- May 11, 2017
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Marketing Big Data: What Do You Really Need to Know?
Big data is big business (and getting bigger). It is also necessary for integrated marketers who want to understand campaign and business performance in order to make knowledgeable, informed decisions. There are countless ways to parse data, and endless statistics and metrics that a business can accumulate, but determining what is the most useful and actionable remains the biggest challenge for those who assess the health of a SMB.
This article at Forbes makes the argument that determining what data matters to you and your business is more important than how much information is captured. He suggests five data points that will provide the greatest insights.
But First, Data: What is it Good For?
The article’s author argues that there are truly only two reasons why you need to analyze collected data:
- To understand your ideal customer
- To understand what works/doesn’t work in your marketing
Average Total Revenue Per Customer (ARPC)
By dividing total revenue by total number of customers, integrated marketers can determine the value of each customer to the business. Knowing the ARPC by product or service can help determine the most valuable offerings in a portfolio and keep tabs on changes, campaign effectiveness, and more.
Percentage of Converted Leads
The number of leads captured isn’t as important as whether those leads took action. Divide total leads by converted leads, and you will learn a great deal about your outreach and conversion strategies.
Percentage of Repeat Business
Dividing repeat customers by total customers will give you a figure that exhibits how well your loyalty and retention strategies are performing. Marketscan found a significant delta between campaigns for lead generation and customer retention (84% vs. 43%), so an analysis of repeat business may help you allocate your marketing dollars more effectively.
Cost of Acquisition
Cost of acquisition is found by dividing the amount spent on marketing campaigns by conversions during each campaign. Acquisition cost looks at company spend in relation to acquired customer spend, and gives a clear view of the relative costs of marketing on different channels.
Bounce Rates
A high bounce rate may indicate that site visitors are not interested in what you have to share or sell. Ideally this rate should be low due to high visitor engagement, drawing people to and keeping them on your site.
Conclusion
Keeping in mind the reason data is important is because it will help you understand your customers and marketing, it is worthwhile to ensure that you are driving likely buyers to your site, as well as converting and retaining them. Whether you are acquiring them through location-based marketing, search, social or any other campaign that lets you reach the right person, at the right time, with the right offer, via the right channel – continue to check your data to ensure that your acquisition, conversion and retention strategies remain effective.
