The 5 Essential Uses of Analytics in Marketing (with Practical Examples)

The role of a marketer has changed radically over the past decade. In the past, a marketer was mostly a creative idea-my motto is finding and engaging advertising. Today, a marketer is also a person who thinks with data. The reason is simple: the budget is limited and you need to know where each manga goes. In this article, we explain the 5 main uses of marketing analytics with an example of a company selling a mattress (matrix) and will follow the same mattress company in each section.

This post what is marketing analytics a continuation of its guide.

Analytics has five main areas of use in marketing. If we put them together in one sentence: identify the target audience, plan and forecast, evaluate marketing effectiveness, optimize marketing, and optimize the sales funnel. Now let's look at each one individually.

Why did the role of a marketer change?

Bir vaxtlar marketoloqu təsvir edəndə ağla ilk gələn söz «yaradıcılıq» idi — cəlbedici şüar, yaddaqalan reklam, gözəl dizayn. Bu bacarıqlar bu gün də vacibdir, amma artıq tək başına kifayət etmir. Səbəb rəqəmsal dünyanın gətirdiyi şəffaflıqdır: indi demək olar ki, hər şeyi ölçmək olar. Ölçmək mümkün olanda isə «nə üçün bu qərarı verdin?» sualına «hiss etdim» deyə cavab vermək artıq keçmir. Müasir marketoloq intuisiyanı data ilə birləşdirir — yaradıcı ideyanı ortaya qoyur, sonra onun işləyib-işləmədiyini rəqəmlərlə yoxlayır və nəticəyə görə düzəliş edir.

That's where the role of a marketing analyst merges with that of a marketer. Sometimes it's the same person; sometimes it's two different experts collaborating. Once you make a difference, it becomes clearer to look at five uses — because each requires both creative and analytical thinking.

1. Finding a target audience

The marketer's first - and perhaps most important — task is to identify the target audience for the marketing message. Because budgets are limited, it's important to get the message across to people who might be interested in buying the product, rather than everyone else. In marketing, this is called a "target audience".

Döşək şirkəti bu auditoriyanı necə tapır? Tədqiqatla. Sorğular keçirir: insanlar döşəyi nə vaxt alır, alarkən nəyə önəm verir, döşəyə nə qədər pul xərcləyir? Bundan əlavə, döşək satışları və alıcıların demoqrafikası haqqında mövcud bazalardan istifadə edir. Topladığı bütün məlumat data formasında gəlir və marketinq analitikası bu datanı hədəf auditoriyanın dəqiq portretinə çevirir: onların xüsusiyyətləri nədir, harada yaşayırlar, həyatlarının hansı mərhələsindədirlər? Bu portret olmadan reklam mesajını kimə göstərəcəyini bilmirsən.

Let's take this a step further. A properly defined target audience determines not only who the ad will be displayed to, but also how the message will be delivered. For a young, first-time couple, the message can be “budget-friendly comfort”; for an elderly client who is hurting, it can be “orthopedic support”. Same product, different message — and that only shows the difference in the data. A marketer who misunderstands an audience can misrepresent the right product and lose sales.

2. Planning and forecast

Marketing and advertising can be costly. That's why, before spending a budget, marketers think carefully about where and when to post a message. How much of the time and budget should go to social media, how much should go to TV, radio, and search engines?

Marketers often check out past promotions. The mattress company looks at last year's dataset and finds that TV and social media advertising worked well, while radio made almost no profit. This year, it's dividing the budget by that — less radio, more operating channels. This task is usually completed with a detailed forecast of expected sales based on the budget to be spent. The more datasets and analytics a marketer can leverage, the better the marketing output.

3. Evaluate advertising effectiveness

After the campaign ends, marketers look back and ask, “Is the campaign effective?» This question is important for two reasons. First, to find out what works and what doesn't work. The second — and often forgotten — reason for reporting within the company. Marketers are not working in the gap; they are given a budget and management is waiting for a report on how this budget is being spent and the outcome.

A mattress marketer presents the sales brought by the campaign at a quarterly management meeting. It also shows the ads that work best, the ones that generate the most audience and sales. Proving that marketing is effective is critical — because it's a key way to get the necessary budget in the future. A marketer who can't show success in numbers could face less budget next time around.

4. Optimize Marketing

It's possible to improve even after the most careful planning and forecasting. As soon as the campaign runs and starts collecting data, there is an opportunity to optimize. The more data you have and the better you know analytics, the more you can fine-tune your marketing.

The mattress company sees from the initial dataset that some search ads bring in more sales than others. Based on this, it puts a little more money into ads that work well, and less money into those that work poorly. Such steps optimize how each mango is spent and lead to serious savings. Data and analytics are powerful in this regard, allowing you to adjust direction in real time.

5. Optimizing your sales funnel

Fifth use is to ensure that people who want can buy the product easily. Marketers say “optimize your sales funnel” because they imagine the sales process as a multiple-step funnel. The classic model consists of four steps:

1. Awareness — the first time a person hears about the product.
2. Interest (Interest) — a person is interested and trying to learn a bit about the product.
3. Decision (Decision) — a person decides if he wants a product.
4. Action () is a human product.

This is called a funnel because as people go through these steps, some come out and groups get smaller. When you overlap these groups, it reminds you of the picture funnel. When marketers talk about optimizing their funnel, they consider reducing the number of people who actually come out.

