How to use customer data for marketing

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THE 3-STEP MARKETING AUDIT:

HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING Learn How To Find Valuable Insights About Your Lead Conversion Experience By Running a HubSpot Customer Audit A publication of

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

IS THIS EBOOK RIGHT FOR ME? Not quite sure if this ebook is right for you? See the below description to determine if your level matches the content you are about to read.

INTRODUCTORY Introductory content is for marketers who are new to the subject. This content

typically includes step-by-step instructions on how to get started with this aspect

of inbound marketing and learn its fundamentals. After reading it, you will be able to execute basic marketing tactics related to the topic.

INTERMEDIATE Intermediate content is for marketers who are familiar with the subject but have

only basic experience in executing strategies and tactics on the topic. This content typically covers the fundamentals and moves on to reveal more complex functions and examples. After reading it, you will feel comfortable leading projects with this aspect of inbound marketing.

ADVANCED

THIS resource

Advanced content is for marketers who are, or want to be, experts on the subject.

In it, we walk you through advanced features of this aspect of inbound marketing and help you develop complete mastery of the subject. After reading it, you will

feel ready not only to execute strategies and tactics, but also to teach others how to be successful.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

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Marketing analytics Analyze your web traffic and see which sources are generating the most leads.

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email

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING Rebecca is a Senior Inbound Marketing Consultant on the HubSpot Consulting team. Over the past 10 years, Rebecca has worked with over 100 companies, ranging from the Fortune 500, to startups, to nonprofits. In addition to her love for data analysis, Rebecca’s areas of expertise include lead generation and conversion, segmentation-based email marketing

Written By Rebecca Gutner

strategy, search engine optimization, and general marketing strategy.

Follow me on twitter. @RebeccaGutner

Desmond is a creative designer and inbound marketer on the Brand & Buzz team at HubSpot. He specializes in graphic design, content creation, and content strategy for lead generation.

ShareDesigned This Ebook!

By Desmond Wong

Follow me on twitter. @Detectiveddubs

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

CONTENTS. 06

Introduction

08

what to consider when beginning your audit

14

how to pull and analyze your data

21

how to use your findings to inform your marketing

25

Conclusion

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Introduction.

M

any marketing decisions are made based on a marketer’s

“intuition.” In other words, semi-subjective opinions from Marketing and Sales. While these opinions can be extremely valuable, where possible they can (and should!) be paired with objective trends found within your data.

The HubSpot Customer Audit is designed to provide valuable insight into your online lead conversion experience. By aggregating and analyzing the data you’ve collected about your existing customers, an audit will help you identify trends that can help inform your sales process. An audit is an important step in verifying the accuracy of assumptions you may have made about the lead qualification process.

This resource will serve as your guide to learning how to use your data to conduct your own customer audit.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Some common uses for the customer audit are as follows:

1.

To determine/update your lead scoring values

2.. To inform your content strategy by learning the types and frequency of content that best resonates with your existing customers

3.. To guide you as to which traffic sources to invest more resources 4. .To update your Sales & Marketing Service Level Agreement (SLA) to include the most accurate portrayal of sales ready leads

5.. To inform your prospecting within certain industries or types of companies

6.. To update your marketing personas to more accurately reflect your core base of customers

A customer audit can be performed as often as once per quarter and should be performed at least once per year.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Chapter

What to consider when beginning your audit

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

What to Consider When Beginning Your Audit What should your sample size be?

Depending on your business, the sample size of your customer base may not be large enough to be statistically significant. Generally speaking, a good rule of thumb for true data significance is 1,000 records or more. If your data is between 100-1000, it could still have some significance. If your sample size is less than 100, it can be reviewed for overarching trends but should be rerun when the group grows to 100.

100

1000 Level of Significance

Normally, you should have 1,000 records or more for true data significance. If your sample data is between 100-1000, you should still have some significance.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

How Do I Collect Data?

Now you must be wondering -- how is the data being collected? The answer is simple: form intelligence.

We learned early on that the best way to collect data and intelligence on your audience is to collect it by providing them an even greater benefit.

You may have done this already without even thinking it! In order to receive this ebook, you filled out a form that contained various fields.

These fields, depending on how often you’ve filled out out forms, asked you for some business-specific information. What you may not realize when filling out those fields is that you’re helping us better analyze and understand who our audience is and what their interests are.

The best way to collect the right information is to use progressive profiling. Progressive profiling allows you to control which questions appear on a form based on what you already know about a lead. That way, each time a lead fills out a form, you are collecting valuable new information about them while keeping your forms short and easy to fill out - not squandering the opportunity by asking the same questions twice.

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Progressive profiling allows you to control which questions appear on a form based on what you already know about a lead.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

What fields should I have on my forms?

