MARKETING AFRICA MAL 18/17 mal 18:17 online | Page 32
DIGITAL MARKETING
USE DATA TO CREATE
VALUE FOR YOUR
CONSUMERS
By Catherine Kiiru
T
he Harvard Business Review
once called data analytics
the sexiest career of the
21st century. If you’re in business
serving a niche or large client base,
you understand the truth in that
statement.
The thing with data, especially
in a highly connected age where
everything a consumer does online
is captured and archived in servers
all around the world, is that it is
the only meaningful frontier for
understanding our customers better.
Data can provide valuable insights
as to how, what, when and where a
consumer spends their cash. And
you’d like a piece of that pie, right?
Problem is, it’s no longer about
targeting consumers with your wares
or services. It’s about listening to
what is unsaid and looking beyond
the obvious to provide value and
remain profitable. But are marketers
equipped to tap into Data to fine
tune their strategies?
Marketers around the globe have
admitted to feeling “overwhelmed”
rather than empowered by data.
Research that was undertaken by Call
Credit Information Group, which
spoke to 151 UK senior marketers
‘‘ The thing with data, especially in a highly
connected age where everything a consumer
does online is captured and archived in
servers all around the world, is that it is the
only meaningful frontier for understanding
our customers better. Data can provide
valuable insights as to how, what, when and
where a consumer spends their cash. And
you’d like a piece of that pie, right?’’
30 MAL 18/17 ISSUE
revealed that while 80 percent of
marketers are increasing their time
spent working with data, 71 percent
feel overloaded by the amount of
data, with seven in ten (70 percent)
noting that it was a valuable asset
that isn’t being fully exploited in their
organizations.
One explanation for this could be
the fact that only 29 percent of
marketers believe they have the
necessary skills to analyze data, with
44 percent planning on investing in
further training over the next two
years to boost confidence within their
organizations around the handling of
information.
Back in Kenya, a quick look at most
digital advertising agency strategies
presented to clients and you’ll notice
a lack of data driven campaigns
backed by real time information
analyzed from a client’s CRM or
marketing automation resources.
Marketers need to implement
operations and tools that can enable
them to interpret complex data and
provide clarity before investing their
marketing budgets anywhere.
Marketers can spearhead data