In today’s competitive business environment, data is everything. But how that data is stored can have a disproportionate impact on what useful things can be done with it. This article explores how to centralize your marketing data in such a way that your campaigns get a valuable boost.
But first, let's look at the main reasons why you might consider reorganizing data like this in the first place.
Benefits of centralized marketing data
It is not uncommon to use data center software to maintain a collection of marketing data for use by a single department. However, fully centralizing your marketing data confers additional advantages that you should not overlook.
Understanding the global picture
For one, it becomes much easier to get an overview of your operations phone number list . Which channels are generating the most leads, and how are your customers interacting with them? When you look at the data from a bird’s eye view, you can start to get a much more complete picture of how well your campaign is working in specific areas.
This often has the happy result of different departments working better together. That’s because when everyone has direct access to the same information, it’s easier for them to understand each other’s priorities. For example, if the marketing department wants to increase spending on a particularly successful channel, the finance team is much more likely to approve it if they can see the lead generation figures first-hand.
Proxy Servers
What is a proxy server ? A proxy server acts as a middleman between your device and the Internet. It allows you to access web content indirectly by routing your Internet requests through a different IP address. This provides several benefits, including increased security, privacy, and the ability to bypass geo-restrictions.
When it comes to centralized marketing data, a proxy server can be employed to gather information from different geographic locations. It allows businesses to access web content indirectly by routing their internet requests through different IP addresses associated with the proxy server. This allows marketers to gather data from multiple regions, helping them understand local customer preferences, trends, and behaviors.
Additionally, using a proxy server can improve the security and privacy of centralized marketing data.''
Banishing data silos
In fact, we can generalize this. Centralizing your marketing data removes the kinds of access barriers that can cause problems. So, improving access isn’t just about getting positive interactions, it’s also about eliminating negative ones.
Too often, decisions made by an individual department don’t take into account what’s happening in other parts of the company. This can lead to problems down the road if the needs of different teams conflict. When all of your data is completely centralized, the silo problem is eliminated and everyone makes strategic decisions based on a complete data set.
Control the budget
When you use a large number of marketing channels in your campaign, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’re spending and where. This tends to happen when you’re juggling multiple advertising platforms and switching between them.
If you have all your data in one place, you'll be able to see at a glance how much of your budget is going to each channel. This makes it much less likely that you'll end up overspending on any one channel. And you're much more likely to make appropriate decisions about budget allocation.
Measure ROI more easily
A related financial benefit is that centralizing your marketing data makes it much easier to calculate the ROI of different channels. If you're using CRM software tools , you'll know how difficult it can be to translate that data into an accurate ROI measurement.
Part of the centralization process involves standardizing your data. Instead of looking at each channel’s ROI in isolation, this allows you to compare comparable data and understand which channels are outperforming and which are lagging. This allows you to tailor your campaign strategy specifically and reallocate budgets accordingly.
Improve efficiency
Taken together, it’s clear that centralizing your marketing data promotes greater efficiency. That’s because it helps all of your teams collaborate effectively, all moving in the same direction.
Because everyone has access to the same data, time is not wasted requesting data and waiting to receive it before moving on to the next part of the task. As a result, your business operations progress much faster and more smoothly.
Image created by the writer.
How to centralize your marketing data
Hopefully, you’re convinced that centralizing your marketing data is a good idea. But how is this actually achieved in practice? Here’s a four-step plan to do just that.
Evaluate where you are
First, you need to conduct a thorough assessment of your current position. You need to understand your current capabilities, including both the capabilities and limitations of your technology infrastructure. The key point to establish is whether you can develop your current software or whether you will need to start from scratch.
Legacy code can pose difficulties in this case. If your technology stack relies on outdated code, it may not be possible to achieve data centralization by simply adding it. Implementing data centralization means integrating a variety of applications such as SEO marketing tools , CRM, CMS, and business intelligence software. Trying to do this with persistent gaps between different modules can lead to security issues.
Create a dedicated space for your data
The next stage is deciding where and how you will store your data. This basically comes down to choosing between using on-site servers or opting for a cloud-based option. If you decide to go on-site, that means purchasing a lot of expensive hardware and having technical teams to maintain it.
It is therefore understandable that many companies today prefer to use a cloud-based platform for their data storage or warehouse. It is a much more flexible and scalable solution. Using a third-party platform has the added advantage that you will benefit from built-in security protocols.
