelevant marketing.
If it lands in your email inbox, you move it to trash. If it’s in your SMS, you delete it. And if you’re targeted with an annoying cold call, you hang up and curse the company for wasting your time.
Data-led marketing allows you to use segmentation to send messaging to the right people. And if you’re questioning whether it’s truly worth the effort, the numbers speak for themselves: nearly 80% of marketing ROI can be attributed to segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns, while DMA research revealed that segmented and targeted emails generate nearly 60% of all revenue.
Retain existing customers
Did you know: a 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by as much as 95%?
Not to mention, finding new customers is more expensive than retaining your existing ones (5-25x more expensive, to be exact).
Follow-up messaging is key to keeping your customers happy; data-led marketing makes this infinitely easier and more effective, giving you the visibility of what they like and what they don’t like, paving the way for you to keep the smile on their face and their cash in your pocket.
Make confident decisions
Every time you rely on guesswork, you’re taking an unnecessary (and potentially expensive) risk. Which begs the question: why rely on internal assumptions if you have the information you need right under your nose?
With a data-led marketing approach, you can use information as simple as what your customers bought in the last month to turn pure gut instinct into informed, commercial decisions.
See what’s working
Ask any marketer the same question, and they’ll say the same thing: some strategies work like a dream, whilst others can be nothing short of a nightmare.
Without a data-led marketing strategy, you’ll remain blind as to which elements of your plan have been a success and which you need to change in future campaigns. Having the courage to crunch the numbers and review key marketing metrics means you’re not shooting in the dark and can improve and iterate strategies over time.
Because let’s face it: there’s nothing more annoying than making the same mistakes twice.
Why your data-led marketing strategy is closer than you think
If you’re sitting reading this article, feeling morose because you don’t think you have the foundations to get started, don’t worry.
Because here’s the thing: you don’t need to buy data or build your list from scratch. You’re already building a whole host of information day in, day out, that can be used to fuel your data-led marketing strategy.
Take a look at what you have, including:
- Customer contact details: names, email addresses and phone numbers
- Purchase or booking history: what people bought, how often and how much they spent
- Notes from sales conversations
- Email engagement: who opened, clicked or replied to past messages
- Website activity: which pages people visit
- Signup and form entries
- Social media engagement
Don’t be fazed or despondent if you don’t have all of this information; even if you have a simple spreadsheet of customers, this is a great starting point. We also recommend checking out your email inbox for golden nuggets.
The issue facing a lot of businesses is that they have disjointed tools, with research indicating companies with fragmented tech stacks spend 29% more on technology while achieving less business impact than competitors with integrated applications.
Which brings us nicely to a CRM’s role in enabling data-led marketing…
Why a CRM supports data-led marketing
When you have information housed in multiple places, you become prone to data silos; teams can’t find things when they need to, time’s wasted on unnecessary manual processes, and the quality of service you offer your customers inevitably takes a hit.
And when your customer service standards drop, there’s every chance they’ll look elsewhere.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. With a CRM system, you can bring key information into one place.
Not familiar with what a CRM is? Allow us to explain:
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management - a CRM system stores all of your important customer information in one place, from simple information such as their name and address, right through to their purchase history and notes from your past conversations.
Its relevance (if you haven’t put two and two together already)is that a CRM is home to a goldmine of information you can use to fuel your data-led marketing strategy.
You can use the information to personalize your marketing and vastly improve the experience for your customers.
But wait - there’s more.
A CRM system’s awesome in isolation, but the real magic happens when you integrate your CRM platform with a marketing tool.
Why integrated marketing and CRM platforms take data-driven marketing even further
While you may have a CRM and marketing platform, if they aren’t working together, the simple fact is they aren’t giving you bang for your buck.
However, this can be easily resolved by integrating the two together, allowing them to talk automatically, with information syncing between the two.
You may think this sounds complicated, but it’s really easy to set up, and then you don’t have to lift a finger.
Which brings us to Transpond and Capsule. Each of these platforms has a specific job: Capsule stores your customer data, while Transpond handles the marketing side of things, sending emails, text messages and social media campaigns.
When integrated, any information entered into Capsule flows directly to Transpond, meaning it can be used in your marketing whenever you want - if the contact has opted in. Any changes you make will be mirrored across each platform, and if someone’s tagged as a repeat customer in your CRM, this means you can market to that group without building the list from scratch.
Add to that, you can also:
- Email everyone who bought a particular product, using purchase details already stored in Capsule
- Use marketing automation to send welcome messages to new contacts when new information is added
- Check in with disengaged customers, based on the last time they engaged with you
- Set up groups based on the information you already have and send tailored messages to suit their profile
Long story short, it makes things so much easier and more effective.
Integrating your CRM and marketing tools confines static, ineffective lists to the trash and unlocks the capabilities for you to start data-led marketing campaigns.
So, with that in mind, we’re sure you’re keen to learn how to get started…
How to lay the foundation for data-led marketing
It’s often assumed that to get started, you need to rip everything apart, start completely from scratch and do everything all in one hit. But you’ll be pleased to know that this isn’t the case at all.
Instead, start with these five steps:
- Gather the information you have: Put all of your customer information into one place.
- Look for patterns: Look out for which customers are buying the most, which ones haven’t bought in a while and where you’re attracting your best-fit customers.
- Group your customers: Sort your customers into groups. These don’t have to be complicated; new customers, repeat customers, and lapsed customers are three examples you can start with.
- Pick one thing to act on: Don’t start with something huge that’s going to be difficult to act on. Instead, start small, and plan something simple and scalable. For example, a welcome email to new customers or a follow-up with the ones you haven’t heard from in a while.
- Hit send, and see what happens: Crunch the numbers and see what worked, what didn’t and, most importantly, use your findings to shape your future campaigns.
Use your customer data to plan better content
The same data-led approach can also help you answer one of the biggest questions small businesses face: what content should I actually create?
Rather than coming up with ideas out of thin air and hoping they resonate, look at what your customers are telling you. What questions do they ask? Which products or services generate the most interest? What problems are they trying to solve? Which emails, social posts or website pages have performed particularly well?
These insights can give you a much clearer idea of the content your audience actually wants to see.
Want to see how this works in practice? In the video below, we show you how to plan and create great content as a small business, using what you already know about your customers to inform your approach.
The key is to not overcomplicate it. Start with the information you already have, use it to identify what matters to your customers, and turn those insights into useful content.
That way, your content strategy isn't based on guesswork. It's based on what you already know about the people you want to reach.
Learn how to introduce data-led marketing with insights from our marketing guide
If there’s one thing we want you to take away from this article, it’s that you don’t need a large budget or marketing team to make your data work harder for you.
Take the data you already have and act on it. Pick a group of customers, send a message and learn from the results - that, ladies and gentlemen, is data-led marketing.
If you’re new to marketing and want to learn more about how you can get started without a substantial budget, marketing team, or expertise, then you’ll want to feast your eyes on our guide, The SMB Marketing Blueprint.
You’ll learn:
- Why proactive marketing - not reactive marketing - is the way forward
- How to use customer data to shape your marketing strategy
- Why you don't need a designer to build professional emails
- How to automate your marketing
- Proven emails that attract and retain customers (with ready-to-use examples)
- Which marketing metrics you need to pay attention to
- How to add SMS and social media to your marketing mix - without increasing your workload
We’ve even included a practical roadmap that pulls everything together.
CLICK HERE to download your copy.