Marketers that stay hungry for intelligence or analytics that help to improve their marketing efforts, are more likely to be successful in their marketing efforts. The reason why is simple… if you are aware of your marketing performance on a monthly basis, you are more likely to identify opportunities to adapt your approach to shape your marketing to meet certain goals and objectives.
We were recently reminded of the importance of analytics as a virtual exhibitor in United Fresh LIVE. As an exhibiting participant, the DMA Solutions booth was a data generating tool that our team has used to further shape sales efforts for our business. Perhaps now more than ever, marketers should turn to analytics to shape marketing decisions to sustain future success.
When planning your marketing efforts, how important are analytics in your overall marketing program? Here are reasons why brands should value analytics.
Why Brands Should Value Analytics
Numbers Don’t Lie (Or Let You Hide)
No matter how it’s presented to you, a number is cut-and-dry, plain and simple. Your analytics shouldn’t always stay the same (whether it be an increase or decrease). There is a distinction we need to point out, however: it’s one thing to experience a short period of lower numbers, but it’s an entirely different matter if it’s consistent.
There’s a reason for the saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” If you’re consistently seeing the same numbers (or consistently seeing decreases in important metrics), it’s time to dig deep, figure out what’s going on, and fix it! Analytics will guide you along each step of the way, whether you’re looking to increase followers, improve engagement rates, or up your website conversions.
Numbers Do The Work for You
Remember, numbers are your friend: they tell you what you’re doing well—and what needs work! One of our favorite applications of HubSpot is the reporting tool. It allows us to see trends over time and what pages, blog posts, and emails have performed well. Not to mention that we have the benefit of viewing trends that occur over any period of time.
Basically, if you don’t think analytics are helpful for your brand, you’re not looking at the right stats. Look at the campaigns and ideas that DID garner good results and use those as case studies to build the next one.
Pro tip: If nothing is really a “stand-out” to you, compare the numbers from last month to this month, or last quarter to the current one, or even year-over-year. Trends over time have the same effect of showcasing what has worked and what hasn’t, rather than leaving you to determine strategy based on the results of one campaign.
Numbers Keep You Honest
As marketers, one of the hardest jobs is to keep ourselves and the client accountable to our plans. Now, most people hate swallowing their pride and admitting that they made a mistake or that a particular experiment didn’t pay off or work out the way we thought it might. Numbers do reflect decisions that didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean the story has to end there! That’s just motivation (backed by informative data) to do better next time, to build on what you’ve already created and make something better.
Clients and marketers alike must remember that less-than-stellar numbers don’t mean failure, but rather show you where you have an opportunity. Be honest with yourself about the fact that yes, sometimes, analytics can make for a difficult pill to swallow. And then ask the next question: “What are you going to do about it?”
Have something you’d like to add? Leave us a comment below or reach out to us on Twitter @TheCoreBlog!
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