How to Use Data Insights And Measurement Marketing to Drive Growth

When navigating the complexities of business data, measurement marketing stands as the linchpin for actionable insights and effective decision-making. In the latest episode of Predictable B2B Success, host Vinay Koshy is joined by measurement marketing expert Chris Mercer to delve into the nuances of crafting a potent measurement strategy.

From overcoming the fear of being wrong to the pivotal role of clear communication between data analysts and end users, Mercer shares invaluable insights that every organization can leverage. He walks us through a compelling case study on using website data for design improvements.

He also sheds light on the often-overlooked aspects of forecasting and taking action based on data. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to the world of analytics, this episode offers a treasure trove of strategies to elevate your data game and drive business growth. Get ready to redefine your approach to measurement and turn insights into impactful actions!

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About Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer’s entrepreneurial journey began with developing WordPress sites, but his vision extended beyond traditional web development. Aiming to avoid commodification and gain a competitive edge, Chris decided not just to deliver WordPress sites but also optimize them. This led to a pivotal shift towards conversion rate optimization (CRO). Through this process, Chris recognized the crucial role of measurement and became proficient in Google Analytics. His agency differentiated itself by innovatively setting up clients’ Google Analytics and other measurement tools, establishing a unique niche in the optimization space.

The Power of Measurement Marketing: Unlocking Hidden Revenue Opportunities

In today’s data-driven business landscape, using the right data in the right way can make or break a company’s success. Yet many leaders face challenges in transforming their organization’s approach to data, from continuously communicating the value of being data-driven to securing critical resources like analytical talent.

Chris Mercer, a renowned measurement marketing expert and co-founder of Measurement Marketing.io, shares his insights on how shifting your team’s mindset from data fear to data fluency can unlock hidden revenue opportunities and lead to more predictable business growth. With over 20 years of experience in online marketing, Mercer helps clients identify critical metrics, implement measurement tools, and create insightful dashboards.

The Three Keys to a Proper Measurement Plan

According to Mercer, most companies need proper measurement planning. While they may have goals and intentions, that alone does not constitute a plan. An effective measurement plan requires three key components:

1. List out your questions. Most organizations focus on results-oriented questions around the end of the user journey, such as the number of sales, leads, or average ticket size. However, the “how” questions are equally, if not more, important.

“How many calls did I have to make to get that appointment? How many appointments did I have to keep in order to have qualified? How many qualifies did I have to talk to and pitch in order to close?”

Knowing these steps provides the recipe to produce the desired results.

2. Identify the information needed to answer those questions. This goes beyond just page views. Consider what user behaviors you can measure that provide valuable signals.

“Did they even see the form? That’s a significant signal. Because if they’re not opting in, maybe it’s because the form is buried underneath the blog post, and maybe that’s why they’re not opting in.”

Capturing intent-based behaviors like scroll depth and time spent viewing certain elements can offer deeper insights.

3. Based on the answers, determine the actions you will take. This is the most frequently overlooked step.

What actions will we take based on the answers we’re about to get? Consider different scenarios—what will you do if the metrics are within range, lower, or higher than expected? Having these action plans mapped out in advance is crucial.

“The optimization in this case is more traffic. But what if it was, hey, we’re getting a lot of people to book calls, but none of them are showing up. Then the optimization is, let’s figure out how we get them to show up, or maybe it’s a qualification issue where we have to slow them down a little bit and then qualify them.”

By incorporating these three elements into your measurement plan, you ensure that the data collected serves a clear purpose and that the resulting reports lead to meaningful action.

“If you think about what I just said in our little example, I was asking questions around, like, say, opt-in rate, but in the action step, I’m talking about breaking it down by ad set. Because I’ve said that in my plan, I now know my question is, what is the opt-in rate broken down by ad set? Because I need to be able to see that.”

Overcoming the Fear of Being Wrong

One of the biggest barriers preventing companies from implementing an effective measurement plan is the fear of being wrong. “The thing that keeps people from doing that besides knowing that, okay, action should be thought about before we even collect the information… is what are we gonna do with this information. The thing that keeps people from doing that, I truly believe, because I deal with a lot of students that have this issue, they are afraid of being wrong.”

