Data Trumps Instinct
Data-driven marketing, as the term implies, relies on data. Simple, right?
Conceptually, this approach to marketing existed long before the internet and the associated term we use today. Just ask a veteran marketer how they did it back then and how valuable concrete data was to them. Can you imagine trying to prove in 1982 that copy needed to change without CTR and impressions? Explaining to a copywriter for a food product that people weren't responding to headline ads... Quite challenging.
Determining which visual is better than another? Explaining to a designer that a product visual in a newspaper is nearly invisible... Oh boy.
Or how many newspapers ended up in the bin and at what point? We all understand what bounce rate is...
In those days, the best marketers were the ones with the best instincts. They understood people and human behavior the most. We still need this today, I agree! It's just that today, after only three days of a campaign, I can know what needs to be changed, whereas before, it took months. Surveys, tests, and focus groups had to be conducted. All of this required time, something investors weren't so willing to spend easily because ROAS had a delay of at least one year.
Then came the era of zeros and ones. Thank goodness and all the saints!
In the name of the click, the cookie, the holy scroll, amen!
This is where data-driven marketing shines. Investors love it! Why wouldn't they? Today, depending on what you sell, you can monitor your campaign's performance throughout the day. For us "younger" folks (laughs), this is part of our everyday life.
However, today we find ourselves in a sea of data that we often struggle to interpret or simply don't want to interpret correctly. Both scenarios are equally problematic. When we have access to everything but lack the understanding of what we possess and how to utilize it effectively (they say the motion of the ocean is always better), a company can easily find itself in serious trouble. This difficulty in understanding data is what has led to the creation of artificial intelligence today, designed to handle this task for us and expedite our decision-making process. However, an important fact is often overlooked: we still lack the ability to interpret the data correctly! Modern-day marketers don't necessarily need the same level of instinct as before; they simply need to know how to interpret data. The question is, how do we learn this skill?
PPC involves navigating through a sea of data. This is what you're paying for when running campaigns on platforms like Mark Zuckerberg's (Meta), Larry Page's (Google), Jeff Bezos's (Amazon), and others. A large budget doesn't automatically guarantee a high ROAS if you lack someone who knows how to interpret this data. It's like breaking down the sea into rivers and streams. For instance, if we don't recognize that a high CTR but a low ROAS indicates a poor offer – a common example – we'll be lost in the sea. The solution lies in asking the right questions.
Therefore, before diving into courses on Meta Ads, Google Ads, or any other platform, consider starting with a basic statistical analysis course to grasp data interpretation skills. All Ads are simply tools in the end. So, familiarize yourself with the instructions for using these tools and learn about statistics.
For Marketing mreža website text written by: Stefan Arsić, Performance Marketing Specialist, Smartpoint Adria
Photo: Unsplash