Passed on 7 April, 2025
2. Digital marketing strategy and data analysis
Whether you own a business or work for one, you’ll find different departments, teams, and people might have different objectives. To make sure you’re meeting your objectives, it’s important to measure your progress along the way. In this lesson, we’ll find out how data analytics helps you to monitor your journey and achieve your goals.
✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Identify how actions to improve digital marketing strategies are informed by data.Define what is meant by a data 'insight'.
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
Identify how actions to improve digital marketing strategies are informed by data.
Define what is meant by a data 'insight'.
Your long-term plan
Using data to inform and improve your digital marketing strategy in a structured way is essential. Let’s find out how to approach the process.
A robust digital marketing strategy
A digital marketing strategy outlines how to get from where you are now to where you want to get to. To make sure that your strategy is set up for long-term success, there are three things you can do.
Set realistic expectationssince it can take time to meet your goals.
Track your resultsto understand what’s working and what’s not, so you can make changes and continually improve.
Adapt to changes in technology and your industryso you stay current.
How to set performance goals
Performance goals are key to understanding the success of your marketing strategy. Join Angela, a Digital Strategy Lead at Google, as she shares expert insights on measuring success, analysing data, and tailoring goals to different business models.
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Transcript
Transcript
What is an insight?
An insight is a deep understanding or observation that comes from analysing data or experiences. It reveals patterns or relationships that aren’t immediately obvious and helps guide decisions.Example:Data: Sales dropped by 20% last quarter.Insight: Customer feedback shows a competitor’s new feature is attracting our users, highlighting a need for innovation in our product.An actionable insight takes this one step further by identifying what to do next to improve and refine your approach.
Example:Data: Sales dropped by 20% last quarter.Insight: Customer feedback shows a competitor’s new feature is attracting our users, highlighting a need for innovation in our product.An actionable insight takes this one step further by identifying what to do next to improve and refine your approach.
Data: Sales dropped by 20% last quarter.Insight: Customer feedback shows a competitor’s new feature is attracting our users, highlighting a need for innovation in our product.An actionable insight takes this one step further by identifying what to do next to improve and refine your approach.
Data: Sales dropped by 20% last quarter.
Insight: Customer feedback shows a competitor’s new feature is attracting our users, highlighting a need for innovation in our product.
An actionable insight takes this one step further by identifying what to do next to improve and refine your approach.
An actionable insight takes this one step further by identifying what to do next to improve and refine your approach.
The data cycle
The data cycle is a process where you collect, analyse, and use data to guide decisions and actions. It’s a great way to manage your digital marketing strategy.By effectively managing the data from your online marketing activities, you can uncover valuable insights that drive business growth. Following the cycle allows you to continuously refine your efforts and achieve sustainable success.Let’s find out more about the stages of the data cycle:Plan, Do, Check, Act.
By effectively managing the data from your online marketing activities, you can uncover valuable insights that drive business growth. Following the cycle allows you to continuously refine your efforts and achieve sustainable success.Let’s find out more about the stages of the data cycle:Plan, Do, Check, Act.
By effectively managing the data from your online marketing activities, you can uncover valuable insights that drive business growth. Following the cycle allows you to continuously refine your efforts and achieve sustainable success.Let’s find out more about the stages of the data cycle:Plan, Do, Check, Act.
Let’s find out more about the stages of the data cycle:Plan, Do, Check, Act.
Let’s find out more about the stages of the data cycle:Plan, Do, Check, Act.
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Meet the marketers
Imagine a marketing team working at the local town planning a digital advertising campaign to encourage more people to cycle to work. Let’s explore how they usePlan, Do, Check, Act.
Plan
The team identifies their main goal: reducing commuter traffic by 25% over the next three months. To support this, they define a marketing campaign goal: driving high engagement with their ads on search engines and social media to raise awareness about cycling to work.This distinction is important—while the campaign’s success (goal B) doesn’t directly reduce traffic, it supports the main goal (goal A) by encouraging behaviour change.
Do
This is when the team designs the ads and launches the campaign, targeting commuters with creative, engaging content.
