The 9 Most Effective Sources of Marketing Data (and How to Leverage Them)

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Marketing is well-known as one of the most creative sides of business. Still, smart marketers know that the best creative ideas are backed by cold, hard fact.

Data drives the majority of marketing decisions made by small and large businesses alike. With the overload of how much data is available online today, how do you know what to pay attention and what you can ignore?

Here are the nine most effective sources of marketing data at your fingertips and how you can leverage them for success.

 

  1. Google Analytics

Google is a dominant force on the Internet, so it stands to reason that it’s worth paying attention to the data they provide to your business for free.

In your Google analytics account, you see data that depicts the experience your audience goes through when finding your website and leaving your pages. Does your blog attract the majority of your web traffic? What is the first impression your visitors see when landing on your website? Where do they go once they get to your site? Analyzing your analytics paints a picture of how people are finding and engaging with your brand.

 

  1. Your Website

Your website also tells a clear story. It shows you what’s working for your business and where you’re losing potential leads. Analyzing the statistics from your contact forms, sign up sheets, and comments section shows you where you’re attracting the majority of your leads and where you should focus more of your resources. And never hesitate to try something new, or drop something if it isn’t working.

 

  1. The Inboxes of Your Customers

Okay, you can’t actually login to the email inboxes of your customers, but you can get a glimpse into what’s happening when you hit send on each email campaign.

There is a wealth of data available from each of your email marketing campaigns, such as open rates, click through rates, and unsubscribes. This data shows you what your customers want to read from your brand and what they’d rather send to the trash bin. By analyzing these numbers you can develop a stronger long-term relationship with the people interested in your brand.

 

  1. Social Media

We live in a world of likes, shares, and comments. People turn to social media for help deciding what outfit to wear, choosing a new product for a business, or keeping abreast of what’s happening in the world. Your posts are blended in with a myriad of other information. To know what your customer wants to see when she logs into her social network of choice, watch the types of posts that are getting your business the most attention.

Another excellent way to mine data in social media is by searching for relevant hashtags and industry terms to see what people are talking about and interested in.

 

  1. Organic Search

Organic search traffic comes from clicks on non-paid search results. If your website ranks high in search engines for keywords that are relevant to your business, you’ll see a lot of this search traffic.

Google has taken away the ability to see which keywords are sending the majority of your customers to your website. However, you can still get a sense of the effect of your search marketing by analyzing what organic search traffic does on your website. Does your visitor leave right away giving you a high bounce rate? Or does she stay, exploring your website and getting to know your business?

 

  1. Paid Search

If you use Pay Per Click search traffic, you get access to more keyword data. Pay attention to the types of keywords that are sending business in your direction. Then, pay closer attention to what’s happening once that paid search traffic arrives on your site. Like organic search traffic, you want to see that audience spending more time with your content. These are the people who are most likely to buy.

 

  1. Third Party Websites

Do you have backlinks on third party websites, such as Yelp or Yellow Pages? This traffic can prove immensely valuable to you and your business. Analyze the customer’s behavior when coming from third party websites to your pages in the same way you do search traffic. Do they leave right away? Or stay awhile to learn more about your business?

 

  1. Online Advertisements

If you advertise online, you want to see a healthy return on your investment. Click through rates are one of the best ways to see if your ad is resonating with the audience where you’re advertising. If it’s not, it might be time to tweak your message or design.

 

  1. Partnerships

Offline partnerships often send traffic to your website. By setting up specific landing pages or product codes, you can track which partnerships are paying you dividends, and which you can afford to forfeit.

These are just a few of the places you can gather and analyze data to help you understand what your customers and prospects want.  Want help setting up dashboards and KPIs to measure your marketing efforts?  Get in touch today!