Add value by adding insight

In my last article I talked about some key themes that had been running on Eric Peterson’s web analytics forum recently; setting KPI’s and the challenge of reporting web data in a meaningful way for or to business users. I laid out my thinking around the fact that the two are related subjects because once you focus on what’s important, it then theoretically becomes easier to report the data in a way that makes sense to the end consumers of this data. In the last article I added some of my own thoughts around KPI setting and this time around let’s take a look at how you can engage the business with web based data.

First of all, this is not a new problem. This is not a product of the “information age” or of the development of the web channel. This issue has been going on for years. Ever since Arthur C Nielsen invented modern marketing measurement back in the 1920s when he developed the concept of the Retail Audit, those in the business of marketing data production have struggled with how you get the end users to understand, engage with and act upon the data.

There is an apocryphal story about Art Nielsen. He set up a business that continuously measured the sales of consumer packaged goods through grocers and sold the sales data to the manufacturers of these brands in reports. Initially the manufacturers were very enthusiastic about having this data that showed them for the first time what they were actually selling through the stores and how that compared to their competitors.

So what’s the point of the history lesson? Well, after a while the manufacturer’s started to cancel their contracts with AC Nielsen. When one of his biggest clients said they were going to cancel their contract, Art Nielsen asked them why. They responded that although they found the data interesting, they didn’t really know what to do with it and so as a result it wasn’t bringing them enough value. Now, does this sound familiar?

The story goes that Art Nielsen persuaded the client to let him show them how they could use in the information and if he was able to prove its value, they would continue with the contract. He got on the train from Chicago and worked through the night charting the data and creating trended analysis that allowed the client to see the cause and effect of their marketing activity. He was able to show them relationships between their actions and what was important to them - more sales. As a result they remained a customer for decades.

Life was maybe a simpler then but I think that the basic tenet remains the same. If you can demonstrate cause and effect in a way that the end consumers of the information understand, then they will see the value and continue to invest their time, interest and money. So, what to do and how to do it?

I can’t pretend to have all the answers and everybody has their own style and approach, but here are some thoughts and tips primarily aimed at the web analyst trying to get share of mind and attention within the organisation.

Understand what keeps people awake at night. Make sure you’re clear about what the main issues are. This relates back to making sure that there are clear and agreed KPIs in place.

If they won’t come to you, go to them. Instead of waiting to be asked to look at some issue, do some discovery work and take the issue to them. Create the opportunity to demonstrated the value and find something that’s really useful to them and they can respond to quickly - the “low hanging fruit”.

Don’t get hung up on the technology. Most people aren’t interested in the details of the data, just as long as you believe that it’s credible and they believe you are credible.

Don’t rely on the technology to do the job for you. Most web analytics products have dashboards and so on. They do a job but they only report data, they don’t interpret data.

Add value. This is tied to the point above. Busy “C” type people say they need the facts. What they really mean is that they need the analysis and interpretation of the facts. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue so easily.

So, take a leaf out of Art Nielsen’s book. Create a deliverable that is distinctly yours, not the product of a piece of technology. Discover and interpret relationships between different types of data. Add value by adding insight. Present that insight in a way that makes it easy to consume, face to face is best. Get on that overnight train if that’s what it takes.

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