Data-Driven Marketing

This article was originally published in the MarketingSherpa email newsletter. You can't work in the marketing industry these days without constantly talking about data. Data-driven marketing. Big data. Marketing analytics. Facebook is worth more than $ 650 billion, and it's not because photos of cats and grilled cheese sandwich selfies are so valuable. It's because Facebook is just one big bag of user data.

 

But I must admit that you may find yourself in the same boat using data that is not natural to me. I work in marketing because I am creative, not a statistician. If you feel the same way, here's an analogy that made me change my mind. I was interviewing Peter Fader and Sarah Toms from Wharton. We were talking about how Electronic Arts used the data to improve the product. “When they realized the power of the data that Pete was talking about, they had a little identity crisis. They're like, "But we are a creative company.

 

How can we now be all the data, all the time?"

Toms said. Zach Anderson, the director of analysis for Electronic Arts, won those creative hearts and minds with this analogy: Cooking contests show where chefs are doing incredibly creative things with the ingredients they are given. So data is just another ingredient at your disposal as you go about your creative take on a classic matzo ball soup or marketing campaign. "Data is really a good thing they should embrace because it allows them to be even more creative," Toms said. So, with that approach in mind, let's look at some examples of how to use data as a force for good while improving marketing results...Read More