This
is kind of scary. A new
report reveals that less than half (47%) of marketers
actually use analytics to measure the success of their online
marketing. A quarter of those polled said analyzing results
is the hardest part of any campaign. Well, duh. And yet
for the 6th consecutive year, online marketing investment
is predicted to increase. Advertisers are sucking up paid
search, video, email, display, social, and anything else
they can get their hands on. But without a proper understanding
of the true results behind campaign efforts, are they simply
flushing money down the proverbial john? David Eldridge,
CEO at Alterian said,“With the current economic climate,
it is refreshing to see results that show businesses investing
in areas that can directly drive sales – essential
in this market. What is less encouraging is the low number
of marketers who use analytics to evaluate and refine their
campaigns.”
Online measurement and technology has definitely evolved, and it's quite impressive. The sheer amount of data available, even for free, is mind boggling. But the complexity of it all, as well as the inability of systems to work together, is scaring marketers off. Data analysis probably conjures up visions of expensive, geeky types we can't understand, sitting in the back office till midnight running SAS and crunching numbers in a spreadsheet. But it doesn't have to be scary weird science. Analysis is really for everyone.
In the 1990's internet advertising was very proud of the fact that it was measurable – impressions, clicks, even conversions! Now, recent opinions actually blame its measurability for recent problems facing the medium. We've backed ourselves into a corner where every dollar must account for itself. Even though, for instance, research shows that paid search is, indeed, impacted greatly by display advertising.
Today's
business landscape requires a lot more than simple metrics.
And, thanks to new technologies, including ours here at
TruEffect, the disciplines and analysis born in traditional
direct marketing really can finally be applied to online
advertising. It may still take a little training and understanding,
but new and better tools mean you don't really need a degree
in statistics to understand the big picture of how your
customers interact with your brand, and how you can now
reach them in a more and more personalized fashion.
– Layne Salter
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