How to create a Digital Marketing & Analytics Measurement Model

Data. 

Those who work in the marketing world (and probably those who don't) will contest that this small four letter word that is often preceded by words like 'big' or 'small' has become so ruthlessly banded about that it is almost a commodity. Within a marketing context this 'commodity' can and should be used to continually optimise business success.

But you know the above already, it's obvious and 'data' isn't a new thing....

'Data' is banded about so often that it would seem everyone is an expert in it. Surely all the 'experts' out there are maximising data-analytics to drive continued ROI uplift, customer satisfaction, a 360 degree view of their customers, personalised dialogue with the customer to drive engagement and minimise churn; all of which equates to arming their brand with that competitive advantage.....right?!

Wrong.

This post isn't about what data is and isn't, there are too many great (and crap) posts on that. Nor am I yet another self confessed data junkie trying to preach that data is the all and everything in digital marketing because all of the other cool kids are saying it; creativity has never been more important and most definitely has its place (Previous blog post Imagination is more important than knowledge). Having a very digital acquisitions focused background where ROI and accountability is everything, this experience has however moulded me to believe that data is the backbone to digital marketing, which should be used to plan, benchmark, measure, understand and optimise our digital marketing initiatives.

The problem in this day and age (as I see it) for many digital marketers isn't really about the collection of data itself - there are hoards of sufficient analytics tools and tutorials out there with simple implementation processes to collect basic and complex data. The problem is the abundance of data and the ease of turning the tap on to get that data vs (the lack of) a considered data strategy prior to turning that 'data tap' on and an on-going measurement plan to benchmark against.

It continually amazes me at how often marketers jump head first into a digital marketing initiative - be that development (e.g - website / app build), optimisation (e.g landing page / sales funnel), campaign (e.g channel performance/attribution and ROI) before having a considered digital measurement strategy that ties back into the fundamental business objectives. And let's be honest, too often the business objectives are either so generic or just generally unclear.

If every person who works within the digital marketing space - client and agency side - knew, understood, and utilised something as simple and fundamental as the digital marketing and measurement framework explained below at the start of every digital marketing initiative, more brands would be dominating within this space. Dominating defined as real measurable results that meet real business objectives as cost effectively as possible. Despite the pure magnitude of self proclaimed marketing 'guru's', 'ninja's' and general know-it-alls, the sad reality is that something as simple, basic and fundamental as a digital marketing measurement plan is often forgotten, neglected or simply not used. 

Five great infographics on Slideshare (Using slideshare to share infographics)

A little rant..

I haven't done quite as many blog posts recently - partly because I've been a busy bee travelling this amazing world of ours for the last 8 months, but also in part because I am a tad frustrated with blogger...

Let me explain.

One of the many content mediums I like to use when blogging are infographics. A good infographic really fits that old adage of 'a picture is worth a thousand words', and sometimes (often), less is more. They are a great way of removing the clutter often surrounding facts, they bring life and fun to said facts, and are useful referencing material to go back to again and again.

For the past 12 months of writing this blog, I have found interesting infographics to share, and used Pinterest to pin the infographic from the authors website, and then embed into my blog. After a few months of doing this - and with Pinterests frequent updates, I realised the embedded Pinterest image often broke in my blog, leaving nothing more than a broken image link; annoying. I like Pinterest, but this is a fail on their part regarding this. I tried simply embedding the image itself into Blogger but there is a bug in Blogger where images over a certain size are corrupted, again making them ineligibly small.

So, here we are now - Rant over and solution found.

Slideshare to the rescue:

I have always liked the presentation sharing site slideshare. Not only is it an amazing knowledge bank where insights and stats are 'ten to the dozen', but it also has a huge content distribution/sharing/networking potential.

In recent weeks slideshare now has the functionality for publishers to upload and distribute their infographics, and tools for consumers to share them. The simple embed tools make it easy once again for bloggers like me to share infographics in a professional way. Gold star slideshare.

So, making up for lost time, below are five recent infographics that I like brought to you courtesy of the new slideshare functionality.

Chao.

10 Marketing & Social Media blogs you must read

The great and awesome thing about the web is that anybody who is anybody can be creative and broadcast their thoughts to the world. Sometimes that can also be the problem, there is so much information available that it can be quite a task sieving through the quantity to find the quality.

Below, in no particular order, are a few blogs that I use for Marketing, Social Media, Great talks and general inspiration.

