Harnessing the power of an audience and data strategy
As the world of advertising evolves, so does the way that businesses must approach their data strategy. The importance of collecting, analysing and activating first-party data has grown exponentially. In today’s digital age, a data-driven approach is the necessary starting point for crafting winning advertising strategies that allow you to select the right audience to target or the right channel mix.
Creating an effective audience strategy
Indaru will take you through each step of the process of creating your Audience strategy to achieve better targeting in marketing and clear audience insights.
1. Audit your current audience strategy
The first step in developing an audience strategy is to assess your organisation’s current state of affairs. What data do you have? Where does it come from? How is it being used? What could be improved? We will thoroughly assess your existing data sources and tools to inform the way forward.
2. Set your objectives
The objectives for your audience strategy will be very much the same as your advertising objectives as a whole. We ask the tough questions that will help you narrow down exactly what you hope to achieve. For example, if you’re trying to reach a new audience with your digital advertising, one of your objectives might be to collect relevant data on your potential buyer persona’s behaviour and interests to craft a targeted campaign. Another objective might be to increase conversions by identifying the best performing audiences to target.
3. Define and segment your audience
There are a few ways to go about defining and segmenting your audience. First, consider what you know about them already. This can include things like their age, gender, location, income level, etc. Once you have a general idea of who they are, you can start to get more specific by looking at more valuable criteria.
Another way to segment your audience is to look at the different stages of the buyer’s journey (consumer moment planning). This will help you create content that is relevant at each stage, from awareness all the way through to purchase, and the various digital and physical touchpoints along the way.
Finally, don’t forget to consider your existing customers when segmenting your audience. They can be some of your best advocates and provide valuable insights into what others in your target market are looking for. There are several tools available to make this process easier which we can make recommendations on based on your unique needs.
4. Choose the right tools to collect & manage audience data
Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you’ll need to start collecting data on their online and offline behaviour. To do this you can make use of third party data providers, social listening tools, your CRM or CDP and surveys.
It can be really hard to keep track of all this incoming data and make sense of it to apply to your advertising strategy, which is why you need a Customer Data Platform (CDP). CDPs make it possible for you to collect data from various touchpoints, such as website visits, social media interactions, email open rates and purchase history. A CDP can segment your audience into different groups so that you can tailor your messaging accordingly. This wealth of information can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate with your audience. For example, let’s say you want to run a targeted ad campaign on Facebook to target users who have visited your website in the past 30 days but have not made a purchase. In the CDP you will be able to collect this data, create the segment and push it to the activation platform that you choose to ensure that your ads are seen by people who are already interested in your brand.
5. Implementation & measurement
The final step is implementing the data strategy by employing the data collection methods and tools discussed above. You will need to decide what metrics to assess, how often to measure and who is responsible for reporting as part of this final step, which we can guide you in structuring. You need to regularly assess whether your data strategy is helping you achieve your objectives and make any adjustments as technology changes.
6. Get the whole team on board
It is important to get buy-in from all stakeholders and employees when implementing an audience strategy. You will need to communicate your objectives for undertaking an audience strategy, train and educate them in CDP management and coordinate among different departments, markets or brands the launch of data driven campaigns. Indaru can assist you in training and educating the whole team for a smooth implementation of the new audience strategy.
Independent technology experts at Indaru are well-equipped to advise you on the right tools for better customer data management.
The importance of an audience and data strategy in digital advertising
An audience strategy is a plan for how your organisation will use audience data to achieve its marketing and business goals. It includes the processes and systems necessary to collect, store, and analyse audience data, as well as the people and skills needed to put it to use. For example, you might use audience data to adjust your paid advertising accordingly, or you might adjust your website layout or marketing messages accordingly.
Digital advertising has given marketers new ways to reach their target audiences. Years ago, companies relied on third-party data to understand their target audience, but with changes in legislation and advances in technology, the importance of collecting 1st party data has increased.
First-party data is collected by your business from website visitors, email subscribers or even offline interactions such as in-store purchases. This data is extremely valuable because it gives you a direct look into who your customers are and what they are interested in. A study by Boston Consulting Group and Google found that businesses that use 1st party data almost triple their revenue and halve their ad spend.
Using 1st party data gives you a better understanding of your audience and allows you to create targeted campaigns that are more likely to resonate and persuade them to convert. It also allows you to track results and optimise your campaigns over time. Without a data strategy, you run the risk of wasting money on ads that don’t reach the right people or worse, drive away potential customers with messaging that misses the mark.
Why choose Indaru as your audience data consultant?
As market leaders in digital advertising, advertising technology and data management, Indaru is well-positioned to help you develop a data strategy that will enable you to better target your audience and stand out in a fiercely competitive space.
Our diverse team of marketing experts come from various backgrounds and have extensive knowledge in their respective fields. This collective knowledge allows us to focus on the most important data and make valuable recommendations to you to create winning marketing strategies.