In the world of big data, there is often the feeling that it is difficult to know where to start when trying to figure out what is relevant to what the company needs. There is often the feeling that everything is important, but that is never the case. What seems to be the case is that analysis paralysis is the direction we are all headed toward, and it is also the bane of our existence. The truth of the matter is that what a company needs is actionable data: the separation of which data is telling the truth about a situation and which is superfluous.
Today, as we can see, there is a massive market for data and analytics tools. This space of new data tools grew more than 25% in 2020 alone, up to a recognized 1,258 different options. This has made it a daunting task for agencies or business owners to choose which tool or tools they need to organize data effectively, and is reasonable given the number of options. Determining which tools to use and when to use them has become a serious challenge.
What helps to separate the options in front of an agency or business owner is how the data and analytics tools deal with the data presented to them. Just because there’s more access to data doesn’t mean it’s all important or relevant. Combining the right tools with the right ways to implement them for actionable insights is the hardest part.
In the past, the strategy was to measure everything possible, then try and make sense of a giant mountain of unlimited data combinations. This task is cumbersome, wildly inefficient, and delays taking action.
The key is that it is not about how much data you can collect, but rather, knowing what data is relevant and what to do with it.
Fortunately, Mobile1st is ahead of the data analytics curve. Our team collectively has over 20 years of digital analytics experience. We’ve seen most problems and are very fast at getting actionable insights that can move the needle.
Some agencies are quick to recommend new tools because they sound like turn-key solutions for a client’s problem. However, this is often more expensive than it is helpful. A data platform is never as easy to implement as “set it and forget it.”
Mobile1st lives by another ethos: Max out the tools you have until you need more. A platform does not solve every problem; it is just a tool. Smart data analysts know how to solve problems.
The next issue for some agencies and business owners is that data scientists are expensive. Mid-level data scientists have a median salary of about $130,000, and a business might not need one full-time. In some cases, an organization may have a full team of data scientists, but there’s always a debate about looking at what matters. Having ad hoc access to a deeply experienced data scientist through an agency can help shortcut a path to finding those eureka moments that can propel a business. It is important to note how important knowing what information is relevant. As Emarketer points out, “54% of respondents said one of the main roadblocks preventing them from making better use of customer data was insufficient data analysis capabilities.”
For instance, if you have found yourself (or a client) continuing to focus on metrics like:
● Bounce rate
● Time on site
● Page Views per session
Then you are likely not focusing on what actually matters to your business. Those are prime examples of “feel-good metrics.” These metrics can go up and down, and it is easy to draw false conclusions on why that happened. They rarely correlate to the bottom line and can be artificially manipulated to make a number look better.
This is where a great data scientist comes in since they recognize key website behaviors should be measured (that usually are not), then set up reporting to understand site behaviors. This analysis is difficult for agencies who come into a client’s analytics program and have to make sense of the historical data, identify problems, and present solutions very quickly.
Thankfully for Mobile1st, we already have that team of data analysis rock stars, so we are not lost in the struggle. We are leading the charge and helping clients to have more “a-ha!” moments.
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