If you start using these blogs, share them with your friends / colleagues, join in with the conversations within the comments sections, and if you find an article useful, let the author know. As a blogger appreciation goes a long way, and for most bloggers, it is the reason they do it.

Happy reading.

Digital Marketing & Social Media tools guide

Digital Marketing - How do I....? 

Here's a generic situation, which may sound very familiar to some.

A buddy approaches me and asks for some marketing help. The last few years of slogging it out in a job they care little about has paid off, they now have a business idea of their own, some money in the bank, and a revived focus for their career. They are untouchable, fired up with energy and ambition, and all they want to do is get stuck straight into their new project, make things happen and make some $. It's time for them to let the world know, but the problem is they don't know how to, or better put, they don't know the best way to do so. So they look on the web and can quite easily be pulled in every direction by the pure volume of articles, 101's, books, video's, guides and expert opinions.

So after spending a few weeks/months learning, trying, failing, succeeding (repeat), they ask their buddy who works in Marketing for help, as he must know!...

• How do I get my site ranked on Google?
• How do I know if my marketing is working?
• What marketing should I be doing?
• Should I set my brand up on Social Media?
• How do I monitor my brand on Social Media?
• Should I use 'this' tool? Should I pay for 'this' service?
• Etc

Klout - A waste of time or no time to waste?

Working in the marketing industry, I hear and read a lot of strong opinions regarding Klout, so I thought it would be interesting if I asked five marketing professionals ten questions about Klout. Their answers are not only interesting, but reveal and represent the diversity of thoughts, opinions, challenges and gripes regarding online influence scoring metrics such as Klout. This article is not really about defining what Klout is. If you want to know more about Klout have a read of their website.

Metrics, data, and more metrics

We live in an age that is dominated by the internet and digital data. A world where to be without the 'web' would be as alien as a cowboy without his gun. A place where at least some of a persons online identity is publicly available, with the 'some' not necessarily being the parts you would choose.

Where there is digital, there is normally data metrics and accountability. People pay attention to metrics, they compare, benchmark, compete, and base KPI's on them. Successful marketers are using data metrics to optimise their activities. Overtime, the type of metrics utlised evolve in accuracy and flourish in functionality and use, but data/metrics are very much here to stay. In fact they are becoming the norm, the standard.  It comes of no surprise that there are companies such as Klout that are striving for a quantifiable metric/score that aggregates and collates data across multiple touchpoints, which, in Klouts case, represent (accurately or not) an individuals or brands online influence.

In the news and marketing landscape (particular US based), every now and again we hear about another Bluechip company that has implemented Klout scores as part of its recruitment process (think Salesforce), or about a social media/marketing course that has started attributing part of the final year grade to a students Klout score. Commercially, it seems more companies are jumping on-board with Klout Perks, where customers who have a certain Klout score are identified and rewarded.

Building a Business Case for Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation should be all the talk for marketing professions of today. Those doing it properly are dominating, learning-improving. and then dominating some more, specifically in terms of their ROI and bottom line. Those who aren't, or who don't know much about it should really take some time to learn about it. It's not just another fancy marketing term getting banded about ten to the dozen by all the cool kids who work in marketing,  it's becoming a best practice that yields real results, with its success firmly rooted in improving relevancy, targeting of messages, and therefore a better customer experience.

OK...So what does 'Marketing Automation mean?

In short (sourced from Wikipedia- ) "the name given to software platforms designed for marketing departments and organisations to automate repetitive tasks...Marketing departments, consultants and part-time marketing employees benefit by specifying criteria and outcomes for tasks and processes which are then interpreted, stored and executive by software, which increases efficiency and reduces human error"

10 Great Blogging tools for beginners and seasoned pros alike

If like me you are new to blogging, or you are seasoned pro that is just researching the blogging landscape for new tools then 10 Best Blog Tools for Beginners post by Alison posted on May 21, 2012 is exactly what you need. Being new to it myself, I have read a lot of good (and bad) posts on Blogging tools - this is a good post and I wanted to share it.

Short extract to wet your appetite. 

"Blogging can be challenging for beginners. We’ve all been there: the early days of blogging when it’s exciting just to receive a single comment on one of your posts, when writing good content takes up all of your free time, and when it feels like you’re talking to no one on social media.

So today, I wanted to share with you all the best blog tools for beginners. These tools can help you make friends online, find new readers, save time, and avoid common blogging mistakes.And of course, I hope there are a few tricks in here for experienced bloggers too! I didn’t start using some of these tools until late in the game, simply because I didn’t know about them."

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