The 5 Whys of Data Driven Marketing

-Whys: A best practice that helps you get to the root cause of a problem. Created by the Toyota Motor Corporation, it has been used in manufacturing operations for years. the 5-Whys concept is based on the fact that by asking the question “why” after each explanation of problem, by the fifth “why” you will get to the root cause. I use the 5-Whys to brainstorm ideas and to get the heart of a problem so the right solution can be created.

Now, do you know what data-driven marketing is?

Gartner defines data-driven marketing as acquiring, analyzing and applying information about customer and consumer wants, needs, behavior and motivations.

Now, let’s apply the 5-Whys to data-driven marketing:

– Why is data-driven marketing important?

Because it changes the “marketing game”.

– Why does it change the “marketing game?”

Because it applies new rules in place of old rules that have been in place for many years

– Why does it change the old rules to create new ones?

Because marketers require an understanding of the new marketing landscape of shrinking marketing budgets in an emerging digital and social world.

– Why is a new understanding of the new marketing landscape necessary?

To paraphrase an old adage ” Half of marketing dollars are effective, we just don’t know which half.” Metrics matter!