Mercer emphasizes the importance of getting comfortable with the possibility of being wrong. It’s not always about being right but rather about getting a little less wrong with each iteration. “Just guess. Don’t worry about being right. Every time you guess, you’re gonna be a little bit less wrong with practice.”

This mindset shift is crucial for effective measurement marketing.

“If you get very comfortable, which is why I said I think it’s a super skill that I’ve got, but it’s not a skill. It’s practice, period. It’s just the belief that you go, I might be wrong, and that’s okay. You just have to accept the possibility that you might be wrong. That’s it. You just accept the possibility you might be wrong.”

Simplifying Complex Measurement Tools

Another common challenge is the perceived complexity of measurement tools like Google Analytics. While these platforms offer many features, Mercer advises against getting bogged down trying to master every bell and whistle from the start.

He likens the learning process to progressing through three stages: the cave, the valley of visibility, and the summit.

“When you’re in the cave, that’s where most of the marketers that are learning this stuff, when they’re trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not in their own sales journeys, that’s where they are. They’re trying to figure it out. They’re not quite sure which traffic source is causing what. They’re not quite sure where the leaks are in their different user journeys.”

The key is to focus on simplicity and getting out of the cave. “It’s important to realize it’s a dark scary place, and all you need to focus on when you’re in the cave is getting out. That’s the one thing. The cave teaches simplicity. It teaches us to do simple things.” This could mean a basic Google Analytics setup that measures the user journey’s start, finish, and key engagements.

As you progress to the valley of visibility, you can incorporate additional tools like Google Tag Manager and Data Studio (now called Looker Studio) to enhance your measurement capabilities.

“When you’re in the valley of visibility, you can look around. There’s a lot more stuff to do, but all of a sudden there’s a lot more tools available to you as well.”

Reaching the summit is where more advanced measurement occurs, but it requires a solid foundation.

“The summit’s really complicated. That could be where up or people can shout down easy questions from the summit. Like a guy from me from stage, I might say, it’s important you have to know what your leads are worth on day 0, on day 7, on day 14, on day 30, on day 60, and on day 90. And that is so much fun to shout from stage, but that is so hard, so hard to measure for depending upon tech and and marketing tech and measurement tech that individuals have.”

The Importance of Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Effective measurement marketing involves both qualitative and quantitative data. While quantitative data helps identify trends and patterns in user behavior, qualitative insights from customer conversations and feedback are equally valuable.

“There’s two sides of every sort of analytics platform. There’s the qualitative, which is what you’re talking about. User surveys jumping on with calls, etcetera. And then there’s quantitative, which is by and large what does this type of user go through and and what sort of actions do they have. Both are useful. Both are necessary. To me, they’re both they’re 2 sides of the same coin.”

Mercer shares an example of how qualitative feedback led to a pivotal shift in his own business.

“Case in point, when I first started, the only reason I’m in measurement is because my customers told me that they wanted measurement, not WordPress sites. They could get that other places. But the measurement stuff, they couldn’t get anywhere, especially the way that we were doing the way we’re thinking about it because it just made it easier and more useful for them.”

Forecasting: Looking Through the Windshield

Another underutilized aspect of measurement marketing is forecasting. Many organizations are hesitant to forecast because they fear being wrong. However, Mercer argues that forecasting is essential for proactive decision-making.

“I am so much more concerned instead of forensic marketing where we’re looking back in the numbers all the time about looking through the windshield and saying, okay. Here’s what’s going to happen next week. I think that’s what measurement should be doing. It shouldn’t be telling what’s working and what’s not. It should also be doing what’s next.”

Forecasting key metrics and comparing actual results against those predictions can help companies quickly identify deviations and take corrective action.

“And because we start to really understand our marketing machinery, you start gaining confidence in it. And you start realizing, hey, if I turn up the lever, maybe the machine works just fine. Like, everything that’s processing in that customer journey is working exactly right. The answer is we need more traffic.”

