[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]In marketing today, data is everywhere. Even small companies need to use big data to inform their digital marketing decisions. There is so much to be gained from analyzing digital marketing data, but it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. We’re here to walk you through a few of the major ways you can make use of your data to help your marketing efforts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
1. Analyze Demographics of Your Social Media Followers
Besides website analytics, some of the most useful sources of data are your social media channels. In particular, every social media platform collects demographic information about its users. You can use this information to determine what age groups, genders, and more are following your channels. Knowing basic demographic information about your customers and potential customers can be essential in shaping your marketing efforts towards them. You always want to speak to your audience in a way they can connect with and understand. If you find out that most of those interested in your brands are in the 25-34 age group, you will probably want to use new popular lingo, memes, and the like in your advertisements. If your followers are primarily in the 50+ age range, you will need to take a different approach. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
2. Compare Analytics Across Social Channels
“Social media” as a whole is a broad area in which to focus your efforts. To parse things out more, you can also use data to determine which platforms in particular to focus on. Business accounts on pretty much all platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, will provide feedback on your account performance. You can use these data, such as the number of clicks on your ads, sales, and comments on your posts, to determine which channels are performing best. This can help you determine where to dedicate the most time and resources going forward, based on which social media channels are getting the highest returns. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
3. Note Geographic Location of Website Users and Social Media Followers
In addition to other social media data, where your customers and followers are located can also be very useful to track. This is a measure that is usually very easy to gather. You can quickly see where your website visitors are from based on their IP addresses, and social media sites gather location information for their users that you can access for your followers as well.
Knowing where your fans are located is relatively simple to find out, and can be very useful in informing decisions. First, you can target your digital ads to the areas in which most of your potential customers are located. You can also use geographic data to make decisions about print, radio, and television ads. These, even more than digital marketing, tend to reach an audience within a specific area. You can determine which channels to run ads on, which highways to place billboards on, and more based on where the most potential customers will likely see your ads. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
4. Track How Your Audience Finds You
Another useful piece of digital marketing data, especially for your website, is knowing how people found you in the first place. Did most of your site visitors come across your company through your social media pages, through paid ads, through review sites, or through organic searches? Knowing the paths your customers took to find your website can help you determine how to allocate your digital marketing budget. Every company wants to split their budget between multiple sources, but that split certainly does not need to be equal. Make note of the ways most of your customers are being attracted to you, and focus on those channels more than others.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
5. Place People Within your Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel is a relatively well-known way of conceptualizing customers and potential future customers for a business. It is a pyramid, or funnel, shape through which people work their way up from merely being aware your brand exists to becoming a full-fledged loyal customer. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”19916″ img_size=”large” qode_css_animation=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]So how is this relevant? Well, depending where someone is in the funnel, the most effective marketing methods to use will differ, and your digital marketing data can help you determine where someone is within the funnel. For instance, if someone is following your social media accounts, liking photos, and has visited your website a handful of times but not yet made a purchase, they are probably in the Interest or Consideration stage. They likely just need a final push to spur them to finally purchase. If someone has viewed your paid advertisements but taken no other actions, they are probably in the Awareness stage but have not developed particular interest in your offerings.
You can use information about where people are in the funnel to appropriately target them with personalized advertising. This can help you determine which people to target most often and which people are most likely to ultimately make a purchase. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]For all of these purposes and so many more, digital marketing data is extremely valuable. Analyzing data gathered from your ads, social media pages, and websites can help shape your overall marketing efforts and effectively reach your target audiences. Big data is big right now for a reason. It works, no matter the size of your business. Make the most of your data now. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
