Making the most out of data means pulling the right insights and then using that info to figure out what's working—and what's not. “Knowing what is working makes all of the difference,” says Michael Schultz, VP of marketing and business development for marketing platform ClearSlide.

 

“Far too often marketers are in constant production mode. So rather than analyzing the data and seeing what sticks and why, you get anecdotal feedback about what's supposedly working. So being able to apply analytics—particularly predicative analytics—enables marketers to really zero in on what's really going to matter.”

 

Predictive analytics, Schultz says, allows marketers to “have a sort of game plan.” He says that crafting content or an entire strategy that's rooted in predictive analytics allows marketers to devise the right plays for success. In fact, Schultz says that looking at customers' past behaviors is like watching the playback films and then analyzing them so that you can create a strategy to win the game.

 

“Based on a bunch of different factors, [marketers] can recommend plays that guide customers in the order that they would like for them to go follow. It's very prescriptive,” he says....

Via Jeff Domansky, Os Ishmael