Marketing analytics: the evolution of marketing research in the twenty‐first century

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state of marketing analytics and how it should become a standard marketing research tool in the twenty‐first century.Design/methodology/approachThe design of this paper is both a review of the field of marketing analytics and a discussion of how these factors must be enhanced and incorporated into twenty‐first century marketing research. As such this paper is offered as a viewpoint based on years of experience in the field and should serve as the basis for discussion and discourse by both academicians and practitioners.FindingsIn the realm of marketing, primary research has traditionally focused on quantitative or qualitative methodologies to provide customer insights. With advances in technology, especially data mining, marketing analytics has become an invaluable tool and should be viewed as an equal component of the marketing research toolkit. Analytics requires marketers to use data to understand customers at every touch point throughout their lifecycle with the business. To do this the analyst must mine, analyze, interpret, and present the information so that it is converted into actionable intelligence. In this process, the customer's information DNA is tracked, segmented, modeled and then acted upon. As these concepts and tools become standard operating procedures, academic marketing departments must internalize analytics into their overall curriculum in order to provide students with a compelling career advantage.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is that it presents marketers with a strong argument for the integration of marketing analytics into their practice of researching marketing issues and problems. Analytics completes the research triangle of qualitative, quantitative and data mined information gathering, analysis, and interpretation. It is hoped that this paper will generate additional discourse and research in this area and, especially, the adaptation of analytics as a standard research tool by marketers.