Why Marketing Analytics is the space to be in right now

Data is the new oil or gold. But, possessing data is not enough. It needs to be mined, processed and used to generate value, writes Kavita Parikh, Founder Director, Disha Consultants. 

The growing adoption of technology in our day-to-day lives has resulted in a generation of mind blogging quantum of data on a daily basis. Over 3.5 billion Google searches are conducted worldwide each minute of every day. That is 2 trillion searches per year worldwide. That is over 40,000 search queries per second! Every single website visited, the searches run on Google, the videos watched on YouTube, the things shopped for or simply surfed on Amazon or Flipkart, generate useful unimaginable amounts of data about people’s choices. India alone has a staggering 760 million mobile phone users, and there are as many, if not more, other devices such as laptops, tablets, or desktop computers, and we can imagine the data that is collected every minute. Data is the new oil or gold. But, possessing data is not enough. It needs to be mined, processed and used to generate value. While storing, mining, interpreting the humongous amount of data available is a huge challenge in itself, translating it into beneficial or useful information is another challenge altogether. 

In the realm of Marketing, ever-increasing quantities of data about customers and customer behaviour, and technology, including social media, is gathered. Taking cognizance of these can alter the way companies interact with and engage their customers. The rush to mine this valuable resource has led to marketing analytics, which is the system of studying the data to evaluate the performance of marketing efforts, to see what is working and what is not, and the changes or improvements that need to be made to make the efforts more effective. 

Marketing analytics allows an understanding of the customer behaviour, paving the way for introducing offerings that are relevant, and reaching out to the target audience. Ultimately, these are the basis of any successful campaign. 

Data crunching to find patterns, anticipating future moves, and taking intelligence-based strategic actions has become a must for arriving at the right marketing mix, including each of the seven elements of marketing, more popularly known as 7Ps – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical. 

Without sifting through the data, and analysing customer behaviour, it is near impossible to find the most effective methods of reaching customers, and ensuring maximum returns from the marketing campaign(s). 

Marketing analytics is a fast-growing reality today, and will become even more so in the future, so much so that it would not be an exaggeration to say that the future of marketing will depend on using data analytics and data-driven techniques to build customer relationships. Personalised communication with consumers is becoming an increasingly important aspect of overall marketing efforts, and marketing analytics is the one way that can show how to improve the conversation and have better connect. 

While marketing remains a dynamic and complex field, the emergence of marketing analytics experts, along with the growing adoption of new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation, and Machine Learning (ML) will lead to more effective evaluation and analysis of the data, and help in deeper insights that can ultimately direct towards better decisions and enhanced outcomes, all based on data. 

It is expected that the demand for marketing analytics experts will rise exponentially in the coming years. Any amount of data can be collected, but the data is as good as non-existent without the capability and knowhow to analyse it, and how to put it to use. Marketing Analytics is set to emerge as a rewarding career choice worldwide in the coming years. 

With digital marketing efforts and initiatives on the rise, especially rapidly in a post-COVID-19 transformed world, marketing analytics is going to be absolutely critical and not just an essential part of any campaign. In fact, they could be the difference between the success and otherwise of the marketing effort.