Why “Data-Led” Still Wins in 2025 with Senior Data Insights Exec, Gabby Buck
Decision making in marketing without using data to back it up is like that game we all played as kids, where you have to reach around in a box whilst blindfolded and guess what’s in it. You have no idea what you’re doing, it’s a little scary, and you’re probably going to get it wrong (whilst also getting covered in spaghetti cosplaying as intestines in the process).
Data should be the foundation of all decisions in marketing. It’s key for all kinds of metrics, arguably one of the most important being understanding your audience and target market – without this knowledge, putting your brand in front of the correct people will be incredibly difficult. It’s also key for understanding what your competitors are doing and how they’re doing it, so that you can position your brand well alongside them and really refine your message.
If you have data to back yourself up, you have concrete evidence of whatever it is you’re trying to say – but without data, your message becomes a sort of hazy guess, and who’s going to trust that? Whether it’s internal data, primary research, secondary research, industry reports or so on, data is your marketing strategy’s best friend.
Why Data Still Wins:
Let’s go back to understanding your audience. You probably have some sort of customer persona, outlining some general demographics of who your target audience is, which is great. But beyond these demographics, how do you find out more about the people we’re trying to put your brand in front of? That’s where social listening data comes in. You can begin to understand a lot about your audience and their opinions by monitoring how they communicate online as well as identify industry trends that could be relevant, which can help to inform your decisions not only in marketing but beyond, into the likes of product/service development, sales etc.
For example, are there common annoyances being talked about on social media in the industry that your product or service can address, and can become a focal point of your marketing message? What’s the sentiment of how people are talking about your brand online, and if it’s not good, why and what needs addressing? What are people saying about your competitors and in comparison to your brand, how can you shift the focus on to your brand for the better? Knowing all this information puts you in a really good position to create really tailored marketing strategies to your brand. Without social listening, this data is not easy to come by, or more importantly can be missed altogether.
But it’s not just about what your audience is saying online, it’s about how they’re searching too. Keyword research is a vital piece of data collection to ensure your marketing efforts align with your target consumer’s search behaviours. By highlighting the main keywords that they are looking for on search engines, it allows you to tailor your on-site content to meet their needs, providing them with relevant information and driving engagement to your platform. Again, without keyword research, your marketing efforts could struggle to reach the right audience – if you don’t know what they’re searching for, how can you expect your content to land in front of them?
Data should also be at the heart of your digital PR campaigns. Journalists are considerably more likely to cover a campaign that has well-thought out and researched points backed by data, than a press release that has a good story but nothing to prove it. It’s also a handy way to get a link for your site – if you create a good landing page and assets displaying your findings, a journalist may be more inclined to link to a relevant page as a data source to provide further credibility to their story, improving your page authority.
Common Challenges:
Even the best data analysts can be overwhelmed by gigantic excel spreadsheets from time to time, so it’s important to understand how to really read and interpret data to get the best from your information. Even some simple excel training goes a long way in any company, and depending on the types of data you are dealing with, consider more complex tools if necessary. On top of this, everyone can read data differently and sometimes make mistakes – have multiple people check over any seriously important data, just to double check you’re aligned on what it’s telling you (and avoid any dodgy PR faux-pas).
It’s also very easy to be overwhelmed by the significant amount of data that is available out there. Try and have some sort of an outline of what it is you’re trying to find from the data, to give you a better picture of where to start and also when to stop (this isn’t always possible to do, but very helpful if you can).
Best Practices for a Data-Led approach
That leads on well to best practices. Please, please, please check if your sources are accurate. Everyone loves to use ChatGPT as a shortcut every now and then and it can be seriously helpful, but on the odd occasion it pulls a blinder and just makes up some completely random stuff it thinks you want to hear, it’s worth double checking. For a better approach, avoid it all together, and use trustworthy sources like your own internal data, government websites and accredited data providers like Statista – and make sure to cross-reference data as well if you can.
It also goes without saying that it’s a good idea to try and find the most up-to-date information as possible – if the data is from over 3-5 years ago, you may want to give it a miss and find a new source (just because someone did a survey back in 2003 that fits what you’re looking for exactly, it doesn’t mean you should use it…)
One more thing – make sure your team understands the data as well. If your data analyst is completely clued up on what’s going on, but it goes uncommunicated to everyone else, then what’s the point in collecting it in the first place? Having fresh eyes look over the data is also a great way to get a new perspective and outlook on the interpretation, and a common understanding will help with directing the marketing strategy.
Practical Takeaways:
Not everyone is going to have a data-first mindset when it comes to marketing, with creativity and inventiveness usually big priorities. But it’s really good practice to try and incorporate it into a good majority of marketing activities, particularly any that require any sort of audience insight or strategic direction. Every time a decision has to be made, just ask yourself “Is there any data to back up what I’m trying to say?”.
These are some recommended tools to incorporate into your data-led activities:
– Meltwater or other social listening tool
– Ahrefs or Semrush for comprehensive keyword research and other SEO practices
– Subscriptions to useful data platforms like Statista, Mintel, GWI, YouGov etc.
– Google Trends & Google Destination Insights
– Google Analytics
