Data usage examples for visualizing marketing effects

Update date:2024.03.21 Data utilization

Using data in business, especially visualizing marketing effects, is a perpetual challenge for marketers. In the past, XICA has published the following article (※1) to introduce tips on how to connect data to business results.

*1) https://xica.net/xicaron/data_analysis_for_beginners_1/

There are many cases where visualization of marketing effects has produced results. Marketer Takeshi Morioka's book "Probabilistic Thinking Strategy Theory," which describes how Universal Studios Japan achieved a V-shaped recovery, is still fresh in our memory. It shows that the effectiveness of marketing activities can be further increased by using data to make quantitative decisions, rather than relying solely on the marketer's intuition and experience. The range of data that companies can possess has expanded compared to a decade ago, and momentum is building.

According to a survey conducted by XICA, there are a certain number of companies that feel they are unable to visualize the effects of their marketing due to reasons such as "lack of internal resources," "difficulty in collecting data," and "lack of analytical knowledge." (*2) In fact, there are probably some marketers who are worried about "not knowing what to set as KGI/KPIs" and "not knowing how to visualize the effects."

*2) https://xica.net/xicaron/advertising-effectiveness-survey-2020/

However, visualization of marketing effects is essential when formulating and reviewing marketing plans. In this article, we will explain the significance of visualizing the effects of marketing activities, the risks that can occur if the effects are not visualized, and examples of how visualization of effects has led to improved ROI.

table of contents

The Significance of Visualizing Marketing Effects
Case study of visualization of marketing effects
Integrated on-off analysis allows you to continuously understand acquisition efficiency and carry out the most effective marketing operations.
- Interviews with companies that have adopted MAGELLAN

The Significance of Visualizing Marketing Effects

Visualizing marketing effects is useful when implementing the Plan and Check phases of the PDCA cycle in marketing activities.

Data-driven marketing planning

If you can visualize the effectiveness of past marketing, you can do two things: 2) identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current marketing activities, and XNUMX) predict the effectiveness of marketing activities you plan to implement in the future.

By using ①, you can determine what improvements would be effective (for example, whether you should change the budget allocation for advertising campaigns or change the creative).

Also, ② will help you understand whether you can achieve your goal with your current budget. By referring to these, you can avoid relying on intuition and experience.Data-Driven Marketing PlansThe idea is that it will be possible to draft a plan.

Reviewing the reasons for achieving or not achieving the goal

You can understand the reasons for whether or not you achieved your goals (or are likely to achieve them or not) for your past (or ongoing) marketing activities by breaking them down into smaller parts. By examining the difference between your goals and actual results, you can examine factors such as whether each marketing initiative was less effective than expected, whether it cost more than expected, or whether there was a major change in competitors/market trends.

Potential risks when marketing effects are not visualized

These are the greatest benefits of visualizing marketing effects, but if the effects cannot be visualized, the following risks are expected.

Over- or under-budgeting to meet goals
Not being able to properly evaluate your marketing activities leads to poor decisions

Example:

Optimal budget allocation is not possible
Making the wrong creative change
Mistaking market growth for effective marketing
Mistaking market shrinkage and growing competition for ineffective marketing

In order to avoid these risks, visualization of marketing effectiveness is essential. In the next chapter, we will explain a case study where the effectiveness of marketing activities was visualized, based on the knowledge of XICA, which performs comprehensive analysis of all advertising.

Case study of visualization of marketing effects

We will introduce some examples of cases where business performance and sales have actually improved by visualizing the effects of marketing activities using XICA.

Restaurant chain example

The first example is a restaurant chain with stores nationwide.

This company wanted to visualize the effects of their marketing activities (online and offline advertising) and allocate their budget based on that information, so we used XICA to conduct the analysis.

As a result, we identified media that were less cost-effective than other measures, narrowed down the area, and experimentally changed the budget allocation. After confirming an improvement in ROI, we adopted that budget allocation nationwide, which significantly improved the overall ROI.

This is an example of how the results of effect visualization were utilized to create a marketing plan with a higher ROI. One of the reasons for the success is that by limiting the trial operation to a certain area, it was possible to visualize the results of the marketing plan while eliminating external factors other than regional differences.

Consumer goods manufacturer example

The second is an analysis example of a daily necessities that holds the top share in a certain market.

This company was unable to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of online advertising, offline advertising, in-store factors, and external factors (trends, market trends, etc.), and wanted to visualize these effects and consider optimal budget allocation, so we at XICA conducted the analysis.

As a result of the analysis, it was found that there were issues with the difference in pricing and in-store distribution rate (the percentage of the company's products on store shelves) compared to competitors. At the beginning of the analysis, it was thought that the decrease in sales was due to the low effectiveness of advertising, but the real issue was external and in-store factors. Based on this, we re-formulated the strategy for in-store price, distribution target, and the amount of advertising for each advertising medium, and put it into action.

This is a success story of correctly grasping the effect of marketing activities by visualizing the effect of marketing not only by the company's own marketing activities, but also by taking into account various factors such as competition, price, distribution rate, and external factors. Sales and customer numbers are easily affected by external factors and in-store factors, so by analyzing these factors as well, optimal decisions were made.

Personal Financial Services Case Studies

The third is an analysis case study of a toC financial services business.

This company had different customer communication objectives for each initiative, and wanted to perform an integrated analysis of these and then calculate the optimal budget allocation plan for each communication objective, so we used XICA to carry out the analysis.

As a result, it became clear that there were differences in which awareness indicators could be maximized depending on the media and creative, and it was possible to quantitatively allocate the optimal budget for marketing measures in relation to the marketing strategy. This is considered to be a successful example of visualizing indicators when formulating a marketing plan, which was useful in quantifying and organizing a complex market structure.

*An example of the analysis results. The arrows indicate the strength of the impact on the indicated destination.

Integrated on-off analysis allows you to continuously understand acquisition efficiency and carry out the most effective marketing operations.

From next time onwards, we plan to explain specific points to pay attention to when collecting data and specific analysis methods.

Interviews with companies that have adopted MAGELLAN

We present in interview format why companies that have adopted MAGELLAN chose it and how they have used it since its introduction.

Food and beverage companies (Pizza Hut Japan Ltd., Kura Sushi Co., Ltd., etc.)Read the interview here.
Consumer goods manufacturers (Lion Corporation, Yamaki Corporation, Unicharm Corporation, etc.)Read the interview here.
Companies in the finance and insurance industry (JCB Co., Ltd., Edesign Sompo Insurance Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd., SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd., etc.)Read the interview here.