A hat tip to MarketingCharts.com (and here they are on Twitter) for pointing us to a Forbes study that announces:
More than 7 in 10 executives believe that their reliance on data analytics for decision-making will either increase significantly (24%) or somewhat (47%) over the next 3 years…
and there’s this in addition…
…data-driven marketing is credited by the largest share of respondents with creating competitive advantages in customer loyalty (47%), gaining new customers (43%) and customer satisfaction (42%)…
A heads-up on this: the study was focused on C-level and SVP-level executives, and it was NOT focused on the restaurant industry.
There are 4Â categories of marketers when it comes to data.
In this study, there are four categories of marketers highlighted when it comes to data: the Laggards, the Dabblers, the Contenders, and the Leaders.
Laggards don’t collect data and don’t plan to in the future. Dabblers have begun to incorporate data into some aspects of their marketing, but may lack the skills or vision to see returns. Contenders regularly use analytics for making and measuring decisions. Leaders always measure results with analytics and strive to make data-driven decisions.
Where do you fall in this spectrum? And when we say “data” what are you thinking of — just your POS data?
You don’t have to be a C-level executive with a major brand, or a SVP of Marketing, to take advantage of data in your marketing or to help your brand become a data-driven marketing powerhouse.
Every card swipe in your location is an opportunity to collect important data you could take advantage of.
Every online order or gift card purchase on your website offers the same potential for data collection.
Every reservation made, every name added to a wait list, every app download, and darn it, every visit to your website gives you a great shot at collecting data. And by “data” I don’t just mean an email address.
We’ve talked many times about the concept of Restaurant CRM (check out our Getting Started article and our What We Mean When We Say Restaurant CRM article) and the power in getting to know your customers in an analytical way, not an anecdotal manner. In a way where you can see broad and specific slices of your customers and determine who they really are vs. whom you’re wanting to attract.
Why not get started with this right now? Why not get on with this in 2015? There are so many companies standing at the ready to help small restaurants just as much as the big brands.
