Data: Your Favorite Christmas Gift
When I was a kid, I always got my dad the perfect gift. Birthday, Father’s Day, Christmas, it didn’t matter. I know because he would say, without fail “Oh wow, it’s just what I wanted.”
You know what Santa is bringing you this Christmas? Data, and lots of it. And that’s just what you want for your marketing efforts. Historic sales trends. Granular click-thru info. Leads by geography. Sales by geography. Websites viewed. Other brands considered. Big data. You need that data. You can use that data. You’re a better marketer because you know how to interpret that data.
Who’s your most likely customer? You might already have that data. If not, you can get it. You’re your own database, through third-parties, or with tools that you can start using right away.
Where do your most profitable sales come from? Where can you find more of those types of customers? You should know. Why do some prospects choose your competitor? How can you get more of them to choose you? Where do they begin their consideration? What do they do first when researching your industry? You can collect that data on an ongoing basis.
We are living in the digital age, right? So, we have the ability to know most of what we need to know about existing customers, prospects, competitors, trends, you name it. Most shopping (B2C and B2B) begins online, goes online, or is completed online (80% is about the average among several reports). That’s your marketing opportunity because data is easily gathered there. Or, you can get it offline. Just make sure you get all you can. It’s just what you wanted.
