Local marketers move to data-driven marketing

LAHORE: Marketers have started relying heavily on data driven techniques in order to retain customers, who are constantly shifting to online shopping, and to target the potential customers using big data, Data analysts have said.
Executives, previously, faced an arduous task in balancing their publicity in various mediums such as television, online media, print media and rise of mobile social media.
“The advertising expenditures, around the world, have crossed $1 trillion with advertising growth even in Pakistan outpacing the general growth of businesses in the country,” said marketing executive Yusuf Ahmad.
The data analysts always remained skeptical about the rising marketing costs. Most analyzed the impact of incremental marketing budgets on sales. However, The successful marketers, aware of the scrutiny, have started using data-driven marketing techniques to analyze who buys what, and why.
Yusuf said through this data analysis, the firms identify more effectively the functional benefits that customers need and the innovations they value.
Entrepreneur Syed Nabeel Hashmi said modern technology has provided refined ways of targeting and measuring returns on marketing investment through big data and automated analysis.
The retail stores today observe the behavior of the consumers at their outlets. They do it to capture the market share and keep consumers who are shifting towards online business for their purchases.
“Retailers are watching where you look, when you walk into a large retail outlet, chances are that the place where you look has a retina sensor recording data in order to better understand consumer buying behavior,” Hashmi said.
These technologies like retina-movement and RFID intelligence are finding their way into the retail space, letting shop owners know how long a shopper has looked at a particular product and what has caught the eye.
At the corporate level the companies take advantage of advanced marketing science that makes it easier to shape the substance of the business, particularly the experiences of customers, the delivery of functional benefits, and the drive to develop new products and services.
Automobiles customers expect that their vehicles would be equipped with collision-avoidance and digitally-enabled safety systems, he said. Similarly, retail lawn brands in Pakistan have harnessed the desire of lower middle class ladies by bringing in low cost colorful lawns of high fashion.
An Information Technology expert Saad Bin Tahir said social-media programs are consuming a large share of marketing budgets because of its vast penetration into the life of the consumers at very low cost.
Major consumer companies use interaction centers to monitor social-media conversations as they develop, sometimes including the promotion of discussions on corporate social-media channels.
“Specialized agencies today separately handle, mobile, social media, electronic and print media,” he said, “As the digital economy in not static and anyone that fails to keep pace with technology misses the train.”