No one wakes up in the morning thinking I need to send money home and I need to find the cheapest way to do it. While marketing for a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand is quite exciting, marketing for a highly regulated category like remittance comes with its own set of challenges.
Money transfers are not a ‘daily essential’ for most people, so customer engagement with a brand is very limited (once/twice a month, at the most)
It’s a leaky bucket – Today’s price-sensitive customer is constantly looking for the best rates, the cheapest fee, and the most attractive offers
It doesn’t help that there is still a segment of customers who are hesitant to trust virtual entities and would rather stay in the comfort zone of traditional banking services.
So, from the very start, we worked on a funnel-based marketing approach (The Pirate Framework - AAARR). We realized that each customer was different, and different motivations triggered them to take action. Hence, personalizing every customer’s journey was important to keep them motivated at all stages, and this wouldn't have been possible without data-driven marketing. It was a game-changer. In less than 2 years, we were able to use data to achieve a whopping 10X volume growth in Singapore.
A lot of you have been forced to give up on your regular sales channels due to COVID-19, and are embracing the new world of digital. For brands and marketers starting their digital journey, data-driven marketing can sound overwhelming. It was too much to process for me too. But slowly I realized it doesn't have to be scary. In fact, the sooner you start, the better it is.
So, here's a 3-Step Formula for Success:
Step 1: Start Small (but start somewhere!)
Growth in digital space is impossible without data. However, most of us get caught up in the space between what we don’t have versus what we need to have. I suggest starting with what we have: your first-party data. If we look closely at very basic reports like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, etc., you’ll see you already have a lot. Start with 2-3 key metrics that are most valuable to you. Pretty soon you will be able to make sense of the data better than before and create reports that are relevant to your businesses.
Step 2: Connect the dots
If you look closer at your reports, you’ll find patterns and relationships emerging that reveal a story behind the numbers. This is when you will be able to segment your customers and derive insights that could spruce up your marketing plans. At this stage, I suggest you employ data visualization tools like Tableau or Google Data Studio. These will save a lot of time by automatically updating your dashboard in real-time and helping you interpret data better.
Step 3: Turn Insights into Actions
It’s now time to act upon the insights you have already gleaned from your data. For instance, A/B tests can help you understand which ad is performing better than others. Avg. time spent on different pages can help you understand the kind of messaging that is working for you. Make small tweaks to your messaging, creatives, and content, and you’ll start seeing traction that will lead to transformation. Incremental change is the key.
Data-driven marketing can be super rewarding and extremely critical to growth. Generating accurate, timely insights from data helps you make the right decisions and stay ahead of the curve. The key is to get started – start small and learn along the way. Optimizing data for growth is all about impacting the larger picture through small, informed steps. At InstaReM, there has been no looking back since we took our first step. And I hope these suggestions encourage you to take yours too.
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