To survive as a business, a company needs to be constantly adapting, figuring out the current trends of its industry and changing to meet new demands. In the marketing world, this is a no-brainer, but this simple fact has made the task of adapting to marketing changes all the more difficult in recent years. The big trend at the moment is data-driven marketing, and from the look of things, it’s already playing a major factor in multiple business decisions. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept, but it has taken on a powerful form in recent years, becoming a much more crucial part of businesses that may not have paid as close attention to shifts in marketing before. Ignoring the data-driven marketing trend is essentially ignoring an entire world that’s increasingly run by data and its impact on companies. A quick look at the state of data-driven marketing in 2015 shows just how important it has become in the continued success of businesses across a wide variety of industries.
It has become clear that any company that neglects data-driven marketing is setting itself up to fail. Many businesses are waking up to the growing importance and value of data-driven marketing. In fact, a recent survey of marketing and communications executives by Teradata shows just how much value business leaders are placing on the practice. Around 77 percent of survey respondents said they were confident in data-driven marketing. The result is nearly three-fourths of respondents (74 percent) saying they planned to increase data marketing budgets in 2015. This budgetary impact will likely be seen in many businesses across many industries as business leaders become more reliant on the impressive results found in increased data marketing efforts.
There are many reasons to focus on data-driven marketing, and none are as important as the drive to meet customer expectations. As more businesses take the data-driven approach, customers have begun to set certain requirements that they expect to be met by the organizations they frequent. In essence, they expect businesses to be able to provide a seamless experience no matter how they search for a product or service. That means data-driven marketing will need to effectively target customers on company websites, mobile applications, and social media. As mobile devices and social media have become more popular, marketing targeting those areas has also become a vital component of a well-rounded marketing strategy. In fact, many companies are choosing to focus their data marketing efforts in the mobile and social media sphere, which will likely be a key component in 2015.
In the end, businesses are looking for results, which is why data-driven marketing is viewed as so critical. But simply dabbling in data marketing isn’t enough; a company must truly embrace it. A survey from Forbes Insights shows that 74 percent of organizations considered leaders in data-driven marketing have reported significant increases in getting a competitive edge in customer engagement and customer loyalty. Increased revenues are another major bonus from this strategy. Contrast that with organizations that are lagging behind the data-driven trend, where only 24 percent saw clear increases in engagement and loyalty. 2015 will likely see a renewed effort on the part of lagging businesses to step up their efforts to use data-driven marketing to a fuller extent. The same Forbes Insights survey also found that successful data-driven marketing companies were able to gather resources from the entire enterprise and not individual departments. As 2015 progresses, more organizations will look to tear down organizational silos and use the company as a whole to promote and advance data-driven marketing.
The business world is more competitive than ever before, which is why data-driven marketing is becoming such an important strategy for organizations. Those who fail to use it fully are bound to fall behind, while those who take advantage of it will find themselves ahead of the competition. 2015 will be a year in which more companies will put a great emphasis on data-driven marketing, making it a large part of their overall marketing strategies. Just as cloud computing and mobile technology have changed the business landscape, marketing driven by big data will look to become a staple in every organization. The trend doesn’t represent the future as much as it signifies what businesses need to do in the present to progress and achieve current success. As companies meet customers’ loftier expectations, the data-driven approach will prove to be the right call.
