Intelligence-driven marketing is the latest buzzword to be thrown around in the world of digital marketing. But where did the term “Intelligence-driven marketing” come from? And more importantly what does it mean for businesses? With the recent updates in technology, today’s companies must do more than just collect and use data in their marketing activities. They need to get clever with their marketing and focus on intelligence-driven marketing. That is knowing who their buyer personas are and connecting with them at each stage of the sales funnel.

A Short History of Data-Driven Marketing

You can’t talk about intelligence-driven marketing without mentioning data-driven marketing. Data-driven marketing has been around for a while. In fact, you can say that data-driven marketing really came into action in the 70’s. When CRM (customer relationship management) software was first introduced. This innovation allowed companies big and small to keep track of their customer data and behaviour. Fast forwarding into the new millennium, data has become even more easily accessible. Today businesses can collect data from a number of sources, including offline data, website interactions, email engagement and social media. In particular social media platforms, such as Facebook have played a huge part in data-driven marketing through collecting data on interests, demographics and location. And even allowing businesses to show tailored or dynamic ads matching their customer’s interests.

What is Intelligence-Driven Marketing

The term “intelligence-driven marketing” has arisen from the recent developments in artificial intelligence. It is predicted that by 2020 over 85% of your customers will manage their relationships without even talking to a human. With machines trying to understand human behaviour, it’s no wonder marketers and businesses need to start engaging with their customers on an emotional level. So, what exactly is intelligence-driven marketing? Intelligence-driven marketing is the next step from data-driven marketing. It’s all about using data to tell your customers stories, where data is only one piece of the puzzle. So what are the other pieces, you ask? Other things might include digital behaviour, body language, the tone of voice and so on. It is very important to note that intelligence-driven marketing doesn’t ignore data it simply expands on it.

New and improved intelligence driven marketing cycle

This is a whole new approach to marketing compared to data-driven marketing where the focus would have been on numbers, stats or other demographic data. intelligent-driven marketing, on the other hand, is all about using data to create a more life-like customer, beyond the statistics and numbers. It’s not just about offering customers personalised content based on their interests. It’s about nurturing that customer throughout the whole sales funnel, using the words they use, understanding their pain points, their desires and other bits of information. And most importantly being able to speak to that customer on a one to one, personal level. Clearly now we see that the future of marketing lies in understanding the psychology of a customer.

Intelligence-Driven Marketing for Businesses

Intelligence-driven marketing is more than just a buzzword. It can change the way you market your products or services to your customers. And more importantly, impact your company’s sales. Plus, you don’t have to be a psychologist to be good at it. But, how exactly can businesses implement intelligence-driven marketing? The essential starting point for businesses is to create and develop a detailed buyer persona. Some of the questions you might ask could be:

• How do they think?
• How do they behave?
• What words do they use?
• What pain points do they have?
• Point in the Buying Cycle?

Once you got a clear buyer persona for your company mapped out, you can use these to start engaging with your audience through all the relevant marketing channels. The key thing with intelligence-driven marketing is using the data and intelligence you gathered on your customers, at all stages of the sales funnel. This includes everything from updating your website to making sure your sales team are using the right terminology when interacting with customers. It also means having your customers buying cycles clearly mapped out and the information you can provide at each stage to grab their attention. While this could be a time-consuming activity, it is definitely worth it to give your company a competitive edge and make sure you are meeting your customers changing needs. We also recommend the use of marketing automation tools throughout the sales funnel, which can save time in the long run.

Final Thoughts

Intelligence-driven marketing is more than the numbers, it’s about creating an emotional connection with your customers. This means understanding the psychology of your customers at each stage of the sales funnel and how you as a business can help them.