Don’t Burn Money—Master the Data!
In an increasingly competitive business environment, promotion is no longer simply a matter of creating attractive advertisements or chasing high numbers of social media views. Companies need to ensure that every marketing budget delivers measurable results. This is why performance marketing is becoming increasingly important in digital business strategies.
Changes in consumer behaviour have prompted companies to rethink how they market products. Consumers now discover, compare and buy products across various digital platforms. This creates significant opportunities for businesses, while also presenting new challenges. Competition is no longer about who appears before consumers most often, but who can best understand market needs and turn attention into sales.
In this context, performance marketing is a relevant strategy. It uses measurable results as the basis for evaluating marketing activities. These may include clicks, incoming leads, app installations and purchases. The channels used range from Google Ads and social media advertising, such as Meta Ads and TikTok Ads, to affiliate marketing.
One advantage of this approach is that it helps companies assess campaign effectiveness more systematically. Data on costs, reach, audience behaviour and conversions can be used to evaluate ongoing strategies. Marketing decisions can therefore be based not only on intuition, but also on available evidence.
Even so, performance marketing does not guarantee that every advertisement will generate a profit. Campaign results are still affected by product quality, accurate targeting, the appeal of the offer, user experience and market conditions. The ability to interpret data must therefore go hand in hand with an understanding of business and consumer behaviour.
A common problem arises when companies spend money following digital trends without having clear objectives. They run advertisements because competitors do, produce content because it is viral, or increase budgets simply because views are rising. Yet high view counts do not always mean higher sales. Nor do large numbers of clicks necessarily produce loyal customers.
This is where performance marketing skills matter. Digital marketers must be able to set campaign objectives, define target audiences, choose appropriate channels, measure results and review performance regularly. Testing different approaches, understanding the customer journey and optimising customer acquisition costs are also essential parts of the process.
For students, these skills involve more than the technical ability to operate advertising platforms. Performance marketing also develops analytical thinking, precision in interpreting figures, creativity in crafting messages and the confidence to make decisions based on evaluation. This combination of abilities is increasingly in demand as companies operate in a dynamic business environment.
Shifting industry requirements are also creating career opportunities for young talent. Graduates with relevant skills can pursue careers as Performance Marketers, Digital Ads Specialists or Growth Hackers. They can help design campaigns, optimise marketing costs, increase conversions and support sustainable business growth.
These skills are also useful for students who want to start their own businesses. New entrepreneurs often have limited capital and need to spend promotional budgets carefully. By understanding data and measuring campaign effectiveness, they can assess their strategies before deciding to expand their marketing.
As Head of the Digital Business Study Programme at Universitas Nusa Mandiri (UNM), I believe universities have a responsibility to prepare students for these needs. Digital business education must go beyond teaching marketing concepts; it must equip students to apply strategies, interpret data and understand how decisions affect business performance.
Universitas Nusa Mandiri, known as the Digital Business Campus, is committed to developing learning that is relevant to the transformation of the digital economy. Through its undergraduate Digital Business programme, students study a range of skills relevant to industry needs, including Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, Social Media Management & Analytics, Business Intelligence and results-oriented digital marketing strategies.
Mastery of these skills is expected to help students understand the relationship between marketing strategy, consumer behaviour, data analysis and business growth. Students are not only prepared to implement digital campaigns, but are also expected to develop focused strategies, evaluate performance and make data-based recommendations.
Ultimately, the success of digital marketing is not determined by how much money is spent, but by how intelligently the budget is managed. Technology provides the tools, data offers guidance, and people remain central to choosing the right strategy.
Young people should see performance marketing as a strategic skill for the future of business. The ability to combine creativity, data analysis and market understanding will be an important asset both in competing in the jobs market and in building competitive businesses.
Don’t just advertise; learn to make an impact. Through digital business education, young people can prepare to become talent capable of turning data into strategy and strategy into business growth.