When data-driven insights are used to guide the marketing strategy, it can help achieve specific goals, such as increasing brand loyalty and closing more sales. The information can be gleaned from a variety of sources, such as customer data or competitor research, and even social or cultural trends that influence consumer behavior.
Marketers draw on their own experiences and work with data sets that are gathered and analyzed systematically to gain insight. This is known as market research and should be conducted in a manner that the data provides value and motivates a particular course-of-action. It’s important to note that the term “insight” should not be used in conjunction with raw data or general knowledge. Insight should help to better understand the needs of current and potential buyers and allow for more an informed decision on growth strategy, and recognize innovation opportunities.
Insights enable resource optimization, focusing efforts on areas with the greatest potential and reducing the waste in less promising areas. They also assist in benchmarking performance against industry standards and competition that allow businesses to improve their own practices over time. By providing trends and forecasting future conditions, insights can guide long-term plans.
There are various types of marketing, ranging from traditional word-of mouth campaigns to social media ads. It can be carried out by a company directly, or by a third-party agent tasked with creating strategies for marketing their clients (B2C) or for an entire sector of the economy such as agriculture or tourism (B2B). For example the case of a business that sells power tools, it may be logical to promote your products in the home improvement stores or to general contractors.