What does ‘data in’ mean?
As the name suggests, the term ‘data in’ refers to data that is collected. In the field of sales and marketing, it consists of things such as user, engagement, and analytics data. It is what businesses, marketers, and advertisers use to make informed business and marketing decisions.
If you wish to learn more about this concept, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: What are the benefits of data in?
In virtually any field you could think of, the benefits of data in include:
- A better understanding of industry trends
- A better understanding of the target customer
- An accurate picture of business performance
- The ability to identify gaps and opportunities
- The ability to make informed business and marketing decisions
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, data in helps you spot and make sense of market trends, giving you the information you need to make the necessary adjustments to ensure your business stays relevant and competitive for a long, long time.
Second, data in helps you understand your target customers better, giving you answers to questions such as:
- What are my customers’ biggest pain points?
- Where do they hang out?
- What products and services do they want to see?
- How much are they willing (or able) to spend?
- How do they engage with my business?
Third, data in also shows you what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong, allowing you to double down on what is working and address any issues that may be holding your business back.
Fourth, data in helps you spot gaps and opportunities you can capitalise on as well. It can help you discover things such as customer frustrations (with your business or competitors) and new marketing and sales channels.
Finally, data in provides you with the information you need to make sound business and marketing decisions instead of wasting resources doing trial-and-error.
Question #2: What are the different types of data in?
As we have seen earlier, data in encompasses virtually all types of data you could think of. In the field of sales and marketing, however, data in consists specifically of pieces of information that help businesses, marketers, and advertisers make decisions that help generate more leads, boost conversions, and increase sales.
Examples of this include:
- Customer/demographic data
- Click-through rate
- Cost per acquisition
- Conversion rate
- User engagement data
- Website analytics data
- Advertising analytics data
- Usage data
- Support ticket logs
Question #3: How can I use data in?
Depending on the type of information you collect, you can use data in to do things such as:
- Targeted advertising
- Targeted email campaigns
- Targeted promotions
- Product/service improvement or development
- Business process streamlining
- Rebranding
Let us take a closer look at each one:
First, targeted advertising, as the name suggests, refers to the act of showing ads to an audience based on predefined parameters such demographic data, income, and personal preferences.
Second, targeted emails are just that: emails that are sent to a mailing list or section thereof based also on predefined conditions.
Third, targeted promotions are promotions aimed at a specific audience and with a specific goal in mind, such as lead generation, brand awareness, and customer base expansion.
Fourth, product/service improvement or development refers to the process of improving existing products and services or developing new ones based on data you collect about the market and your target customers.
Fifth, business process streamlining refers to the improvement of your business processes based on feedback from your customers and other similar forms of data.
Finally, rebranding refers to the process of changing the way your present your brand based, once again, on market feedback.
Question #4: How do I collect data in?
There are many different ways to collect data in including:
- Surveys
- Feedback forms
- Web analytics
- Social media analytics
- Interviews
- CRM tools
- Ad platform analytics