The Art of Digital Marketing

Chapter 9Analytics

An Introduction

Generally perceived as complex, dry, and scarily overwhelming, analytics does not have the most exciting reputation. Whilst it might give you sweaty palms, a racing heart, and keep you up all night panting breathlessly, it's for all the wrong reasons.

So let's look instead at what is sexy. Success. Slick marketing. Competitive advantage. Profit.

And how are these glorious things achieved? With killer insights, clues dug out of the data like rough diamonds, and wisdom polished into precise actions. Knowledge is power, after all, and analytics really brings the heat in that department! So whilst stats might not appear sexy, what can be done with them is, and this is the seductive beauty of analytics.

However, this beauty is somewhat buried. It's our job to see beyond analytics' intimidating exterior and focus on digging out the internal wisdom. Because if the inner workings of analytics can be understood, and the power of the insights gained can be optimized to meet specific needs, then a whole world of knowledge-based clarity will open up, achieving those sexy items outlined above!

Formal definition of analytics: The process of measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting the behavior of visitors on a website, in order to understand and optimize web usage.

Informal definition of analytics: What's the story behind the stats? (And it's a never-ending one.)

The online world shifts constantly, so analytics continually monitors and evaluates ...