We all know the importance of measuring ROI and making data-driven decisions. The concept is simple. The execution, on the other hand, is easier said than done.
The challenge isn’t a shortage of data. As a marketer, you’re likely sitting on a pile of it. But typically, this data lives all over the place, including disparate platforms that weren’t designed to talk to each other. In fact, your list of data sources for ROI measurement probably looks something like this:
- Ad serving platforms
- Web analytics
- Marketing automation
- CRM
- Sales data (about as far away from your marketing data as possible, right?)
The Future of Big Data
With some guidance, you can craft a data platform that is right for your organization’s needs and gets the most return from your data capital.
The Most Common Manual Methods
We’ve all tried to put these pieces of the puzzle together one way or another. The problem? TONS of manual effort. Chances are, you’ve already given this a try with one of the following methods:
- Microsoft Excel
Every month, your team of Excel gurus race to pull together a large collection of spreadsheets and pivot tables—with a heavy dose of manual data manipulation along the way. You’re probably familiar with that feeling of trying to hit a mid-month reporting deadline only to find that the data is already too far behind to make timely decisions with your active campaigns. - Business Intelligence (BI)
You’ve spent a fortune having IT resources build data integrations, only to leave you with the same PILE of data you had to begin with—but no additional insights. And let’s hope that Facebook doesn’t change their data model again, for the second time this month, since we all know how much fun it is to update those data integrations. - Web Analytics
This method works great if your business runs entirely on e-commerce. However, if your sales data flows through a network of distributors, this option won’t get you far. Of course, you’ve worked diligently to develop a robust system of “assumptions” to measure the theoretical return on your marketing efforts. But you still don’t know for sure which marketing touchpoints are actually influencing a customer’s step through their complex buying journey.
5 Big Advantages of Datorama
Let’s be honest. This is complex, and there’s no silver bullet. However, Datorama is the closest thing we’ve ever seen.
Here’s why this platform is the leading marketing intelligence solution in the marketplace:
- Connect and unify ALL of your marketing data.
There’s no data that Datorama can’t handle, from spreadsheets and manual data entry to APIs and cloud integrations. Datorama is by far the easiest and most robust tool on the planet for aggregating and harmonizing data from numerous data sources. You need this full picture to fully understand the story of what’s driving performance within your marketing efforts. - Turn raw data into insights with built-in intelligence capabilities.
Messy data? No problem. Clean and enrich with metadata to create an “insights layer” that allows you to see why things are working. Then use those insights to drive decisions and take action.Too much data? Never fear. Datorama Genius gives you the added power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze your data for you. Don’t spend your precious time combing through reports and spreadsheets in hopes of finding one or two meaningful insights. Your time is better spent reviewing which insights are most likely to make an impact on your bottom line. - Automate just about everything.
Tired of pulling reports and uploading csv files? Me, too. Thankfully, those days are long gone. Have a data set that doesn’t allow an API query? No problem. Datorama has a method to automate the ingestion of just about any source you can find. This will truly change your team’s lives.
Or are you frustrated with reading reports a month or two after you should have made changes to a campaign? Never again. Put the power of Datorama’s Action Center to work for you. Set your goals and performance thresholds, and let Datorama do the rest. Automatically adjust digital media buys, or send alerts to your media partners when they need to act. Today. Not next month. - Measure your ROI.
The day has finally arrived. No more assumptions-based models or basing your optimization decisions on click-through rates. Only when you connect ad performance data with sales and revenue data are you able to truly make ROI-driven decisions. Even better? Do this is real-time, before your campaign has ended. - Visualize your story.
Marketers appreciate the value of storytelling. It’s no different with the story of marketing performance. Create storytelling dashboards that bring your data to life, with rich visuals, creative imagery and insights in a single dashboard view. Plus, you can share them with your marketing team, agency partners and upper management. Before you know it, you’ll be a hero. And you’ll have the data to prove it.
The Results: Improved Performance Metrics
Marketers who use Datorama are reporting improvement in performance metrics such as the following:
- 90% reduction in cost per lead
- 25% of marketing budgets being re-invested in smarter marketing
- 80% reduction in time spent with manual data manipulation, allowing more time to be focused on insights and optimization
Check back soon for our next post in this series, showcasing how to get the most out of Datorama. Until then, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to one of our experts.
