2026 Marketing Data Trends and How to Leverage Them Now

Big data will play a massive role in how marketers will do their jobs in the years ahead. Data availability has exploded across all parts of the promotional and sales processes, impacting things like visibility in search, delivering personalized marketing and sales experiences and seamless customer journeys, and making marketing spend more efficient.

This guide explains how data will change marketing in the future and how to plan for it.

AI-Based Personalization

The vast amounts of data being fed into artificial intelligence (AI)-based social media, email, point-of-sale, and other systems will enable the delivery of incredibly personal marketing, communication, sales, and customer service experiences. Data processed through AI-based systems can help you determine what consumers want, how they will respond to promotions, and what they are willing to pay for goods and services.

This power could take your business to the next level in the future if you’re willing to jump on board the data-driven, AI-powered data marketing train.

Multiple Types of Search

Online search has moved far from its original roots of responding to queries with links to content, products, and business listings. Now, big data and artificial intelligence make it possible for search to take place — and be responded to — via voice, visuals, smart assistants, or summaries.

What’s critical for businesses to be found online in the evolving universe of search, powered by vast amounts of data processed through AI, is superior content delivered in concise, scannable bits, accurate and current information on your website and in all systems, solid ratings and reviews, and constant monitoring of your metrics and reporting.

·      Authoritative content with original insights delivered in digestible bites will make it more likely that AI-powered systems will scan your content and identify unique ideas that can be inserted into content summaries and query responses. Today, people are as — or more — likely to click on links in these as on traditional search engine results page (SERP) listings. It will be critical to develop material correctly to stay visible to prospective customers.

·      Current and accurate information across all sources, including inventory, Google Business Profile (GBP), and your website, will be critical for search success in the years ahead. Artificial intelligence can search through vast amounts of data to find the most convenient business locations, best prices, ideal goods and services, top vendors, and more. It can also determine when information is dated or incorrect. Businesses backed by better-quality data will be served up more often than those that search engines do not trust.

·      Ratings and reviews on popular platforms like Google Business Profile (GBP), social media, and others indicate the quality of the customer experience businesses deliver. AI can sort through them to find top providers to recommend.

·      Monitor all forms of data constantly to ensure marketing and sales success and to prevent errors from entering your systems. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) this requires additional time and effort to make sure everything is correct and performs as intended. Companies that are on top of their data will win out over their less vigilant competitors.

Data Overload

As briefly referenced earlier, the vast amount of data available to businesses will more and more result in significant overload when it comes to monitoring and managing it. This is exacerbated because teams often focus on too many unnecessary vanity metrics (impressions, clicks) rather than key performance indicators (KPIs) that actually drive revenue.

Some KPIs that support tracking business growth include:

·      Pipeline generated by marketing

·      Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

·      Customer lifetime value (CLV)

·      Pipeline velocity

·      ROI by channel

Make sure you align metrics with sales outcomes, not just marketing activity.

Check out our guide to selecting meaningful data points to control overload.

Data Integration

Too many organizations depend on systems siloed by department or function. They may have been able to work effectively this way when there was a relatively small and manageable amount of data available through each of them. But now, with the vast amount of data flowing through all of them, it is nearly impossible to gain a complete view of all of it.

That’s why it’s critical to undertake a data integration effort. It allows a cross-departmental view of all data. An integrated view of company data allows everyone in an organization to track progress toward a common set of goals. It also provides a single view of critical information, such as stock levels, sales promotion efforts, and previous purchase data, enabling companies to manage marketing, sales, and customer service more effectively.

Some things to consider when integrating data include:

·      Replacing static reports with interactive dashboards

·      Providing sales, marketing, client service, and other teams with shared visibility into buyer engagement and pipeline progression data.

A data integration effort may take time, effort, and money to implement, but it typically pays off in better bottom-line business results.

Advanced Measurement Models

One-dimensional sales and marketing measurement models are a thing of the past. That is because customers today take multiple paths to get to a sale. In many cases, no two are alike. That’s why it is critical that you explore and leverage more sophisticated attribution models. They must be able to take into account multiple touches across a range of platforms to really understand your customers’ individual journeys in their entirety and in aggregate.

Some things to focus on include:

·      Use multi-touch attribution to understand how every channel influences revenue.

·      Apply account-based attribution in ABM campaigns to measure engagement from multiple stakeholders.

·      Shift focus from last-click to full-journey impact.

Using advanced measurement models can help you sell more to prospective buyers and current customers, driving more dollars to your bottom line.

A Greater Focus on Training

Big data has resulted in a significant skills gap at most companies and across the data management sector. Hiring is not a way to resolve the issue.

That’s why companies must set aside budget and time for employee training on the proper use of big data. (In the meantime, businesses can turn to the experts at Jarrah for the support they need to handle vast amounts of data.)

Some things to consider when setting up a training program include:

·      Teaching marketers to read and act on analytics

·      Partner marketing strategists with data analysts

·      Create a culture where every decision is backed by data, not gut instinct.

Privacy and Security

With companies handling more and more customer and business data, data security and privacy must become greater concerns in the years ahead. Last year’s security systems and protocols are not enough to protect your data or your business's reputation if you get hacked. Make it a point to get a data security review soon.

Embrace Predictive Analytics

With more data about your customers comes a greater ability to figure out what they are likely to want next. That’s why it is critical to place a greater focus on predictive analytics in the future. Pay attention to things like:

·      Leveraging AI to forecast which accounts are most likely to convert, make additional purchases, and figure out what those next purchases will be.

·      Using machine learning for pipeline forecasting, which can help you run your business with less waste.

·      Taking advantage of machine learning to predict churn and identify clients who are likely to move to a competitor so you can take steps to retain them before they do.

·      Applying predictive scoring to prioritize marketing campaigns and channels, making your efforts more efficient.

Focus on Revenue Generation Rather than Traditional Marketing

Marketing has traditionally been about bringing prospective customers in the door, whether in the real world or virtually. In the future, it won’t be enough for marketers to bring in new business; they will need to attract solid, long-term, profitable customers. Because of this:

·      Analytics will no longer live in marketing alone, but across the business for all stakeholders in marketing, sales, and customer service to leverage.

·      It will provide the data required to identify better prospective customers across all parts of the business.

·      It will help turn more people into repeat buyers and encourage upsells.

Move to Engagement Quality, Not Just Quantity

The greater availability of high-quality data will enable marketers to measure not just engagement levels but also the quality of those engagements. Not only can you monitor page visitors and time spent on a page, but you can also track whether people move closer to a sale because of their experience on the page.

This will require marketers to adjust what they track, which is something Jarrah can help with during these changing times.

The Future of Analytics: The Final Word

In the future, digital marketing analytics will be about much more than simple statistics, dashboards, and reports. It is evolving into a central component of business growth, enabling marketers to transform raw data into actionable insights that drive dependable revenue.

Organizations that succeed in the year ahead and beyond will be those that:

·      Focus on revenue-driven KPIs, not simple success metrics

·      Break down data silos and get their teams working toward common goals

·      Adopt AI-powered predictive models

·      Align analytics across marketing, sales, and customer service.

Leverage the tips in this guide to navigate the brave new world of advanced marketing analytics. And feel free to contact the professionals at Jarrah if you prefer to not go it alone.

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