Are you still relying on gut feeling?

Despite the well-documented rise of data insight, too many marketers still tend to rely on experience, classic gut feeling and a fair bit of ‘we’ve always done it that way’. The problem is that experience, gut feeling and company tradition are often wrong.
The industry is full of smart and capable people, attracted by the promise of a job which isn’t defined by a set process or format, a career where there are many ways to skin a cat.
A recent study by Harvard business school found that marketers depend on data for just 11% of customer-related decisions. More often, they use assumptions of the “older people don’t use Facebook” variety, which means sub-optimal results.
An indication of how much this low use of data could be costing brands is contained within a forthcoming University of Pennsylvania study, which finds that companies emphasising data and analytics showed output and productivity that was 5-6% higher than their peers.
Having worked in marketing effectiveness for over 20 years and provided analysis in more than 30 countries, I’ve found companies typically increase sales revenues by up to 8%, and boost profits by up to 20% over the medium-term – just by using data to optimise their marketing investments.
How does this relate to the average marketing campaign? With desktop computer models, you can input your planned campaign activity and spend levels by channel, and get a good prediction of the likely commercial impact. It’s also possible to determine how much you’ll need to spend to reach your commercial targets, which is a powerful tool when it comes to negotiating next year’s marketing budget.
While the technology to model marketing campaigns has existed for some time, it has previously been the exclusive preserve of expensive external consultants, who take considerable time to deliver their analysis, by which point the insights are less useful.
However, with the advent of easy-to-use desktop analytics software, marketers no longer have to rely on external consultants, who don’t understand their business, but instead can model data themselves, from an ordinary desktop PC, to determine the correct marketing mix for optimum return – a crucial development that could be worth millions.
Marketing will always require the skills, experience and creativity of its practitioners. It cannot be entirely done by computer. However, applying robust data and insight to marketing decisions means campaigns can be evaluated and forecast with greater accuracy. It allows decisions to be taken quickly, and allows marketers to talk in the same commercial language as the money men. To stay ahead, marketers have to keep their creativity, but add the science to their decision-making.

Glenn Granger is chief executive of MarketingQED