Traditional web statistics provide tremendous quantities of information about our B2B and B2C relationships. Every click and the duration of every transaction can be tabulated to provide a clear picture of interest and give insight into the effectiveness of promotions and design. It is the nontraditional channels, however, that take web analytics to the next level.

Consider the free Starbucks iPhone app. For the consumer, it is a handy Starbucks locator, a rewards program, and a cardless way to pay for a latte. For the merchant, it is so much more, a literal treasure trove of personalized information. Starbucks knows that a given customer purchases a bold grande and a slice of marble loaf every morning around 8am, and usually springs for a pumpkin latte three evenings a week. Starbucks probably also knows that this customer is male, aged 35-45, so the obvious demographic metrics fall into placeData mining from social networking sites like Facebook can also yield phenomenal results. To continue with Starbucks as an example, consumers can sign up to win free coffee or even free flights on Southwest on the Starbucks Facebook page. Analytics algorithms acquaint themselves with the registered customer base by examining a customer’s profile: extrapolating age from high school graduation dates, taking note of jobs, and creating a range of likely salaries – all before mining the data from the friends list.

Apps, social networking, blogs, interest groups and other nontraditional channels are a vehicle for substantial data collection and candid statistical analysis, but it is the split second, quantifiable interpretation of the data that lays the foundation for an effective campaign and viral consumer networking that makes a business a better investment than gold.

It isn’t just data anymore. It isn’t just information. It is intelligence.

Equipped with an innovative web analytics department, CMOs can  know precisely who their customers are and what drives sales. With comprehensive web analytics, we learn exponentially more about products and market behavior than with websites and surveys. As the traditional and nontraditional channels inevitably merge, highly effective customized, targeted, and personal marketing for both businesses and consumers will result.

In our next post, we’ll look at the necessary skill sets CMOs need in their burgeoning web analytics departments.

About MarketPro:

MarketPro is the leading interim marketing executive and marketing recruitment firm in the USA. Whether your need is interim / contract or direct placement, we provide top companies with talent that exceeds expectations both functionally and culturally. Our recruiters know the best marketing talent, because they are experienced marketers. MarketPro places talent in all marketing related disciplines and does so in less time with a higher success ratio than anyone else in the industry.

To say that chief marketing and chief financial officers have historically had a taut relationship is an understatement. CFOs often look at the marketing function as a soft cost — purely in terms of profit and expense. They typically don’t understand the ethereal nature of traditional marketing metrics, such as “brand awareness,” “positioning” and “shifting perceptions.”  In fact, the CFO party line on the marketing organization is that it has dodged financial accountability for far too long and after extensive investment.

In a down economy, that’s code for slash your budget or prove your worth.

CMOs need to take on the mantle of leadership and learn the CFO’s lexicon for return on investment.  By creating a data-driven culture, you can translate your creative strategies into terms the CFO can understand and support.

One of the best places to start this effort is with your web analytics. Websites consume corporate dollars, and it’s a reasonable demand to prove with cold, hard facts that the investment is worthwhile. Although more marketing departments are taking the reins of web analytics away from IT, most are still clumsily fooling around with it. Most organizations haven’t really figured out how to take advantage of this treasure trove of data.

It’s not for lack of trying. Forrester Research estimates that businesses will spend $953 million dollars on web analytics in 2014, with an average annual growth of 17% from 2009. Still, it likens web analytics to a teenager in terms of maturity in the corporate marketing sphere.

The challenge, therefore, is before you. Marketing has a reputation for being surrounded by data but often falling short of effectively leveraging it. CMOs need to shift their work from the more subjective, intuition-driven approaches to a more objective, analytical and data-driven operation.

In practical terms, the shift has four distinct tracts. You are closely watching data, such as traffic sources and volume increases, conversion and bounce rates, etc. But the next step is moving beyond tracking to data analysis. Link the experiences your targeted audience is having on your corporate websites with your marketing programs, using your traditional measurements. Explicitly connect your work to data from your analytics.

Next, cross over from being data-informed to data-driven. That is, make decisions and changes in your marketing programs based on that data. All of this is quite an undertaking, but you’re not done yet. The fourth element is presenting your analysis in ROI terms, aligning your marketing measures with corporate goals and objectives, including profit, growth and savings.

We’ve seen this changeover take place a few times, in which interim marketing executives go in and create web analytics programs where none existed previously and begin to make the shift toward data driving marketing decisions.

Both chief executives understand to a certain extent that there is a bit of intangible when it comes to marketing. A bit of magic, a dose of uncertainty and an unending quest for perfection in timing. Even CFOs grasp the concept of assumption. When justifying your need for marketing dollars,  consider a language soaked in fiscal responsibility and methodical analysis.

Web analytics is a good place to start, because of the web’s growing centrality to business. But it’s not the only place. In our next post, we’ll unpack more practical steps in shifting their culture and the other domains CMOs need to mine for data.

About MarketPro:

MarketPro is the leading interim marketing executive and marketing executive search firm in the United States. Whether your need is interim / contract or direct placement, we provide top companies with talent that exceeds expectations both functionally and culturally. Our recruiters know the best marketing talent, because they are experienced marketers. MarketPro places talent in all marketing related disciplines and does so in less time with a higher success ratio than anyone else in the industry.

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