In the ever-evolving world of marketing, data analytics has become a crucial tool for businesses to understand and connect with their customers. However, recent changes in data collection policies and consumer behavior have forced companies to adapt their marketing strategies to stay ahead of the game. In this article, we will explore how companies like Cox Automotive and Sobeys have successfully navigated this new era of data analytics and improved outcomes across the customer journey.
One of the key changes in the marketing landscape is the increasing focus on consumer privacy protections. While this is a positive development for individuals, it has resulted in the deprecation of traditional metrics of success, such as open rates. Marketers are now realizing the importance of gaining a more complete view of how their campaigns are performing. Instead of evaluating marketing channels individually, they are adopting a unified strategy that assesses performance across all investments together. This shift towards cross-channel coordination has seen a significant increase, with 83% of marketers describing their approach as dynamic in 2023, compared to just 68% in 2021.
Marketers are also placing greater emphasis on first-party data, which is information gained directly from the customer. Rather than relying on open-data exchanges to buy audience data, companies like Cox Automotive are modernizing the way they build first-party data assets through user consent. By unifying their data and segmenting their audience, Cox Automotive can deliver more personalized messaging to its customers, ultimately improving their overall experience with the brand.
Automation has also emerged as a valuable tool for marketers in this new era of data analytics. With the increasing complexity of marketing tech stacks, teams often spend too much time connecting and harmonizing data instead of optimizing their efforts. Automation can handle menial tasks like data gathering and segmentation, allowing marketers to focus on making informed decisions based on clear insights. By investing in automated data governance, companies can relieve their teams of manual data aggregation and ensure the accuracy and quality of their marketing data analytics.
Once companies have a clear vision, a trusted data foundation, and automation in place, they can turn their insights into outcomes. By leveraging cross-channel and first-party data, marketers can measure customer-based outcomes across the entire marketing journey. Instead of solely focusing on upper-funnel metrics like clicks and opens, companies like Sobeys are optimizing for downstream outcomes such as signups and purchases. Sobeys’ strategy is to approach the sales funnel as one connected experience, with every interaction contributing to building customer loyalty. By monitoring their data in a holistic way, they can ensure that customers are connected with the brand throughout their entire journey.
To effectively connect with customers across channels, marketers need to build connected customer journeys that guide each customer through relevant interactions. This requires a combination of good strategy, clean data, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize and optimize these interactions. By automating basic customer communications and using first-party data instead of cookies, companies can achieve lower cost conversions and save time for their marketers.
In conclusion, the new era of data analytics has presented both challenges and opportunities for marketers. Adapting marketing strategies to account for increased data privacy protections, leveraging first-party data, and embracing automation are key steps towards success in this complex landscape. By taking a unified approach to marketing, investing in automation, and using data analytics to drive customer-based outcomes, companies can improve efficiency, gain valuable insights, and ultimately connect with their customers on a deeper level.
