In an ever-changing digital world, achieving high performance in online marketing can be a difficult and sometimes unpredictable process.
Six Sigma, a quality management method, and the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) process, a continuous improvement methodology, are two concepts that can help your business maximize its performance in digital marketing.
The Six Sigma methodology was developed in the 1980s by Motorola. Today, this method is used by many companies around the world to reduce errors, increase product quality and improve customer satisfaction.
Six Sigma has two key components: a systematic approach and a data-driven approach.
The systematic approach involves using a clear and well-defined methodology for improving processes and products. This methodology involves five steps (DMAIC): Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. In each stage, different tools and techniques are used to identify problems, collect and analyse data, develop solutions and implement changes.
The data-driven approach involves using data to make decisions, involving less and less empirical evaluation.
Brief introduction to Six Sigma and PDCA
In Six Sigma, data is used to understand process performance, identify problems and develop solutions. Thus, the use of data helps to make better and more accurate decisions without being influenced by personal opinions or beliefs.
The PDCA process, on the other hand, is a continuous improvement methodology. This methodology was developed by the Japanese researcher Shewhart and later improved by Edwards Deming. The PDCA process consists of four stages: Planning, Execution, Verification and Action.
Planning: identify objectives, collect data and establish an action plan.
Execution: the plan is put into practice.
Check: data is collected and analysed to check whether the objectives have been achieved.
Action: Decisions are made to improve the process and changes are implemented.
How Six Sigma works in digital marketing
In digital marketing, Six Sigma can make a difference in promotional campaigns, resulting in improved end-user experience and increased conversions.
How do we see this translated into practice?
First, by using data analytics, one can identify the impact of different variables on the success of advertising campaigns and develop solutions to improve their performance.
Second, problems with the user interface, web page design or navigation can be identified and solutions developed to improve the user experience.
Third, Six Sigma methodology can be used to identify problems that lead to low conversion rates. Furthermore, it provides the necessary context for developing practical solutions, the outcome of which can be statistically simulated, thus being able to understand what is the best solution that can be implemented using minimum cost with maximum impact, moving towards what is called Lean Manufacturing, or the art of getting more and more, using less and less resources.
Also, by using data analytics, one can identify which elements of the website or advertising campaigns lead to a low conversion rate and develop solutions to improve this.
Practical example of applying the PDCA model in marketing
Suppose you have an online business selling electronic products and you have launched a Facebook advertising campaign to promote your products.
The objective of the campaign is to increase traffic to your website and increase conversions.
Here’s how you can use the PDCA cycle to improve marketing campaign results and increase conversions:
Planning:
- Goals: Increase traffic to your site by 15% over current and increase conversion rate by 5% in the next two months.
- Critical Process: Create ads, identify target audience and monitor campaign performance.
- Data collection: Collecting data about your past campaign performance and the performance of your competitors.
Running:
- Implementing your advertising campaign: Create three different ads with different images and content and test them to identify their effectiveness with your target audience.
- Target Audience: Identifying your target audience based on demographic and behavioral data, as well as previous interactions with your website.
- Critical Process Improvement: Frequent monitoring of campaign performance and optimization to maximize conversions.
Check:
- Data Collection: Collect data about your campaign performance, such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and shopping cart abandonment rate.
- Performance Check: Comparing your performance to your competitors’ performance and identifying problems and weaknesses.
Action:
- Solution Development : Identify problems and develop solutions to improve the performance of your advertising campaign. For example, changing the text or images in promoted items.
- Implementing solutions: Implementing changes and continuing to monitor campaign performance.
Results achieved: After one month, the performance of the advertising campaign improved significantly. Traffic to your site increased by 18% and conversion rate increased by 7%. In addition, the shopping cart abandonment rate decreased by 4%.
So, in a summary form, we can conclude that by using Six Sigma methodology, we can create a significant difference in the process of implementing online marketing campaigns using more data, information and facts, and less empirical interpretation and evaluation. This leads to real added value, both in terms of the end customer experience and the cost-benefit ratio in marketing campaign implementation.
In addition, by using Six Sigma methodology and the PDCA process in campaigns, you can gain a competitive advantage and better adapt to constant changes in the market.
Liviu Prodan
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt & Founder Tikal Academy