Check
A few weeks after the campaign ends, the team evaluates metrics, such as clicks on ads and website visits, to assess whether they met their marketing goal.They find that search ads brought significant traffic to the website, but social media posts saw low engagement. While the campaign raised awareness, the lack of social media interaction reveals areas for improvement.
They find that search ads brought significant traffic to the website, but social media posts saw low engagement. While the campaign raised awareness, the lack of social media interaction reveals areas for improvement.
They find that search ads brought significant traffic to the website, but social media posts saw low engagement. While the campaign raised awareness, the lack of social media interaction reveals areas for improvement.
Act
Using these insights, the team optimises future campaigns to better support their main goal. They decide to adjust posting times to reach their audience when they’re online. If this doesn’t work, they’ll test other strategies, such as improving their content or shifting focus to different platforms.
Improving performance
Every Friday afternoon you send a newsletter to your subscribers. Your reports show that around 55% of people open the newsletter. From past data, you also know that emails sent on a Sunday morning usually perform better. You decide to take action.Put the steps below in the order of the data cycle to improve your newsletter’s open rate.
Put the steps below in the order of the data cycle to improve your newsletter’s open rate.
Put the steps below in the order of the data cycle to improve your newsletter’s open rate.
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Aim to increase the open rate by 5% by sending the newsletter on a Sunday morning.
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Change the scheduling of the newsletter to send at 7 am on a Sunday morning.
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After a month, the open rate has increased by 2% and you decide more optimisation is needed.
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You can try further adjusting the timing or improving the subject line contents next.
Show Answer
Show Answer
Almost.To improve the newsletter’s performance using Plan, Do, Check, Act, the order would be:Plan:Aim to increase the open rate by 5% by sending the newsletter on a Sunday morning.Do:Change the scheduling of the newsletter to send at 7am on a Sunday morning.Check:After a month, the open rate has increased by 2% and you decide more optimisation is needed.Act:You can try further adjusting the timing or improving the subject line contents next.
To improve the newsletter’s performance using Plan, Do, Check, Act, the order would be:Plan:Aim to increase the open rate by 5% by sending the newsletter on a Sunday morning.Do:Change the scheduling of the newsletter to send at 7am on a Sunday morning.Check:After a month, the open rate has increased by 2% and you decide more optimisation is needed.Act:You can try further adjusting the timing or improving the subject line contents next.
Plan:Aim to increase the open rate by 5% by sending the newsletter on a Sunday morning.
Do:Change the scheduling of the newsletter to send at 7am on a Sunday morning.
Check:After a month, the open rate has increased by 2% and you decide more optimisation is needed.
Did you know?
Some AI-powered email marketing tools can make suggestions about how to improve your email campaigns based on previous data, such as the times and days your emails are most likely to be opened.
Top tips for gathering data
Now that we’ve discussed the data cycle, let’s look at some tips to help you get the best results from the data you collect.
Stay focussed
Don’t get overwhelmed trying to collect as much data as possible. Focus your efforts on the data sets that are most relevant to your goals and work to capture the right information at the right time.
Stay up-to-date
Review the information you gather at periodic intervals. This will help you stay aware of any data anomalies that may appear during the year, such as spikes or drops in sales due to seasonal dates like national holidays.
Get help from online tools
Use online tools to help you gather the data you need and draw out the relevant insights. These tools can provide data on website visits, including pages visited, time spent on the site, and whether users have completed a target action, like completing a contact form. AI-powered tools could make this easier with built-in dashboards and insight-based suggestions to improve performance.You can find more information about online tools in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
You can find more information about online tools in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
You can find more information about online tools in theHelpful Resourcesmodule.
Review past data
If you have historical data or data from past trends, use it to learn from previous experiences. Make sure you’re comparing similar data sets—apples to apples, not apples to pears—and watch out for any outliers that might skew your analysis.
Analyse information quickly
Generative AI tools and assistants can help analyse large amounts of data quickly. For example, you might use generative AI to analyse customer reviews, social media sentiment, or market research reports, helping you identify key trends and insights faster.
Data analysis in practice
Spend some time completing the activity on this page to explore what you’ve learned about data analysis.
