Why Companies Need to Implement a Data & AI Culture Posted on August 21, 2020January 24, 2023 by Smartboost Imagine being the captain at the helm of a ship. You close your eyes and point blindly, using only your gut to guide you. Seems risky, right? If you’re solely relying on your instincts to make business decisions, craft marketing campaigns, and write sales copy, you’re pretty much running your company or department the same way. Today we’re talking about data and AI, and how it can reshape your business. But first, you’ll need to get others on your team (your crew, as it were) on board. Source: Experiments with Google What is an AI-Powered Organization? An AI-powered organization is an organization that uses artificial intelligence and other data-mining tools to benefit themselves and their customers. There is so much data to gather, analyze, and act on. Even though a data-driven method is more involved, it is the right long-term direction for strategic businesses. Let’s dive into some tips for implementing a data- and AI-focused culture within your company. Tips for Creating an AI-Powered Organization Whether you’re the “data champion” at your company, or you’re completely starting from scratch, below are some tips for incorporating data and AI into your culture. Find and Extract the Right Data As we mentioned earlier, one of the most common challenges is that there’s too much data available. If you’re using several channels—paid, organic, social, etc.—you’ll often be inundated with data from each platform or tool that you use. For the uninitiated, it can take hours, days, or even weeks to go through it all. Instead, take a step back and get back to the basics. At the end of the day, what are you trying to achieve? Your end goal will typically be conversions or sales. That is, things that make your company revenue. Then, focus on channels and specific campaign goals. What matters most to your business right now? It could be the number of users, the lifetime value or retention of those users, your win rate, or the average order value. If you’re in the early stages of your company, your goal could be as simple as understanding your buyers’ demographics. Knowing what you want to achieve will help you decide which data is essential and which you can ignore (for now). Use the Right Tools Next, think about which tools you’ll need to gather the data you want. It can be tempting to purchase every tool under the sun, but that’s not always the right strategy. Complete an audit on the tools you’re currently using and decide which ones give you valuable data. If you’re starting from scratch, do your research to find the tools that will work. Google Analytics is a great tool to start with (and an easily accessible one, at that), but you may need to find a more specific tool depending on your goals. If you’re doing a lot of work on your organic social channels, for example, you may need to invest in an automatic scheduling tool. Consider your team part of your toolset, too. In addition to investing in tools, invest in employees who are proficient in collecting and analyzing data. Big companies have entire departments dedicated to these tasks. Smaller companies can make tech work for them or partner with a data-driven agency to fill in the gaps. Train Your Team Well Finally, make sure your team understands how to use the data correctly. Depending on their expertise level, this may take some ongoing training. Commit to this training and don’t give up. Your team needs to understand the importance of data and how to validate their ideas and work with the data to make smarter campaign decisions. A big part of this is making sure your team understands the departmental and company goals. A content manager, for example, might be focused on monitoring organic traffic. But the overarching goal of that traffic is conversions. Make sure your managers never lose sight of this vital point! At smartboost, we hold daily meetings to discuss agency updates, client successes, or our favorite restaurants or recipes. Many of these discussions center around data and we do exercises to practice. For example, we’ve created data visualizations about our Myers-Briggs personality types, favorite colors, and more. Why Work With an AI-Powered Marketing Agency? If you’re not confident in your tools, team, or insights, know that you’re not at a loss. This is where working with a data- and AI-powered marketing agency can help. Here are a few more reasons why committing to data and partnering with the right agency will transform your organization: 1. You’ll Drive Better Results Sure, making educated guesses can sometimes work. If you have a solid audience persona in mind, you can use your gut to think of content topics to cover and specific keywords. But better data will always take you further. As you examine this data, you’ll start to see clear trends that you can blend with creativity to ideate your next campaign. 2. You’ll Set Better Targets Moreover, getting to those results will be a smoother road to begin with. With a data-driven marketing strategy, you can confidently estimate what you can expect from a campaign or tactic, and when you can expect it. Instead of setting a vague goal like “increasing traffic,” you can craft more specific and time-bound goals (e.g. “In Q4, we want to increase organic traffic by 25%”). To do this, you can look at historical data in tools like Google Analytics to see how you’ve trended over the past couple of years, accounting for things like seasonality. 3. You’ll Be Able to Adapt Quicker The marketing industry today is all about agility and thinking quickly, and data helps you get there. Whether you’re monitoring what your competitors are up to or studying your own tactics, keeping an eye on the data enables you to make quick decisions. You’ll see what’s working and what’s not in real-time, allowing you to pivot when needed. This data is especially crucial for fast-moving tactics like AI-powered paid campaigns. Instead of waiting until the campaign ends and realizing you’ve wasted budget on copy or images that weren’t resonating with your audience, you can tweak or scrap what’s not working right away. Combined with AI, like the way Facebook automatically shifts spend on your behalf, this process gets even smoother. 4. You Can Separate Facts From Opinions Finally, data helps you separate facts from opinions. Clear numbers don’t lie, so they’re hard to argue with! It’s as simple as that. Contact Us for Your Data Needs Ready to join the next level of marketing, with a data-focused mindset? At smartboost, we’re here to help. We thrive on turning data and creativity into growth for our clients and delivering real results that matter. Connect with us today and start your digital transformation!