Now that you know where data is coming from, here are some suggested fields to review when designing your audit. Some of this data pulls from your analytics platform, while other pieces of data must be collected by asking the right questions on your landing pages. These are suggested fields for all industries; note that some may not apply to your business.

Demographic Data Number of Employees Industry Annual Revenue Gender Age Job Title

Demographic information will help you determine exactly who your customer is and how to best target them.

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Analytics/Behavioral Data .Time First Seen - The date at which the prospect first discovered your site.

First Page Seen - The first page the prospect landed on within your site. .Original Source - The traffic source that first brought the prospect to your site.

First Conversion Date - The date at which the prospect became a lead.

Close Date - The date at which the lead became a customer. .Number of Visits to your site.

Number of Pages Viewed.

Number of Emails Received/Delivered.

Number of Emails Clicked. .Number of Social Media Clicks - The number of times the lead/customer engaged with your site via social media.

The analytics and behavioral data will give you more insight into the performance of your customers marketing strategies. You’ll be able to guage the success of landing pages, calls-to-actions, and clickthrough rates to help implement new techniques and improve their conversion rates.

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Other Lead Score - (If tracking).

Persona - (If tracking) Author’s Note: if you are tracking leads by persona and you have enough data, you may want to do an individual customer audit for each persona type. .Email - This will allow you to dig deeper into an individual record after the fact to review the interactions with this customer.

Company Name - This will allow you to dig deeper into a company’s engagement path to becoming a customer.

Any other custom fields you are tracking that would be relevant.

Information like lead scores, emails, company names, and personas can all give you a deeper dive into the customers path of engagement and interactions to better adjust your strategy for acquiring more new customers.

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02

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Chapter

HOW TO PULL AND ANALYZE YOUR DATA Share This Ebook!

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

What Data Should You Be Pulling?

Most analytics programs allow you to export your lead/customer data -- collected from form intelligence -- into an excel format. For HubSpot customers, the steps are as follows:

Step 1: .Create a list of customers excluding any imported contacts.

Then export this list into excel.

Step 2: .Open the export file and remove all fields except the fields you have chosen to analyze above.

Step 3: .Create a summary sheet (either in a new tab or a separate document). This will be your central repository for any data you collect and it will make it easy to visualize your findings. Here is a sample Summary Sheet from HubSpot data (built in excel):

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Step 4: .Begin your data analysis. Use the methods below to collect the data for each field and add the number to your Summary Sheet.

Fill in these columns with the numerical data that you have collected from your forms to create a summary sheet.

Number of Employees

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Annual Revenue

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Industry

Use a Pivot Table to see total numbers of each category for this column. Use the top 2-3 for your summary.

Gender

Use a Pivot Table to tally the totals for this column. Subtract the total for each group from the total number of contacts to find the percentage breakdown.

Age

Take the average of this field.

Job Title

Use a Pivot Table to see total numbers of each category for this column. Use the top 2-3 for your summary.

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Average Sales Cycle (Close Date - Time First Seen)

Create a new column in your excel document and format this column as a number field.

Subtract the number in the “Time First Seen” field from the number in the “Close Date” field.

Research Period (First Conversion Date - Time First Seen)

Create a new column in your excel document and format this column as a number field.

Subtract the number in the “Time First Seen” field from the number in the “First Conversion Date” field.

First Page Seen

Use a Pivot Table to see total numbers of each category for this column. Use the top 2-3 for your summary.

Original Source Type

Use a Pivot Table to see total numbers of each category for this column. Use the top 2-3 for your summary.

Number of Visits

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Number of Pages Viewed

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Number of Emails Received/Delivered

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Number of Emails Clicked

Take the average of the numbers in this column.

Number of Social Media Clicks

Use a Pivot Table to take a count of how many people have engaged with you in social media.

Subtract this number from the total number of contacts to find the percentage breakdown.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Lead Score

Take the average of this column.

Persona

Use a Pivot Table to see total numbers of each category for this column.

If you don’t use HubSpot, use the current software, analytics, and/or data you’ve collected over time to gather similar information to what HubSpot provides. You may not receive the full picture, but hopefully have enough data to analyze and extract conclusions.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Now What Does All That Data You Pulled Mean?

Once you have completed the step of pulling your data, you can now begin the process of analyzing it. Here are some suggested pieces to analyze from the data you’ve pulled:

Use these charts to help determine some helpful takeaways and insights about the data you have collected with your forms.

Demographic Data: Number of Employees

The company size that is most closely aligned with your target customer.

Annual Revenue

The average revenue of companies most likely to become your customers.

Industry

The most common industries that are finding your site on the web.

Gender

The gender of the person most commonly researching your product/service offerings.