People who create an awareness for the mattress company want as much interest as possible. They want as many interested people as possible to decide they want the mattress and then move on and buy it. Since the company spends money on attracting people to the mattress, it aims to maximize those who go through all four steps and reach the end. Analytics show where and why people exit the funnel — so you can fix a problematic step.

👉 Related: sales funnel

Why is the target audience the start of everything?

Finding a target audience between five uses is special, as the remaining four leverage it. If you don't know who's talking, you can't choose where to advertise (scheduling) correctly, you can't measure effectiveness meaningfully, and you can't know who's optimizing your funnel. Therefore, devoting time to audience research is not a wasted investment — it is an investment that improves the quality of all subsequent decisions.

Auditoriyanı tapmaq üçün marketoloqlar bir neçə üsuldan istifadə edir: sorğular (insanların davranışını və üstünlüklərini soruşmaq), mövcud satış bazaları (kim, nə vaxt, nə qədər alıb), sosial media analitikası (izləyicilərin demoqrafikası) və sayt datası. Bu mənbələrin hamısı birləşəndə auditoriyanın canlı portreti yaranır: yaşı, məkanı, gəliri, maraqları, həyat mərhələsi. Bu portret nə qədər dəqiq olsa, reklam mesajı bir o qədər dəqiq hədəfə dəyir və büdcə bir o qədər az israf olunur.

Analytics in real-time: the cycle continues

Diqqət etməli olduğun mühüm məqam budur: bu beş istifadə bir dəfəlik iş deyil, davamlı bir dövrədir. Kampaniya başlamazdan əvvəl auditoriyanı müəyyən edir və planlaşdırırsan. Kampaniya gedərkən ilk data gəlməyə başlayan kimi optimallaşdırırsan — işləyənə daha çox, işləməyənə daha az. Kampaniya bitəndən sonra effektivliyi qiymətləndirir və öyrəndiklərini növbəti kampaniyaya daşıyırsan. Beləliklə hər dövrə əvvəlkindən daha yaxşı olur. Marketinq analitikasının əsl gücü məhz bu təkrarlanan öyrənmə dövrəsindədir — bir dəfə düzgün etmək yox, hər dəfə bir az daha yaxşı etmək.

Key duties of a marketer and the place of analytics

Bu beş istifadəyə bir addım geridən baxaq. Marketoloq gündəlik işində əslində bir sıra təkrarlanan vəzifələri yerinə yetirir: kimə danışacağını müəyyən etmək, harada və nə vaxt danışacağını planlaşdırmaq, danışdıqdan sonra nəticəni ölçmək, ölçdüyünə əsasən düzəliş etmək və alış prosesini asanlaşdırmaq. Diqqət yetirsən, bu vəzifələrin heç biri təkbaşına «yaradıcılıq» deyil — hamısı qərar tələb edir. Və hər qərar nə qədər çox dataya söykənsə, bir o qədər yaxşı olur. Məhz buna görə marketinq analitikası müasir marketoloqun işinin ayrılmaz hissəsinə çevrilib.

An important nuisance: analytics doesn't suffice to show the past. Well-structured analytics is shaping future decisions. The last year's dataset determines this year's budget plan, while the first days of the campaign determines the next weeks' optimization. So data isn't a one-time report-it's a continuous cycle: measure, learn, fix, resize.

Practical example: online store

Bir onlayn geyim mağazası təsəvvür et. Analitika göstərir ki, istifadəçilər məhsulu səbətə əlavə edir, amma ödəniş səhifəsində 70%-i prosesi tərk edir. Bu, satış hunisində aydın bir siqnaldır. Marketoloq səbəbi araşdırır: bəlkə çatdırılma qiyməti çox yüksək görünür, bəlkə ödəniş formu çox uzundur. O, pulsuz çatdırılma təklif edir və ya formu qısaldır — konversiya artır. Bu, beş istifadənin necə birlikdə işlədiyinin nümunəsidir: data auditoriyanı tapdı, effektivliyi ölçdü, hunidəki problemi göstərdi və optimizasiyaya yol açdı. Analitika olmasaydı, mağaza sadəcə «satış azdır» deyib əsl səbəbi heç vaxt tapmazdı.

From dataset to resolution: merging all

As we have seen, marketing analytics plays a key role in almost all important roles of the marketer. We can assemble five areas to keep in mind: target audience identification, planning and forecasting, assessing effectiveness, optimizing marketing, and optimizing the sales funnel. When these five work together, marketing becomes a science rather than a guess.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Need analytics for small businesses too?

Yes, even more. If the budget is limited, the efficient spending of each month is more critical than that of a large company.

How many steps are there in the sales funnel?

The classic model consists of 4 steps: Aware, Curiosity, Decision, Motion. In some models, the steps may be named differently, but the logic is the same — they go down as people go through the process.

What indicator do they measure advertising effectiveness?

It varies according to instance: roas and conversions for sales, reach (reach) for awareness, and hints (impressions).

How to identify the target audience

Through surveys, existing sales bases, social media analytics, and site datasets. When these sources are combined, they create an accurate portrait of the audience's age, location, interests, and stage of life.

What's the difference between optimization and scheduling?

Planning takes place before the campaign (where to spend the budget); optimization is about adjusting based on the initial information when the campaign goes. One looks to the future, the other moves in real time.

Why are people going out in the sales funnel?

There are a variety of reasons: the price seems high, the form of payment is long, the site is unusual or the offer is not attractive enough. Analytics tells us what step the checkout takes so that you can research and correct the specific cause.

What's next: where does the data that this analytics works on come from? Read the data sources.

👉 Next Post marketing data sources