The world is changing. The way we consume media, the ways in which we communicate with one another, and how we interact with brands are all shifting to new mediums. So much so, that as a marketer, you might be feeling as if you’re constantly playing catch up.
Today’s consumers are always connected, and they’re always on the move. Brands need to meet their needs by creating campaigns that speak with them in a language they understand – wherever they are online.
This is where Microsoft PowerBI can aid your efforts. Microsoft is yet again not only keeping up but leading the way with Microsoft BI and powerful tools to help you gain insights into your advertising campaigns. ServiceNow Power BI integration helps track personalized metrics, KPI, and overall team performance in real-time by scheduling refreshes, and also visualises team contribution to the overall result.
In this article, we dive into Microsoft BI and marketing campaign insights, as we help you to understand Microsoft BI’s positioning within the marketing industry. But first, what exactly is Microsoft BI? And why is it important to marketing?
What Is Microsoft BI?
Hands down, Microsoft BI, is one of the most influential business intelligence tools that you can use today. Microsoft’s BI analytics platform allows marketers and managers alike, beyond just Microsoft Office users, to gain real-time insights into their data so they can make faster decisions based on facts, not speculation.
Microsoft PowerBI is the data visualization and exploration tool that allows you to explore your company’s marketing campaign information. By leveraging BI analytics, marketers can make more informed decisions about their advertising campaigns across various digital channels – from social media networks like Facebook or Twitter, to search engines such as Bing or Google.
All in all, Microsoft’s business intelligence suite helps you to uncover insights about your consumers that will allow you to form a more cohesive marketing campaign.
How To Use Microsoft PowerBI For Marketing Campaign Insights
Using Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights is easier than you might think. Microsoft PowerBI helps marketers to gain real-time access and visibility into the data that’s most important to them – all from a single dashboard interface on their computer or mobile device of choice, including Microsoft Excel!
To break it down, there are three parts to Microsoft BI:
- Power BI Desktop: Power BI Desktop can be used to create and export reports.
- Power BI Service: With the Power BI service, you can access reports generated in the Power BI Desktop service and share them with others.
- Power BI Mobile App: The Power BI mobile app is a lightweight application that allows you to access reports and act on real-time data.
Marketing managers can use Microsoft PowerBI as part of Microsoft Office to analyze data from Microsoft Excel, using all 3 to pull in marketing campaign insights for analysis. Microsoft PowerBI can even connect to other cloud-based systems, like Marketo or Salesforce Marketing Cloud – allowing marketers the ability to access multiple sources of data through their Microsoft BI dashboard.
Microsoft’s powerful BI analytics platform then allows you as a marketer to create interactive visualizations using Microsoft PowerBI dashboards, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and other data sources.
Tips On How You Can Use Microsoft’s BI Reporting Tool for Marketing Campaign Insights
Using Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights does not need to be complex or confusing – especially when you have the right resources at your fingertips, like this article!
Here are some helpful tips on how you can use Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights:
- Connect Excel – Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights starts in Microsoft Excel. Microsoft PowerBI for Microsoft Excel can be used as a data source – allowing marketers to access their marketing campaign information from within Microsoft Excel. Explore and visualize that information using interactive dashboards with no additional coding required!
- Gain Real-Time Insights – Microsoft BI for marketers is not just about reporting – it’s also about gaining real-time insights into your advertising campaigns. Microsoft BI analytics platform allows you to gain detailed audience information, including social media demographics and location information, using the social report within Microsoft PowerBI Pro.
- Leverage Cortana – Apply Cortana Intelligence to uncover Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights. Microsoft’s artificial intelligence tool empowers marketers to forecast future outcomes by modelling past scenarios based on predictive analytics and machine learning capabilities.
- Integrate Tools – Integrate Microsoft PowerBI with Marketing Automation tools like Microsoft CRM, Marketo, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud to gain real-time Microsoft BI for marketing campaign insights. Microsoft CRM and Microsoft PowerBI integration allow marketers to gain even more real-time data about their target audiences, including recent activities on social media networks like Facebook or Twitter.
- Create Custom Reports – Microsoft PowerBI and Microsoft CRM integration also allow for the rapid creation of Microsoft BI custom reports, like sales or pipeline forecasts. Microsoft integration provides marketers with the ability to visualize Microsoft BI reporting tool data about Microsoft Dynamics CRM activities, like new leads or opportunities.
- Create Interactive Visualizations – Microsoft’s business intelligence suite allows marketers the ability to create interactive visualizations using Microsoft PowerBI dashboards and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with no additional coding required!
With all of these benefits, it’s no wonder why more businesses are switching over from traditional reporting tools like Tableau or Qlikview.
Not only does Microsoft BI offer some incredible insights into your data, but they’re also far less expensive than other solutions. As a result, the Microsoft BI Reporting platform is perfect for marketers looking to gain insights into their CRM activities, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, or other data sources.
Finally, Let’s Talk about Price
Available are three different subscription levels:
- Power BI Free: You can utilize Power BI Free to create and manage reports using the Power BI Desktop app.
- Power BI Pro: Power BI Pro is a paid add-on to Power BI free that offers access to the cloud-based service for an annual fee of $9.99 per user per month.
- Power BI Premium: At $20 per user per month, this robust enterprise-level analytics software is accessible to any size business.
You can use the Power BI Desktop app on a free plan, but the cloud-based service is not accessible without a paid membership. This implies you can create reports in the free program, but you won’t be able to share them on the cloud.
Unsure which to go for? Sign up for a free Power BI Pro trial to determine whether a Pro or Premium subscription is right for you.