Marketing is an important aspect in any business firm and the process of measuring marketing data is very vital in assessing the impact that any marketing strategy has in the market. Firms spent a significant junk of their incomes to undertake several marketing programs in an apparent attempt to turn the tide of customer preferences in their favor.

Measuring Marketing Data

Importance of Measuring Marketing Data The most important role played by measuring marketing data is the use of the resultant metrics in enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in marketing activities. You will agree that since the guns fell in the Second World War man has been embroiled in a cut throat competition in a bid to maximize their profits in all ways possible. Marketing is one notable channel that has become the flash point of this competition. In so doing measuring of the data is geared towards strategizing, assessing and promoting the capabilities of marketing programs of the firms in a bid to dominate the market. Performance management plays a key role in maximizing the fortunes of any business entity. Metrics derived from the process of measuring the data are essentially important in achieving this goal in their use in optimizing logistics, product development and manufacturing to aid in the attainment of objectives of business entities among them investment returns. Most business entities are hell-bent on maximizing their sales, securing an enviable share in the market for the specific product together with securing lucrative returns for the investors. These are the pillars of optimizing performance management of which measurement of this data is of vital importance in securing them. The Process of Data Measuring and Analysis The process of measuring marketing data is one that should be undertaken with extensive knowledge on the technical knowhow on what is required of them. While there are so many kinds of data that can be collected, a background assessment is key in ensuring the final results are capable of serving the purpose. The initial stage involves determining the reasons for which marketing data metrics are to be measured. This will shield the involved entities from embarking on a process that the initial purposes for it are not clear. The reasons should be elaborate on why the data is being collected and on the end target that it should meet. Completion of this stage gives way to the crucial step involving determining the kind of measures that are to be taken as part of the statistics that will aid in measuring marketing data. Determining the metrics that are needed for collection is an important step in that it allows you to isolate necessary and unnecessary measures when you finally embark on the process of data collection together with helping you pinpoint the important characteristics of the data that is to be collected. Their exists infinite measures that one can consider when embarking on such a task but their use will normally vary depending on how well they can be used in achieving the stated purpose, the ease of collection and analysis together with the accuracy that they provide once they have been manipulated. Common measures that can be collected in measuring marketing data include the market share, purchase frequencies, customer awareness of the product, return businesses, customer engagement, addictive likes and loyalties, sales and the profits realized after marketing adventures. Once the metrics to be collected have been specified the ever lingering question is how to go about their collection. Developing a systematic process to be used in the collection of data is of vital importance to ensure the purpose of the process is not rubbished. The methods of data collection will usually vary depending on the metrics to be collected, financial constraints, time limits, accuracy aspired and the available expertise. Data collection should at all times be systematic, accurate and unbiased to portray a clear picture of what marketing programs have been able to achieve, their inadequacies and pitfalls. Persons may be given the relevant training to help in collection of the metrics or machines and other sophisticated techniques may be used to accomplish this step. The next step after data collection involves editing of the collected data to ensure it falls within the confines of specified regulations. Such editing will involve removal of metrics that fall outside certain gaps or do not satisfy the basic rules of the categories in which they are placed. Tabulation is one of the elementary activities that are done under editing and involves placing data under headed rows and columns to ensure an easier view and understanding. Coding allows one to attach numerals and symbols to the collected data to either give meaning in that context or enhance the ease of processing the data. Formatting allows the data to be presented in compliance with certain designs that are easy to feed into the system for quick results to be generated. Analysis follows data editing and involves computation of specific estimates that are used in the explanation of the end results. The importance of collecting marketing data is usually to derive specific components from the data which can then be used to evaluate the implications of the data. Such measures involves mean values, modal values, measures of dispersion and other estimates. This estimates are important in summarizing the data and stating its implications in a nutshell. It’s imperative that data analysis be done by qualified experts rather than hand-picked quacks since a wrong analysis is an express license to painting a wrong impression of the market and its repercussions are severe. The final stage involves representation of the data in forms easy to be understood and consumed by non-expert decision makers. One key use of marketing data is its application in decision making by top organs of business bodies who may not have extensive knowledge of what the estimates imply nor the process of measuring the data. It is therefore important to present the final estimate in a form easy for them to understand and use in their process of decision making. Once the data has been consumed by decision makers, the process of measuring marketing data will have been put in its rightful use and value achieved.