What is the relationship between data and creativity? Does the eruption big data help, or hinder your creative efforts, and is data analysis a necessity when you’re looking to be creative?

With buzzwords like wearable tech, programmatic and mobile increasingly featuring in the industry news, it seems like a timely opportunity to take stock and understand not how digital marketing is evolving, but what should be done to capitalise on the changes.

Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean that you should.

Technological advances in recent times means that the digital environment is becoming increasingly visual, sensual and engaging for users. Responsive sites, apps and video are now integral parts of the digital marketing toolkit and consumers are increasingly able to cherry pick the content they consume. With more and more creative and innovative ways to engage with your customers, it is hard to know where to begin. The fundamental question to ask is… “What is the purpose of using each channel, and how is it benefitting the end user?” The challenge is to translate complex technology into simple, better solutions for the consumer. Their experience must be at the front of mind, from planning to execution. What journey do you want to take the consumer on, and how can you make it better for them? Lines are blurring between the traditional channels of mobile, tablet and desktop – a holistic view of the user, facilitated by scrutinising data means that better experience for them can be created.

Better understanding of consumer behaviour unlocks creative opportunities.

This is where data and data analysis is essential. Understanding the user experience requires solid data analytics. It is critical to recognise the story in the data – what is it telling you about your customers? Data sets can be saying different things for different people. Insights therefore inform creative concepts – through an improved understanding of the user experience, it is easier to recognise how to make it better for them. And the more appealing and positively creative your ventures are, the more likely people are to engage with it, giving you more data to then be more creative.

The flipside of this particular coin is that too much data can cloud judgement. Insights are harder to gain and creative decisions can be blindly made in a mesh of 1 & 2s. Data analysis is therefore a key part of the creative process. Clever solutions to consumer problems are borne out of solid data analysis.

We are at an interesting crossroads where consumer behaviour is dramatically changing. Coupled with the ever-growing ways of reaching your audience, it is essential that you understand not only what works best for your business, but how data and creativity can enhance engagement levels for your customers.

 

By Tom Cella, agenda21 Digital. 

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