Make the most out of your data: 5 tips for turning data into insights

Not exactly.

There’s a good chance you’re feeling rather underwhelmed by the results of your data collection efforts. You’re not alone. 87% of marketers actually see data as their most underutilized asset.

Collecting data is much easier than creating value from it. It gets tricky when you need to translate insights from data into actionable next steps and achieve scale. Most marketers struggle to make good use of it at all. In fact, up to 73% of collected data is never analyzed.

We compiled five of our best tips that will help you effectively harness your data and use it to your advantage:

Start by defining your goals. They will help you decide how and what you want to evaluate. You won’t be able to optimize what you don't measure. Be specific, be precise, and above all don’t be shy about the information you need to collect: you need to be prepared to examine your weak spots. 

You can’t design an adequate customer journey if you don’t have enough data about your target audience. And it takes way more time to find that data when you have to dig and search through a dozen different sources. 

Make use of a centralized data management platform (DMP) or customer relationship management (CRM) software. DMPs and CRMs allow you to easily collect, store, and manage data from multiple sources. With all your data in one centralized location, you will have a bird’s eye view of which of your marketing activities are working for you and which aren’t. 

Data segmentation is how you strategically divide and organize your data into groups to use it more effectively. Segmentation will enable you to see the trends between groups with similar characteristics, and understand how your customers behave. You can choose which segments to focus on depending on the question you’re trying to answer. 

Just remember that your numbers won’t mean anything on their own. The context of your data - the who, what, where, when, and why - is crucial. Without it, it’s impossible to know how you got where you are, and how to improve moving forward.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But what about a graph or a chart? 

Whether you use a pie chart, a bar chart, or a line chart, your data will be much more digestible when you sketch it out. Data visualization tools like Tableau can help you more easily see and understand your data. There is a lot of knowledge to be mined from your data, and the way in which you present your figures will definitely influence the outcome. 

Once your data starts coming in, it’s important to just get started. Amazon makes its decisions from only 70% of the relevant data available. They know that spending too much of your time discussing and analyzing data will paralyze your outputs and revenue streams. Your data will never be perfect, so don’t be afraid to act. 

Data plays a crucial role in the decision making process of any marketer. At DPDK, we help our clients determine where they are in their data collection process and what it will take to arrive at a solid strategy that leads to actionable insights. 

Insights will truly help you understand your customers, and allow you to develop an effective performance marketing strategy. So don’t let your data go to waste. Analyze it, integrate the results into your strategy, and reach better and more optimized results. Spin it into gold.