Let me begin with an inevitable truth. We are digitally ready for the future than ever before. There is complete digitization of customer-facing organizational systems and use of Digital Analytics to determine customer behaviors and trends. And so it would be more than safe to assume that Digital Analytics is the foreseeable necessity that organizations have to rely upon to drive better business results.
The good news is that the organizations are not shying away from spending the big bucks on Data Analytics today. One of the articles from Harvard Business Review on ‘Quantifying the Impact of Marketing Analytics’ states that “companies are currently spending 11.1% of their marketing budgets on analytics and expect to spend more in the coming years. Since Digital Analytics is revolutionizing the way we approach business today, I guess it would be worthwhile to understand the Digital Analytics strategy that you as an organization can adopt in order to drive positive business outcomes.
Anything related to data starts with data governance
A robust Data Governance model helps you make decisions by providing sound business data and efficiently managed information assets by:
- Establishing processes for effective data management
- Building mechanisms to sort data-related issues
However, for a Data Governance model to be effective, the key areas that you have to focus on while implementing a Data Governance framework are prioritizing communication, grassroots support, building data stewardship programs and energizing the Data Governance program with adequate and appropriate skills.
Selecting the right tools of the trade
The dependence of business on analytics tools is on a meteoric rise today and there are thousands of tools that you can choose from. There are implementation tools such as Google Analytics 360, Adobe Analytics, to Data Visualization tools like Tableau, standalone tools for online marketing, customized solutions, newer digital marketing cloud solutions etc. The trick is to select the tools that are right for your business, Data Analytics requirement, budget, deployment ease, support, and the availability of advanced features like social analytics, real-time data, and multi- channel analytics. Half the Digital Analytics challenge is solved if you have picked the right tools.
Multi-channel data integration for deeper and newer insights
Multi-channel analytics integrates data from all channels and does conversion attribution on collated data. In today’s dynamic business environments, insights can crop in from multiple sources simultaneously and data is used best when it is shared across disciplines. By using multi-channel analytics, as a marketer you can integrate data from various channels and sources to evaluate the behavior of leads that convert to customers.
Right KPIs are the foundation of your strategy
KPIs are the building blocks of your strategy – the best of the analytics tools cannot guarantee you the right data and dashboards if your KPIs are not planned well. The KPIs have to be structured:
- to provide insight on the right business questions
- define responses to deviations
- build consensus on the metrics to be tracked
- align analytics process to the right business teams
Your users would be able to provide the right analytical insight for your business if the above is taken care of.
Testing is an essential part of the analytics strategy
Testing is a technique that helps you identify ways to improve your website performance and help you to retain your customers. Some kinds of testing methods that you can use are:
- A/B testing is used to compare two versions of a web page or app against each other to determine which one performs better.
- Multivariate testing is used to evaluate multiple variations of visual elements on a web page.
- Conversion Rate Optimization is the process of using various forms of testing to create an engaging experience for your visitors that will convert them into customers.
- Mobile App optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a mobile app, increase engagement and optimize the user interface.
Data visualization is the key to getting practical insights faster
The simplicity and efficiency of data visualization are making it a preferred tool to drive business results today. So much so that data visualization is now becoming critical to effective analytics programs. Tools like Tableau, Qlik, and Adobe’s Data Workbench are being used by organizations to improve overall customer experience, compete in the market, and consequently further their business goals. Data visualization tools allow you to analyze large volumes of data in a simplified way and enable you to make faster and more informed decisions every day.
Having a digital analytics roadmap is vital
The benefits of having a digital analytics roadmap are multi-fold. A roadmap not only provides clarity at the time of project execution but defines viable outcomes right at the onset, thereby helping your organization to pursue realistic goals in the digital analytics journey.
Pay attention to the entire customer journey
A successful digital analytics strategy should focus on the essentials of the complete customer journey – Acquisition, Behavior, and Outcomes. If your strategy fails to maintain a healthy balance between people, processes, and analytical focus, the end results will only be loads of pretty dashboards without better business outcomes, customers, and revenues.
To conclude
The landscape of digital analytics is evolving so rapidly that it is has become the need of the hour for digital strategies to be complete with actionable outcomes and insights. Your digital analytics ecosystem should be able to assist your business in coping with changing times and only then it will be well equipped for the long haul. Trust me on this one.
Badrinath Vankadri is the director of Digital Analytics and Insights at Nabler web Solutions and is an accomplished leader in driving global business operations & services for more than 13 years in IT / ITES companies.