How Can You Extract Data Insights Using ChatGPT?

TL;DR

ChatGPT can turn raw marketing data into insights: it interprets traffic, conversion, and customer datasets, writes and decodes Excel formulas, reads A/B test results, scores keywords, and forecasts metrics like CAC, ROAS, and CLV. Upload a spreadsheet and its built-in data analysis tool runs Python to clean data, surface trends, and build charts. The point is offloading the mundane crunching so you spend your time on strategy.

OpenAI's ChatGPT stands out due to its advanced language model capabilities.

ChatGPT is engineered to have the ability to understand context, generate human-like text, and provide nuanced responses. It makes it a powerful ally for analytically-driven performance marketers. AI tools like ChatGPT can enhance the scope of performance marketing by facilitating improved data analysis, content generation, customer interaction, testing, and much more.

How can ChatGPT help with extracting data insights?

1. Data analysis and interpretation: ChatGPT's ability to interpret complex data sets such as website traffic, conversion rates, customer behavior, and sentiment analysis is a game-changer for performance marketers. It can take raw data and help you with: a. Converting data into easily digestible metrics, e.g. ROI, ROAS, CLV, churn rate, etc. b. Identifying patterns and trends, say, consumer behavior and campaign performance c. Generate reports and charts, by using a plugin like Code Interpreter For example, by analyzing data on customer purchases, ChatGPT can pinpoint peak purchasing times. With this information, marketers can optimize the timing of their campaigns to match when their audience is most likely to make a purchase. Alternatively, you can also just feed the raw Excel data into the chat interface and ask it to generate insights. Although, there is a character limit so you may not be able to feed very large datasets. Here are some more examples of ChatGPT prompts that you can use:

1. Formulate complex Excel formula for data analysis: Do you struggle to remember the Excel formula that can simplify a gigantic table and help you clean up the data set faster? With ChatGPT, you can formulate ideas based on specific instructions, to create formulae with natural explanations of what each element does. Conversely, it can help with decoding a formula in case you’re stuck and not able to figure out why a particular formula is not working.

1. Testing and optimization: ChatGPT can also support marketers with testing and optimization efforts. It can analyze results from A/B tests, providing insights on which version performs better and why, and even suggesting improvements for underperforming versions. For example, if the ChatGPT is provided with the results of the A/B test for ad copy, it can highlight which ad copy performed better and provide insights on why it was more successful, helping marketers refine their strategies. Let’s see an example of the insights it can provide on email subject lines and even share optimized options:

1. Keyword performance: You can use ChatGPT to analyze the performance of different keywords used in the ad campaigns. You can use it to identify keywords that hit your ROA targets, as well as identify negative keywords that may be hurting your campaign performance. Conversely, you can even use a prompt like the example below to help analyze keywords and optimize your email or ad campaign:

1. Competitor analysis: ChatGPT plugin Competitor PPC Ads plugin can help with analyzing your competitor’s PPC campaigns. It provides insights on what keywords competitors are targeting; what kind of content they're producing, and how they're interacting with their customers. Here are some prompts examples that you can use:

With the insights that you receive, you can choose from the following:

• Conduct further data analysis and research to identify your USPs, key messaging, and optimize the ads with A/B testing.
• Ask ChatGPT to create similar ads for your brand/product/service and then edit them as per your requirement. Do remember that the goal here is not to copy from competitors but learn from them, and craft a campaign that is more effective and impactful.

1. Forecasting and predictive analysis: Because of its large data processing ability and predictive analysis, ChatGPT can predict how changes in strategy could impact key metrics like customer acquisition costs, conversion rates, or customer lifetime value.

Let’s explore this in 3 different use cases:

Case - 1: Using Code Interpreter Plugin Due to its limitations, ChatGPT alone cannot read large data files and build models, but with the Code Interpreter plugin, it is possible. With this plugin, ChatGPT can access Python’s data visualization libraries and create charts and plots such as line plots, bar charts, scatter plots, heatmaps, histograms, and pie charts. You just need to type in the right Python code to create relevant charts. Here is the flow that you can follow:

1. Activate Code Interpreter Plugin from Settings > Beta Features on your ChatGPT Plus account. And select it on your GPT-4 chat interface as well before starting the conversation.

