The Definitive Guide to Marketing Analytics and Metrics (Collection)

1. Strategic Alignment—First You Need to Agree On What to Ask

Any number of articles and books about “data science” (side note: the term’s a bit oxymoronic, I think) emphasize the importance of asking the right question. “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions,” said Albert Einstein famously.¹ Personally, while I’d want to get a peek at the data I had to work with a little before the 55th minute of the hour to see how close it might get me to answering the questions I’d really like to pursue, his point is well-taken. In the context of marketing and sales analytics, as elsewhere, the ultimate questions are where to shift scarce resources like dollars and people. ...