9 Key Points to Keep in Mind When Embracing Data

Marketing analytics today is faced with a new challenge – with so many different data sets to sift through, it is quite difficult to determine what is actually relevant for your business, and the tools that will make the data more usable. While the main focus still remains on embracing data, here are some major considerations you should keep in mind:

1. Assess your current state and identify your technology requirements

Take stock of your organizational and analytical capabilities. Does your team have a data analyst or is most of the analysis being carried out by the marketing generalists? Take stock of your strengths and identify the areas that you need to grow in. Identify the correct people, and put them in the right roles.

Also, once you have an understanding of what you have, you should focus on identifying the technology that you need to embrace data and boost your analytical capabilities.

2. Develop a process for testing the new marketing analytics tools

Now that you have evaluated your organizational capabilities and identified your technology requirements, you should focus on developing a streamlined process for testing the new marketing analytics tools on offer. Developing a well-defined process will let you explore more vendor options without losing sight of the important things, and will let you quickly select a solution that works for you.

3. Collect all the data you can

With the technical expertise and technology in place, it is time that you started collecting data for analysis. Collecting more data will insulate you from being limited in the questions that you can ask later.

4. Invest in data visualization tools

Data visualization tools help make data more digestible. Once the data at your disposal is easy to use and leverage, it will be used more. So, consider investing in industry-standard data visualization tools that will make your data more user-friendly, and promote adoption in the process.

5. Re-familiarize yourself with the relevant metrics

Take a moment to re-familiarize yourself with the key metrics you would be using. An understanding of the three major types of metrics – Performance, Customer Experience and Advanced – will equip you with the necessary understanding to determine the indicators that are relevant for your business, and help understand them in an actionable manner.

6. Avoid volume and all other ego metrics

While metrics may be important for understanding the data about your business, it is crucial that you avoid ego metrics like volume indicators. While they can point in the right direction, such metrics are often more deceiving than helpful, as they have no bearing on the bottom line. Choose to focus on the customer relationship-based metrics instead to drive results.

7. Realize that advanced measurement is the exception, and consider outsourcing to specialists

While some companies have already started on advanced analytics, it is still more of an exception than the norm. These are early days to decide on whether advanced measurement is at all required for your business to succeed.

That said, you may consider outsourcing the analytics function to the specialists. Niche providers can not only help you in gathering deeper insights, they can also empower you to make decisions leveraging their core capabilities, capabilities that would take years to develop in-house.

8. Learn what actual customer intelligence looks like

A solid understanding of customer intelligence requires a channel and data-agnostic setup with a deep customer-orientation. You should be capable of collecting all customer data generated, and should be able to fully understand its implications. Also, remember to leverage your analytics capabilities so that you can rapidly segment the data, and build effective models that do not require a human interaction to generate insights.

9. Understand that there is no one-size-fits all solution

To conclude, you should realize that there is no one-size fits all solution – there is no ‘one’ single channel that you can focus on, neither the ‘one’ metric that translates into ready success. You should start by creating a historical roadmap of your customer’s cross-channel digital journey, and then use it to start creating a customized digital marketing analytics plan that meets your goals.

While technology may be evolving, and may present newer vistas for exploration, following these simple steps will make your data-driven journey more pleasant, and deliver the ROI you seek.