Will Data Teams Replace Marketing Teams in the Near Future? Posted on : Aug 06 - 2018

The value of data has become increasingly prevalent over the past five years. From increasing sales to driving better decision-making, the benefits of data come to any team in any industry that chooses to invest in new technologies. Harnessing the power of big data is typically left to data scientists, and companies are now scrambling to hire those equipped to collect and analyze data.

Marketers are now relying on data-driven campaigns to meet client goals better and reach their target market more effectively. Marketers are therefore pushing to learn more about data and analytics to improve campaigns and stay competitive in the market.

One study found that companies plan to shift marketing budgets and put more resources toward analytics. Over the next three years, the study notes, the percentage of marketing budgets allocated to analytics will increase from 5.8 percent to 17.3 percent, which shows a 198 percent increase. This should come as no surprise, as only 1.9 percent of marketing leaders said they have the right talent to leverage marketing analytics.

Since marketing leaders currently lack qualified candidates to use the power of data fully, and since companies plan on allocating more marketing resources to analytics, it begs the question: Are data scientists taking over marketing teams?

Where is data most useful in marketing campaigns?

Before answering that question, it’s important to break down where data can help the most in marketing campaigns. Of course, this depends on the type of marketing each company performs and the end result, but these are common areas of marketing campaigns that data can improve.

Buyer personas

There’s a significant shift in the marketing world from “I think” to “I know.” Clients and executives no longer want to hear that marketers think something about a buyer. They want to know. And the only way to know something about a buyer is by using data.

One way to know more about a buyer persona group is through social media listening. Considering the vast amount of public conversations that happen on social networks, marketers have the ability to analyze a lot of data. Data tools can collect consumer thoughts and segment these thoughts by demographics. This process transforms the I think to I know quickly and gives marketers real insight into consumer thoughts and behavior on social sites. View More