If you ask what the secret to a successful marketing strategy is, it's undoubtedly data!

Ah... but marketing is not an exact science.

Yes, marketing is about knowing how to interpret stories and create stories. But not platonic stories, but real stories that connect with people.

To do this, you need to start by getting to know your customer. And believe me, this goes far beyond creating communications with their name and using incredible persuasion techniques, the famous copywriting techniques.

Nobody can stand to receive formulaic communications any more! Techniques are great, but they're just a resource.

Knowing the customer means delving into their needs and desires, predicting their behavior, knowing how they prefer to interact with your brand! It's understanding how all this connects and knowing why.

Simple?! But no.

Let's take an example to make it tangible: you need to create a launch campaign for a washing machine.

It's crucial to identify the target audience, the specific value your product offers and what your brand represents to them. And you need to understand the path the customer takes, from the first contact with the brand to the purchase and beyond. This is what we call the customer journey.

This understanding is key to being present at decisive moments, whether it's building this desire for your brand, for your product, or supporting this customer in their decision-making process, clarifying doubts, so that in the end they are sure they want YOUR machine!

Do you think that a customer buying a washing machine for the first time in their life is the same as a customer buying a new machine because theirs has broken? It's easy to imagine that they will have different needs. You may have different types of customers and you also need to be clear about who the main profiles are.

How will you know all this? Simple! With data!

Some of this data is in your database. There you can find out, for example, who has already bought a similar washing machine and is possibly about to change, etc.

Another part comes from research. Research helps you understand the whys: why people would buy or why they wouldn't buy your machine; how they choose; and even how they use your machine in their daily lives; how your brand and your product are perceived in relation to the competition.

And last but not least, a fundamental part of your data is to simulate the customer experience. This will help you understand the other part of the why. By simulating the customer experience, we can put ourselves in the customer's shoes and see loose ends that we can't foresee on the other side of the counter.

Remember how I said that marketing is about interpreting stories? Your data is always telling stories.

As well as knowing the customer, you need to know about the business.

And this is the kind that seems obvious, but in reality many people overlook. You notice this, for example, when you come across a report with like-for-like comparisons between the results of different product campaigns, with comparisons of clicks, conversion, as if text and image were the only variables in the game.

A company can sell several products, but not all of them are equally important, right?

In addition, you need to know who your competitors are, why consumers choose their products, know when consumer needs and preferences change, know about the economy, new trends and new technologies.  

And it's essential to understand the company's strategic direction at the moment. Does it need to gain market share? Does it want brand recognition?  

When I talk about having business knowledge, I'm not talking about having years of experience in a particular segment. This can be a bad thing if you get too caught up in the bubble, become complacent and can't read the signs of a need for change, for example.

As I said at the beginning, the secret of a good marketing strategy lies in the data, because you need to know the customer, the business. Marketing is not about being creative. But marketing is about connecting with people!

In the end, what matters is the ability to process and transform this "bunch of data" into genuine connections, like an "amateur," who is passionate and open-minded.

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