The digital revolution has changed the way companies market their products and services to the masses, and it is continuing to evolve so quickly that many businesses are struggling to keep up. Evidence suggests that data analytics will be the future of marketing, and for good reason. Below, you can learn more about the impact that data analytics has on marketing today as well as what kind of impact it’s expected to make in the future.

The Data is Immense

Since the internet became a mainstream household commodity roughly 20 years ago, marketing analysts and researchers have found numerous inobtrusive ways to collect data. At first, this data was limited, so businesses were able to analyze it fairly simply and then use it to their advantage. As the years passed, the data grew to the point that companies were so overwhelmed, they often simply ignored the very data that could have spurred their success.

Today’s data collection is immense. It includes information about a site visitor’s location, the time the page was accessed, how the page was accessed, what behaviors the visitor took while on the site, and which links within the site they clicked. This is only a small sampling of the data that’s being collected every second of every day. With all that information, the companies who learn how to analyze it can, for the most part, predict the future – and that gives them some serious staying power.

Reaching the Masses

When a business goes digital, this serves two critical purposes. First, the business’s online presence allows a consumer to immediately access a vast amount of information about that company and its products – even if it’s 2am on a Tuesday. Second, it gives the business a presence on the internet where so many people spend their time these days. The more frequently people see a logo or advertisement, the more memorable a company becomes, and the more likely they are to turn to that company when they need a product or service that it can provide.

Data analytics puts the power into these companies’ hands. With the data that is incessantly being collected as people browse and search the web, a company can easily determine its audience, and then they can funnel more of their marketing dollars into advertising directly to that audience. In fact, they can use the very same data that led them to their audience to choose the right places, times, and even content for their ads.

The Competition

Like many things in the business world, growth and success involves a ton of competition. Imagine, for a moment, two companies in the same industry selling a remarkably similar product. Company A isn’t properly analyzing its data, so they don’t really know their audience or how they might behave. Their marketing dollars go into reaching the people they believe will buy from them in the places they believe those people spend their time online.

On the other hand, Company B invested in outstanding data analytics. They have a ton of helpful insights about their audience, including things like purchasing behaviors. With that data, Company B can more accurately determine what kinds of ads will work best and where those ads should be placed for the best visibility. If Company A and Company B have the same marketing budget, there’s little doubt that Company B will pull ahead and leave the Company A in the dust.

To summarize, you can’t sell a product or service to someone online if that someone isn’t even aware that your product or service exists. Data analytics is the future of marketing because it allows companies to narrow down their audience with unparalleled specificity, analyze their purchasing behaviors, and then deliver marketing campaign content that is most likely to catch their attention.