Becoming Data-Driven Entertainers: What Marketers Can Learn From Netflix

If money talks in marketing, data shouts. There is a continuous data exchange taking place between marketer and consumer, with the value of your currency being determined by the content you deliver. Yet sometimes, that data might just be shouting into a void. A recent Marketing Week survey has spotlighted a critical issue in the marketing world: a skills gap in data and analytics.

The survey gathered responses from over 3,000 brand-side marketers and a staggering 36.9% of marketers reported a lack of data and analytics skills. This finding highlights not only the significant skills gaps in the modern marketing function but also underscores the growing importance of data-driven decision-making in the industry.

The Role of Data and Analytics in Marketing

Data and analytics are the backbone with successful MarTech adoption. Without these skills, our approaches to existing and emerging technology will be determined by gut feeling alone. While a marketer’s intuition is part of their brilliance, it’s not always reliable. In this article, we outline the role of data and analytics in marketing automation, as well as the steps you can take to ensure your marketing function sits outside of that 36.9%.

Data and analytics are essential for personalising customer experiences, segmenting audiences, and measuring campaign success. Without accurate data, automation efforts can become misguided. Data-driven automation allows us to tailor our messages to specific audience segments, boosting engagement and conversion rates. But more importantly, data-driven automation puts the customer at the centre of everything we do.

Netflix’s user interface (UI) is a prime example of data-driven success. Every user is sees content recommendations based on their viewing history, preferences, and behaviour. This personalised approach keeps users engaged – so much so that that they get that famous pop-up asking, “Are you still watching?”

That’s clear sign that the user is entertained. Their data wasn’t simply used to tick a business box; it was used to deliver an exceptional user experience. As marketers, we should aim for this level of data-driven strategy to keep our audience engaged and entertained, whether through email, on our website, at our events, on social media, when purchasing products, or using our services.

Marketers Turned Data-Driven Entertainers

Just like Netflix, we too can become data-driven entertainers by leveraging data to personalise and optimise our interactions with customers and give them an enjoyable experience. Here’s how…

Personalised Content Recommendations

1. Customer Segmentation: Use data to segment your audience based on demographics, behaviour, engagement levels, and preferences. Automate your marketing lists so your segmentation remains dynamic, empowering you to serve up content that speaks to each user, no matter the time or channel.
2. Dynamic Content: Your marketing should be synchronised with each unique customer journey. Deliver dynamic content that changes based on user interactions. This might look like using dynamic fields on landing pages, showing different content blocks depending on the audience segment, or a personalised email journey that recommends content based on their browsing history.

Automated Journeys

1. Triggered Emails: Personalised email journeys can be triggered by specific user actions, taking the user in a direction that suits their needs. For example, you can send a follow-up email with relevant product recommendations after a user visits a particular product page, demonstrating you understand their preferences.
   
   
2. Behavioural Targeting: Use the data at your disposal to create automated campaigns that target users based on their behaviour. For instance, if a user abandons their cart, an automated email can be sent to encourage them to complete the purchase. Or, if they’re demonstrating strong buying intent, you can use these metrics to increase your email cadence.

Data-Driven Decision Making

1. A/B Testing: Use marketing automation to run A/B tests on different content variations to see which performs better, changing a single variable to determine its effectiveness. You might test the hero image, subject line or header – whatever you select, keep it to one variable. Use this data to continuously improve your content and better understand your audience.
   
   
2. Analysing and Reporting: Leverage the analytics of marketing automation to track campaign performance. Use these insights to make data-driven decisions and refine your strategies, with the confidence to vouch for these decisions when interacting with stakeholders.

 

Here are some key analytics to help drive your decisions:

 

Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Use your marketing automation platform to monitor KPIs such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates (for 10 alternative KPIs t opens and clicks, read here). For example, if an email campaign promoting an upcoming event has a low open rate, you might test different subject lines to see if they improve registrations.

 

Audience Segmentation and Engagement: Analyse how different segments of your audience interact with your campaigns. For example, track which segments are more likely to respond to promotional emails versus informational newsletters. This will help you map out better customer journeys and create content that resonates.

 

Campaign Attribution: Use analytics to determine which channels and touchpoints contribute most to conversions. This helps you understand the customer journey and allocate resources more effectively.

 

Conversion Rate Optimisation: Track the performance of landing pages to see which designs, copy, and CTAs are most effective at converting visitors. Use A/B testing to compare different versions. For example, if a landing page with a video testimonial performs better than one with text testimonials, you can incorporate more video content across your campaigns.

 

Personalisation and Customisation: Track which types of content (blogs, videos, infographics etc.) perform best with your audience. Use this information to tailor future content strategies. For example, if video tutorials have higher engagement rates than written guides, you can focus on creating more video content to meet audience preferences.

Enhanced User Experience

1. Personalised Web Experience: Use automation to personalise the user experience on your website and landing pages. For example, show returning visitors content that matches their previous interactions while prompting unknown visitors to enter their details to enrich your database.
2. Interactive Content: Incorporate interactive elements like surveys that provide personalised results or recommendations based on user input. In exchange, you’ll also learn more about your audience.

Cross-Channel Engagement

1. Integrated Channels: Integrate your marketing automation across multiple channels (email, social, SMS, etc.) to ensure a cohesive and personalised user experience.
2. Retargeting Campaigns: Use data to run retargeting campaigns that remind users of products or topics they’ve shown interest in across different platforms.

Customer Feedback and Adaption

1. Feedback Loops: Automate the collection of customer feedback through surveys and reviews. Use this data to make informed adjustments to your marketing strategies.
2. Adaptation to Preferences: Continuously adapt your content and campaigns based on user feedback and behavioural data to keep your audience engaged. Give them the opportunity to edit their preferences and let their digital decisions guide you.

Predictive Analytics

1. Predictive Modelling: Use predictive analytics to forecast future user behaviour and trends. Automate personalised marketing messages based on these predictions.
2. Lifecycle Marketing: Implement lifecycle marketing strategies that use data to predict and address the needs of customers at different stages of their journey with your brand, whether that be awareness, consideration or purchase.

Tech Integrations

1. Two-Way Data Syncs: Integrate your marketing automation platform with other technology solutions for real-time data exchange and consistency across platforms.
2. CRM Integration: Sync data between your CRM and marketing automation platform to keep customer records updated. This ensures that your sales and marketing teams have access to the same information, improving coordination and customer experience.
3. Third-Party Data Integration: Integrate third-party data sources to enrich your customer profiles with additional demographic, firmographic, and behavioural data. This helps in creating more detailed and accurate customer segments.

 

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By applying these practices to your uses of marketing automation, you can fill the skills gap and become a marketer who is not only proficient but also a data-driven entertainer. Just like Netflix captivates its audience with personalised recommendations, you can engage and delight your customers with tailored, data-driven experiences.

Whether you’re crafting personalised content, setting up automated journeys, or using predictive analytics, the power of data and analysis can transform your marketing efforts. Imagine your contacts eagerly opening your emails because they know the content is relevant to them, or visiting your website to find exactly what they need. Picture your events filled with engaged attendees and your social media buzzing with interaction.

Embrace these tools and strategies to create memorable, engaging experiences that keep your audience coming back for more. By becoming data-driven entertainers, we can drive higher engagement and conversion rates, ensuring not just the success of our campaigns but also a more satisfying and enjoyable experience for our customers. Let’s transform our marketing approaches, just like Netflix, and make our customers not just users, but fans.