In a Harvard Business Review Survey of 10,000 senior business leaders, 97 percent believe that being strategic is the leadership behavior most important to their organization’s success — yet 96 percent lack the time for it. We hear this firsthand from marketing leaders and their teams who struggle to step out of daily execution and into deep, strategic thinking to position themselves for long-term success. So what’s the best way to kickoff that moonshot marketing plan?  

The answer is: data.  

With this powerful tool, CMOs can help guide their brand to success using the roadmap of actionable insights developed by a team of strategists leveraging real-time customer, industry and competitor data. Sounds great! But before we begin the countdown to your brand’s ignition, let’s start with the basics. 

What is data intelligence?

According to Brandwatch, data intelligence, “enables organizations to adapt to a fast-changing world by connecting decision makers to strategic insights derived from a combination of real-time online data, customer data and marketing intelligence.” This means brands can gather information across all media publications, social media, blogs, forums, reviews and any other internet source, and turn this data into actionable insights that drive real business impact for their brand. Marketing intelligence gives brands a holistic approach, combining all key performance indicators across earned, owned and paid media to develop strategic, data-backed insights. 

Why is a data-backed strategy so important?

Basing strategy on data removes guess work — validating decision-making, yielding more successes, increasing program ROI and minimizing risk. 

Data-backed strategies guide marketing teams on how best to optimize program ROI by consistently measuring against key KPIs. Data uncovered from intelligence programs can reveal how a company is positioned and where there are areas of opportunity. This concrete information grounds a strategy in truth, minimizing a company’s risk.  

In this industry, nothing is set it and forget it.

The market and competitive landscape are constantly evolving, so it’s essential that strategies remain agile to ensure they’re resonating with your target audience, reaching KPIs and optimizing ROI. Every integrated marketing campaign, creative asset and tactical activation should be continuously analyzed, measured and adjusted to hit your indicators. An effective strategy and intelligence team knows how to act nimbly and shift budgets to maximize each tactic and boost every channel, ensuring the program continues to reach the client’s main goals. By constantly assessing campaign effectiveness and holistic business trends, brands can meet their goals in an efficient, affordable manner – no matter how the market evolves.

Putting data intelligence to work

Regardless of your vertical, your brand or your offerings, the marketplace is a maelstrom of competing brands struggling to stand out to an increasingly fractured audience. Whatever channels or tactics you turn to, you’re up against your direct business competitors and countless others to capture your audience’s attention and differentiate your brand. In today’s dynamic and ever-evolving landscape, brands are always looking for ways to remain nimble and align with messaging that captures their target’s attention. That’s why top brands across B2B and B2C are increasingly leveraging marketing intelligence to inform their strategies.

Through foundational competitive research and continuous data analysis, strategies can be adapted, ensuring they are optimized against the competition. Whether making a micro adjustment to monthly or quarterly spend or a yearly modification to the plan, strategy and intelligence teams leverage data insights to ensure the brand’s goals are achieved. 

Here are the six ways decision makers are leveraging intelligence to drive real impact for their brands:

• Brand Analysis: Glean critical insights about your brand and products from your target market. Quickly analyze brand sentiment and message penetration, evaluate top-branded mentions, and measure brand affinity to benchmark your brand’s overall health.
• Competitive Analysis: Review competitive SOV broken down by channel and analyze key competitive messaging, positioning and campaigns, so you can develop a unique market position.
• Communications + Crisis Management: Identify any major flash points, controversies or spikes in negative sentiment in real-time, so you can craft a response immediately and accurately measure its impact.
• Campaign + Event Analysis: Evaluate sentiment around key events or activations; measure organic reach, conversation volume and buzz; and identify key media pickup, reach and impressions.
• Target Audience Analysis: Identify the channels, websites and publications where your consumers talk about your brand and the industry. Identify key topics, keywords and hashtags relevant to your industry. Understand your target’s media consumption habits, wants, needs, as well as any myths and stigmas they hold about your brand or your industry.
• Industry + Trend Analysis: Keep a pulse on key industry trends in real time; benchmark trends year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter to inform future campaign strategies; identify key influencers and authors in the space.

Strategies work best when they are constantly being optimized. Our intelligence programs give us a clear view of your company, the industry and your competitive set, so we can position your business to stand out in an ever-changing market. Whether it’s understanding the intricacies of your key personas, assessing public sentiment and conversation on industry topics, or uncovering emerging industry trends in real time, Matter’s highly knowledgeable Strategy + Intelligence team ensures every decision is data-driven to optimize ROI.

With countless successful missions under our belt, leading B2B and B2C companies partner with us to plan, create, launch and optimize their campaign success.

Interested in seeing how marketing intelligence can elevate your brand’s strategy? Check out our Intelligence page or reach out below to learn more.