The growing prominence (and accessibility) of marketing analytics tools have put the spotlight, rightfully, on the customer. These tools tell us how customers behave on our websites, in social media, in stores and in response to direct marketing. Plus they give us an inkling of their motivations. Read more

For marketers who rely on analytics for evidence-based decision making, this new multi-screen world has also presented some new measurement challenges and some great marketing analytics opportunities.

In late 2012 Google Analytics introduced the exciting concept of Universal Analytics—that is, the idea of using a single unique identifier to provide much better picture of user behavior as an individual and not a series of different device interactions. Google has also recognized the powerful potential of bringing together prospect and customer data from other marketing technology tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Marketing Automation and Content Management Systems.

What is exciting about Google’s proposed solution is that it recognized that marketers have begun to develop sophisticated, join-up marketing technology ecosystems, each with their proprietary view of your prospect or customer, and have proposed a method of connecting these systems for a more complete view of your customers’ buying journey. Read more

It might be the Holy Grail of marketing analytics, but don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of convergence analytics before. A relatively new term in marketing analytics, it describes a new class of tool that takes the endlessly accumulating volumes of customer data and turns it into the insight needed to build more engaging customer experiences. Read more

Automated emails are more timely. Timing is everything. Sending an email to someone when they are interested in a certain topic will result in more engagement with your email. Like when someone fills out a form to register for an event, automatically emailing them a confirmation with event details and a calendar file. Or when a new lead enters your database, and you drop them into a Welcome Program that automatically sends out a series of emails introducing them further to your company. Timing = relevance. Read more

As a visual metaphor, the sales funnel takes a complex and abstract customer experience scenario and reduces it to its essence. From their first contact with our brand, prospects are drawn down through the sales funnel, some becoming leads and fewer still emerging from the narrow end, as customers. The funnel implies a desired flow and objective end point in the customer experience. Read more