Age

The age of the person most commonly researching your product/service offerings.

Job Title

The role of the person most commonly researching your product/service.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Analytics/Behavioral Data: Average Sales Cycle (Close Date - Time First Seen)

The average length of time it takes a new customer to convert on your site.

Research Period (First Conversion Date - Time First Seen)

The average length of time it takes a new prospect to become a lead.

First Page Seen

The pages that have been successful at bringing leads into the sales cycle.

Original Source Type

The most effective traffic sources in driving new customers to your site.

Number of Visits

The average number of visits a lead makes before becoming a customer.

Number of Pages Viewed

The average number of page views a lead sees before becoming a customer.

Number of Emails Received/Delivered

The average number of emails received that helped nurture the customer.

Number of Emails Clicked

The average engagement of leads with your email campaigns.

Number of Social Media Clicks

The number of times the lead/customer engaged with your site via social media.

Demographic Data: Lead Score

The average lead score that is indicative of a prospective customer. This will help you identify if the lead score values might be using to register a lead as “marketing qualified� are accurate.

Persona

What persona group most commonly leads to customers.

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03

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

Chapter

HOW TO USE YOUR FINDINGS TO INFORM YOUR MARKETING

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How to Use Your Findings to Inform Your Marketing There are a number of ways the findings from your customer audit can be used to inform your marketing. Here are a couple of examples:

1. Determining Your Lead Score Values If you have never used a Lead Scoring tool before then the customer audit is critical to making sure that lead score values are based on objective data rather than subjective assumptions. To get started, make a list of the values above that are represented in your lead scoring tool (if you are using the HubSpot lead scoring tool, all fields should apply except for Average Sales Cycle and Research Period).

From there, prioritize your list from the most important characteristics to the least and assign point values in descending order.

2. Informing Your Content Strategy Use the “Emails Delivered” and “Emails Clicked” fields to determine the number of emails with which most customers willingly engage.

Next, review the Average Sales Cycle value to determine the lifespan in which the customer reviewed these emails. Compare these numbers to your existing lead nurturing campaigns and overall email marketing strategy. Are you sending the right number of emails? If not, consider tweaking your campaigns accordingly.

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Use the “First Page Seen� data to determine the field that is most successful in driving visitors to your site. For most companies, this will be the home page, make sure to review the next 2-3 pages on the list!

1..Review the content of these interior pages, what do they provide that might be resonating with the visitor? Do you have any offers that speak to these topics? If not, consider building them out and promoting them on these pages.

2.. Are the pages accessible from your homepage and other key entry points (blog, social media, etc.)? If not, consider providing more direct links to these pages throughout your site.

3. Determine Your Most Successful Traffic Sources One of the simplest metrics identified in the Audit is the referring traffic source. Review the most successful sources for customer generation (Note: this may not be the same as the most successful site for lead generation). Do most of your customers come from organic search? Consider investing in your blogging team. Are most of your customers coming from eferral traffic? Consider expanding your PR team to help promote your content even further.

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HOW TO USE CUSTOMER DATA TO RECHARGE YOUR MARKETING

4. Update Your SLA If your Sales and Marketing teams are aligned, you may have set up a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to determine the types of leads Marketing must generate for the Sales team. Use the data provided in the audit to determine if the parameters you’ve set for a marketing qualified lead are accurate.

5. Structure Your Content to Appeal to Your Target Industries Review the data from your demographic fields (Industry, Annual Revenue, Age, Gender and Job Title). Does your existing content speak to this demographic? If not, consider adding some additional blog posts or offers (ebooks, webinars, checklists) targeted to these audiences.

6. Update Your Marketing Personas Review the assumptions you’ve made about your target persona groups. Does the demographic data you captured about your customers align with your assumptions about lead qualification? Is the Average Sales Cycle in line with your presumed buyer’s journey?

If not, consider tweaking your personas to include these new findings.

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Conclusion.

O

nce you have completed your first audit, plan to make it a regular

occurrence so you can recalibrate your assumptions from time-to-time.

The audit can be performed as often as once per quarter and should be performed at least once per year.

If you take away one thing from this ebook, it’s this: Your customer data is an extremely useful tool in helping you create an effective (and objective!) marketing strategy. Use these insights as a means to understand how and why your customers found you. The more you understand your existing customer base, the better you will be at designing relevant content to find more people who look just like them.

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COLLECT THE DATA YOU NEED WITH HUBSPOT. Not a HubSpot customer but want the same data mentioned in this guide? Talk to a HubSpot specialist to learn how you can easily put the right software in place to get the right data to inform your marketing.

Click here to contact a HubSpot marketing specialist today.

TALK TO US TODAY. http://bitly.com/HS-Contact-Sales

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