The Role of the Measurement Marketer

Mercer recommends having a dedicated measurement marketer on the team to implement measurement marketing effectively. This person serves as the bridge between the data and the actions that must be taken.

“The measurement marketer is that person in between. So they are the person who, yes, they’re numbers friendly. They’re comfortable with spreadsheets. They are comfortable solving problems, which you’re gonna need to because you’re gonna run into new and interesting challenges almost every day with measurement.”

Beyond technical skills, a measurement marketer must communicate effectively and translate data into meaningful insights and actions.

“They can explain what things mean because they’re going to need to. And they’re gonna need to sell a tiny bit. And I don’t mean sell as in a hard closing kind of sales pitch type of person, but they are going to help the user through the framework. They’re gonna help that user understand why it is important that they understand the actions that you’re trying to take.”

The Future of AI in Measurement Marketing

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, many wonder how it will impact measurement marketing. Mercer believes AI has immense potential, but it’s not a magic solution for disorganized data.

“I think there’s a lot of people that have those scrabble bag tiles that we talked about before, those bags of scrabble tiles. But they have all this data, and they’re just thinking, all I’m gonna do is just mix in AI, shake it up, and then pour it into a little martini glass, and it’s gonna be perfect results and and actions. And it’s not. Because, again, that data wasn’t collected for a particular reason.”

For AI to be truly effective in measurement marketing, the data must be structured and organized with a clear purpose.

“As they start to do that, AI also could do more with it because it is organized, so AI can do stuff with it. And that’ll be the next evolutionary jump in when it comes to AI and data, at least in my opinion.”

Key Takeaways

1. Develop a comprehensive measurement plan that includes questions, information needed to answer those questions, and actions to take based on the answers.
2. Embrace the possibility of being wrong and focus on getting a little less wrong with each iteration.
3. Start simply when learning measurement tools and gradually progress to more advanced capabilities.
4. Leverage qualitative and quantitative data for a holistic understanding of user behavior and needs.
5. Utilize forecasting to identify opportunities and issues in your marketing efforts proactively.
6. Consider hiring a dedicated measurement marketer to bridge the gap between data and actionable insights.
7. Recognize AI’s effectiveness in measurement marketing depends on structured, purposeful data collection.

By implementing these strategies and shifting your team’s mindset around data, you can unlock hidden revenue opportunities and achieve more predictable business growth. As Mercer states, “The better you get at planning, everything else builds upon that.” Trends will be key to staying competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• The Importance of Accepting the Possibility of Being Wrong: The episode emphasizes how embracing the idea of potentially being wrong can lead to more effective actions and forecasting within organizations.
• Challenges in Communication Between Data Analysts and End Users: The discussion delves into the miscommunication issues that arise when analysts deliver reports that don’t meet user needs.
• Case Study on Measuring User Behavior: Mercer provides a practical example of how analyzing website data can lead to informed adjustments in site design.
• Traits of a Good Measurement Marketer: Traits to look for in a measurement marketer, including the ability to interpret data and translate it into actionable insights, are highlighted.
• The Importance of Planning in Reporting: Emphasis is placed on having a clear plan for analyzing data so that the information can be used effectively.
• Role of AI in Analytics and Measurement: The role AI plays in enhancing analytics and addressing the organizational data challenges are discussed.
• Managing Discomfort with Data: Addressing fears and discomfort associated with data, specifically the fear of being wrong, is a key topic.
• Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Analytics: The importance of integrating both types of analytics for a comprehensive understanding of user behavior is discussed.
• Effective Forecasting and Action Steps: Forecasting as a forward-looking tool and planning subsequent action steps based on predictive analytics are explored.
• Measurement Strategy and Growth: Mercer outlines the importance of a clear measurement strategy, which includes asking the right questions and learning from the data to drive business growth.
• And much, much more…

Listen to the episode.

Related links and resources

Connect with Chris Mercer

• LinkedIn

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