Submitted by: Steve Longley, CEO, TPG

On April 6, TPG (www.tpgdirect.com) coordinated the Omnicom Showcase, an event that hosted more than 150 marketing executives at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia.  The Showcase featured best-selling author and Google’s Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik (www.kaushik.net/avinash/), whose presentation focused on the need to bring the voice of the customer to the web through analytics.  

He made it clear that the challenge is not to get the information – technology has made that easy – but to effectively use the massive amounts of data that technology offers.  This means using accurate and timely analytics to gain customer insights that allow marketers to establish and sustain relevancy. Avinash’s knowledge opened a window to analytics that our attendees embraced.

Here are a few thoughts on how to make sure the analytics you gather help you to achieve key business goals.

  • The first step in identifying the information that will result in more effective decision-making is to create the perfect team – a group of individuals responsible for different areas of the overall marketing effort who will gather and share relevant information.  This team may include representatives with appropriate decision making authority from IT, the C-suite, a call center if any, product management, as well as both online and offline marketing.
  • The tools you use to gather and present information are very important.  One of the ways some marketers have organized their data into a usable format is through the use of dashboards.  These reports provide an easy-to-read visual aggregation of data for stakeholders to understand business results and make timely decisions.  Like any good graph, they indicate progress or regression using visual aids such as colors or arrows to highlight key information.  In addition, a well-designed dashboard will not only highlight Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) but also allow users to “drill down” to learn more.
  • When analyzing the online consumer experience, it is often tempting to focus on the qualitative experience.  But quantitative indicators can be quite valuable as well.  Take a good look at what consumers are actually doing on the site. How long are they staying on the site?  How many pages are they viewing?  Are they navigating through the site in the way in which it was intended?  There are a number of excellent tools that can track these indicators and more.
  • If you look at data feeds, there are often spikes or dips in the data that don’t match previous or current trends.  Sometimes this is the result of an error but it is important to “normalize” the data to get a true feel for the results.  Take a deeper dive into the data to identify the reasons for these “blips.”  If it is not an error, take a closer look at other activity going on simultaneously.  Was there a television spot running at the same time?  Did a direct mail campaign reach consumer mailboxes at the same time?

Setting goals and expectations and focusing on the right data and metrics eliminates confusion from the start.  Collaboration spurs efficiencies that would have otherwise not have been gained.  Excellent tools save time and wasted energy. And good data moves a company further on the road to profitability.

The Showcase was presented by Omnicom Group Inc., TPG (www.tpgdirect.com), and 11 other  Omnicom partners,  including BBDO, GMR, Vue Group, Maslansky Luntz + Partners, Alcone Marketing, Fleishman-Hillard, Porter Novelli, Ketchum, LatinWorks, the Washington Speakers Bureau, Wolff Olins, and the Philadelphia Chapter of Web Analytics Wednesday.

Steve Longley, CEO of TPG (www.tpgdirect.com), a Philadelphia-based, full-service customer acquisition agency, and part of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), a strategic holding company. He can be reached at (215) 592-8381 or slongley@tpgphl.com.