✅ ActivityUse a generative AI assistant or tool, such as Gemini, to analyse a set of marketing data you’ve gathered.If you don’t currently have any data, you could find a business you’re familiar with and gather any that is available from social media and review sites.Check the items off as you go.Identify a goal and data that’s relevant to it.Choose a generative AI assistant or tool.Check the data you want to use isn’t confidential and review how the tool will use the data you enter.(If you have any concerns, you could fictionalise your data, enter publicly available data, or move on to the next part of the lesson.)Enter your prompt asking for data insights using theT.C.R.E.Imodel (Task, Context, References, Evaluate, and Iterate) covered in theUsing AIlesson. It could also help to include the goal that you want to achieve by analysing this data.If you’re unsure how to enter data, you could try asking the generative AI assistant or tool for help.
Activity
Use a generative AI assistant or tool, such as Gemini, to analyse a set of marketing data you’ve gathered.If you don’t currently have any data, you could find a business you’re familiar with and gather any that is available from social media and review sites.
If you don’t currently have any data, you could find a business you’re familiar with and gather any that is available from social media and review sites.
If you don’t currently have any data, you could find a business you’re familiar with and gather any that is available from social media and review sites.
Identify a goal and data that’s relevant to it.
Choose a generative AI assistant or tool.
Check the data you want to use isn’t confidential and review how the tool will use the data you enter.(If you have any concerns, you could fictionalise your data, enter publicly available data, or move on to the next part of the lesson.)
Enter your prompt asking for data insights using theT.C.R.E.Imodel (Task, Context, References, Evaluate, and Iterate) covered in theUsing AIlesson. It could also help to include the goal that you want to achieve by analysing this data.
If you’re unsure how to enter data, you could try asking the generative AI assistant or tool for help.
Download PDF
Download PDF
Check your knowledge
It’s time to find out what you’ve learned so far.
Download dilemma
Lee is currently trying to promote an eBook download, free of charge, on his website. He has spent time creating compelling emails and posting updates on his social media accounts. To improve his non-paid promotions, he plans to analyse a range of data for actionable insights. The highlights of the data that was gathered are below.
Download source
75% of all eBook downloads came via his social media posts, 15% came from his email newsletter and 10% via organic search traffic.
Download time
Most eBook downloads occur between 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.
Source segmentation
Facebook accounted for 65% of social media eBook downloads, LinkedIn®professional networking services made up another 25%, while other social media sites delivered a total of 10%.
Question 1 of 1
Using this information, what actionable insights could Lee come up with to improve the success of his promotional efforts going forward?
Develop additional email marketing content, ensuring emails are delivered during the off-peak eBook download time.
Post content across all social media sites during off-peak eBook download time, and send email marketing content during peak eBook download time.
Reduce his efforts on the email marketing campaign and expand on social media promotion, specifically on Facebook and LinkedIn®professional networking services.
Schedule engaging Facebook posts to be published between 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.
Submit
Submit
Yes.Lee is having much more success on social media than he is via his emails. Focusing his attention on the platforms that are working for him will help increase his success.In addition, his audience is online between the hours of 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., which could be because they are commuters or professionals who have finished work for the day. Optimising when he publishes his posts will also result in being able to reach more of his audience at the optimal/peak time.
In addition, his audience is online between the hours of 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., which could be because they are commuters or professionals who have finished work for the day. Optimising when he publishes his posts will also result in being able to reach more of his audience at the optimal/peak time.
In addition, his audience is online between the hours of 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., which could be because they are commuters or professionals who have finished work for the day. Optimising when he publishes his posts will also result in being able to reach more of his audience at the optimal/peak time.
Lesson complete
Great job!You now know more about analysing data and using actionable insights to support your digital marketing goals.Head to the next lesson to discover more about using data throughout the customer journey.
You now know more about analysing data and using actionable insights to support your digital marketing goals.Head to the next lesson to discover more about using data throughout the customer journey.
Head to the next lesson to discover more about using data throughout the customer journey.
Head to the next lesson to discover more about using data throughout the customer journey.