1. You can start the conversation with it by asking if it can perform forecasting. Example prompt: Hi, I have a time series data of monthly ad campaign performance for my company spanning the last 5 years. I need help in forecasting ad performance for the next 2 months.
2. It would prompt you to upload the file which you can do so by using Code Interpreter.
3. As it reads the data, it might suggest a forecasting model to use. Or you can even prompt it to suggest which model would suit the best for the desired result.
4. Based on your interactions with it, and the command you give, ChatGPT will be able to give you forecasted results.

Case - 2: Using ChatGPT to interpret forecasting results If you are using other data visualization tools and unable to interpret results from them, then you can take ChatGPT’s help in interpreting results. You can do it by a prompt like:

Case - 3: If you do not have a ChatGPT Plus account or can’t access Code Interpreter Plugin You need a ChatGPT Plus account to access the plugin and run advanced statistical models or machine learning algorithms. In case you don’t have the Plus account or for some reason are unable to access Code Interpreter, ChatGPT can help you with explaining how different predictive models work; which models would be appropriate to use for the results you want, or even interpret the results for you. Have a look at these example prompts:

From providing customer engagement insights to personalizing content to analyzing vast troves of data for actionable insights, ChatGPT can provide a range of benefits bolstering marketing strategies and outcomes.

As we look ahead, one thing is clear - AI is not just a fleeting trend in marketing. With AI, you can assign all the mundane tasks to it while you spend more time on strategic tasks or making decisions.

Have you started using ChatGPT in your performance marketing strategies? Let us know about your experience here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of marketing data insights can ChatGPT actually pull?

It can interpret datasets like website traffic, conversion rates, and customer behavior, then translate them into metrics such as ROI, ROAS, CLV, and churn rate. It spots patterns like peak purchasing times, reads A/B test results to explain which version won, and scores keywords to find winners and negative keywords. It can also forecast how a strategy change might move CAC or conversion rates.

Do I still need the Code Interpreter plugin or a paid plan to analyze data in ChatGPT?

No. OpenAI renamed Code Interpreter to Advanced Data Analysis in September 2023, and it later became a built-in capability rather than a plugin you toggle on. You no longer enable it from Settings, and free users get the data analysis tool a limited number of times per day, while paid plans get more generous usage.

How do I get insights from a spreadsheet in ChatGPT?

Upload the file directly into the chat and ask for the analysis you want, like "summarize the key insights" or "which ads drove conversions at the lowest cost." Behind the scenes ChatGPT runs Python in a sandboxed environment to clean the data, calculate metrics, and generate charts such as line plots, bar charts, and heatmaps. Pasting raw data as text still works but hits context limits, so uploading the file is the better move.

Is there a size limit on the data I can feed ChatGPT?

Yes. Spreadsheets are exempt from the 2 million token cap that applies to text files, but uploads still top out around 50MB, and very large files can time out or only partially parse. Pasting raw data straight into the chat as text is far more limited because it competes for the model's context window, so use file upload for anything sizeable.

Can ChatGPT help with Excel formulas and forecasting, not just summaries?

Yes. It can build complex Excel formulas from a plain-English description and explain what each part does, or decode a formula that is not working. For forecasting, its data analysis tool can fit a model to time-series campaign data and project future performance, or interpret the output of a model you ran elsewhere, like an ARIMA sales forecast.

Sources

• Pluralsight, ChatGPT's Code Interpreter is now Advanced Data Analysis (renamed Sept 2023)
• OpenAI Help Center, File Uploads FAQ (spreadsheet/token/size limits)
• DataCamp, How to Use ChatGPT Code Interpreter (Python sandbox, CSV, charts)