TURNING DATA INTO VALUE: 6 WAYS OF SOLVING A KEY E-COMMERCE CHALLENGE TURNING DATA INTO VALUE: 6 WAYS OF SOLVING A KEY E-COMMERCE CHALLENGE Is data valuable? Data keeps marketers up at night: 86% of high-performing companies use data and analytics. It’s the lifeblood of their business. But data is not inherently valuable The Futurist predicts that the amount of data available will increase 4400% over the next six years. This will prove a huge headache for marketers who are trying to keep up with their customers’ behaviours and preferences. Amongst all the inevitable hype, successful marketers will focus on answering one simple question: how do we turn our data into value? We have come up with the 3 top reasons why your data could end up being worthless as well as the top 3 ways you can leverage your data to drive real value: 3 THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR DATA WORTHLESS: 1 Collect as much data as you can: If possible, avoid being that company that gathers as much data as possible and then does nothing with it, blaming the fact that the amount of data is unmanageable. Instead: find your ‘why’. The ‘why’ dictates everything. Don’t forget. Identify your business needs first, and then start collecting the right data from the outset. Accenture. CMOs: Time for digital transformation. 2014. 2 Insufficient skills & resources: Even if you gather the right data, if you don’t have the means to profitably apply it, you’re wasting your time. Remember: this is a marathon, not a sprint. Be willing to put the resources, time and energy into making your data effective. Hire the right people. Get (or develop!) the right software. Make space for data in the company. 3 No strategy for applying your data: Once you have your ‘why’: make sure to plan. Think of it as starting a new business. Focus only on those metrics which align with your core business strategy. Start small. Learn, adapt, and then scale. 3 THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR DATA VALUABLE: 1 Collect and apply your data in real-time: 2 Take a customer-centric approach: 3 Focus on producing actionable insights: Everything is converging on real-time marketing. Being able to react in the moment is now mission critical. Marketers are struggling to leverage all the data being created by a growing number of channels. Focus on the small things like click-through rates, conversion rates, purchase history, basket abandonment etc. Harnessing your data to produce personalised, contextualised user experiences delivers a consistent journey for your customers, driving value across multiple channels. Look to build a coherent omnichannel experience by pulling together geolocation, demographics, product/page interest and other key metrics. Produce insights that allow you to take action to: convert visitors, prevent churn, make personalised offers, remove sticking points in the UX and so on. These insights are actionable and have a demonstrable ROI. DON’T BE AFRAID. MAKE TIME FOR DATA. But it is not a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don’t make the very expensive mistake of diving in without a clear strategy to identify, collect and properly apply the right data. Focus on results and you can drive real value for your business. Yieldify is a fully-managed, data-driven software solution which maximises the revenues, leads and opt-in rates from visitors leaving your website. We offer a wide range of highly-targeted on-site and e-mail marketing products. Our analytics platform provides you with actionable insights into your visitors’ behaviour and the ability to deliver a more personalised browsing experience for them – and higher conversion rates for you. OLLIE JONES JAY RADIA [email protected] +44 208 1239918 (x2003) skype: ollie.yieldify [email protected] +44 208 1239918 (x2001) skype: jay_radia More information can be seen on: www.yieldify.com