Marketers / Analytics / Marketing Cloud

Identify Data Patterns With Salesforce Marketing Cloud

By Idrees Shafiq

We all know the importance of an effective marketing strategy to gain traction and increase your customer base. But if you’re not investing time and effort in the right places, you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

Instead, carrying out marketing analysis (which includes data analysis) would mean you take the time to understand your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points – and then deliver products and services accordingly.

In this guide, I’ll cover the reasons to carry out a marketing data analysis, as well as three tools you can use for data analysis. Plus, I’ll explain how to use Marketing Cloud to analyze customer data and seven ways to improve (thanks to the data insights).

1. Understand Customer Behavior and Preferences

The customer is an essential part of your marketing strategy. Understanding their needs can help you create products that will engage them and keep them satisfied. By using data analytics, you can measure and discover the following:

  • Which advertisement format works best for your customer. (Video, email marketing campaigns, sponsored posts, etc.)
  • The posts and campaigns that resonate with your audience and offer the highest engagement.
  • How your content can be improved.

2. Identify Patterns and Trends 

Data Analysis can help a company predict future trends, customer behavior, and preferences. It can help forecast demand in the market, identify any potential opportunities and be aware of the needs of the customer. 

It helps companies stay ahead of the competition and make informed decisions.

3. Improve Overall Marketing Strategies

Data analysis can help measure marketing campaigns’ effectiveness and make improvements where necessary. 

You can measure KPIs such as conversion, cost per acquisition, and click-through rates to evaluate the success of your marketing campaigns. Also, you can conduct A/B Testing to see which campaign gained the most traction and engagement and then make improvements and adjustments to your marketing strategy.

Data Analysis Tools in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Now that we know the importance of Data analysis for your marketing efforts, let’s look into the critical data analysis tools by Salesforce Marketing Cloud that can help your campaigns make an impact.

1. Data Studio

Data Studio (or data sharing) is Salesforce’s most popular audience discovery and acquisition solution. It enables marketers to create rich audiences and discover high-quality audiences. You also have complete control over your data and can even monetize your data with full transparency.

READ MORE: Data Studio | Salesforce Help

2. Marketing Cloud Einstein

Marketing Cloud Einstein is AI technology integrated into a set of Salesforce Marketing Cloud features. It combines machine learning algorithms to provide marketers with advanced analytics (such as predictive analytics and personalization). 

You can use these products to… 

  • Target customers individually and provide them with tailored ads and recommendations. 
  • Automate content recommendations and analyze customer data (such as browsing history and past purchases) to deliver relevant content to users.
READ MORE: Guide to 15 Marketing Cloud Einstein Features (+ Pricing)

3. CRM Analytics

An AI-powered analytics platform sold by Salesforce, allowing marketers to visualize and analyze various sources of data from Marketing Cloud, and beyond. Create interactive dashboards and gain insights into customer behaviors and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. 

READ MORE: Complete Guide to Tableau CRM (CRM Analytics)

Analyzing Customer Data With Salesforce Marketing Cloud

You now have lots of data from your market research and findings. But what do you do with all that data? 

You could analyze customer data by:

  • Implementing A/B Testing: Test different marketing tactics within Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Create multiple versions of your marketing campaigns and try them on different audience segments. You can then decide which campaign version gave you the best results and engagement.
  • Analyzing customer journeys: Defining customer journeys, collecting relevant data, and gaining customer feedback can all help identify pain points and areas for improvement, such as where your marketing campaigns are not resonating with your audience.
  • Categorizing customers via segmentation: Divide your customers into groups based on their demographic, purchase behavior, and interests. You can then target these specific customer segments with personalized ad campaigns.

Checklist: Improve Marketing Strategies with Data Insights

Here are steps to leverage data insights and improve marketing strategies.

  1. Identify your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): These need to align with your Marketing objectives. Your KPIs will serve as benchmarks through which you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
  2. Compile data from various sources: Such as web analytics, email campaigns, and CRM systems. Then consolidate the data to get a holistic overview within the Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
  3. Analyze the factors of successful marketing campaigns: Look for patterns/ correlations and identify elements that drive high engagement, conversions, and customer satisfaction.
  4. Personalize your marketing campaigns: Use customer segmentation within Marketing Cloud to deliver tailored messages to specific customer segments. Personalization that is based on customer preferences and demographics can improve conversion rates and increase engagement. 
  5. Continuously monitor performance: This involves tracking key metrics like click-through and conversion rates. Regularly monitor and review your data insights to gain a competitive edge.
  6. Use predictive analysis: Salesforce Marketing Cloud can help you predict customer behaviors and pick the right time and channels for high customer engagement.
  7. Report your key findings regularly: Monitor and track the performance of your marketing campaigns. Creating comprehensive reports and sharing them with stakeholders can help you determine whether your marketing efforts are in alignment with the company’s goals.

Final Thoughts

The first step in successfully using data insights in Marketing Cloud is to collect and store data securely. Online privacy is a huge concern, so keeping the data and insights secure and confidential is key. 

It’s then a good idea to establish clear goals with your data analysis, this enables you to focus your efforts to goals that align with your insights. 

Be sure to monitor and track your data analytics insights daily. Then, update your analytics if you discover changes in customer behavior, market dynamics, or your marketing campaign’s performance. It allows you to adjust and make changes where necessary.

This will enable you to deliver a personalized service which is more intentional and therefore more successful.

The Author

Idrees Shafiq

Idrees is a Marketing Analyst at Astrill with diverse experience in data protection and cyber security, particularly internet security.

Leave a Reply