About Karen Bellin

Digital Marketing Data

GIFT GUIDE

2013

Gifts for the:

Digital Analyst | Content Marketer | CMO | CDO

With love and apologies to the fine writers of the New York Times Gift Guide 2013.

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Marketing Data Gifts for the Digital Analyst

All good analysts know: What’s measured matters. Apply this general wisdom to gift-giving, and the results are deepened insight, increased mathematical rigor, and metrics to treasure.

1. Multi-device, multi-browser analytics: One of the best gifts I ever got was access to Google’s Universal Analytics tool. Once it was assembled, I had access to cross-device, cross-browser behavior as well as a handy attribution model. The resulting insights spurred me into a happy analytics dance. Also available in Premium starting at MSRP $150K. Some assembly required.
2. Freedom from pre-packaged reporting: If you thirst for a web analytics tool that lets you under the hood –  direct access to raw, structured data in an easy-to-query format – start with a demo of Snowplow Analytics. Snowplow Analytics is a powerful, open source platform from the UK. You can store data in your own AWS cloud. You can query it with any tool you want. In lieu of pre-packaged views, Snowplow gives you advanced analysis recipes that turn even average web analysts into marketing masterminds.
3. Robust text analysis: Truly useful text analysis tools – as opposed to top lists and word clouds – are surprisingly hard to find. KNIME caters to a wide range of industries, and will support your enterprise, too. The suggested applications range from social media influencer analyses to recommendation engines. Whitepapers with repeatable workflows are useful, though training is required. Gift this to an analyst with a training budget – stateside training is rare and pricey.
4. Meaningful engagement metrics in social media: Chaos and confusion continue to reign in the world of social media, as  marketers find themselves cornered between a rock and a hard place. On one hand there is too little time to authentically engage with customers; on the other, there are a slew of vanity metrics being touted with little business relevance. Fortunately there may be an out, as the more established social media networks continue to release increasingly compelling analytics tools. Here are some suggestions for diving deeper into your social media metrics.
   1. YouTube Analytics Groups: “Groups allow you to view aggregate data of the videos or channels in a group, which can help you analyze performance in an organized way. For example, you can create groups based on a common topic or type of video as well as by geography or the recency of the upload. You can see groups data for all the reports available in YouTube Analytics.” – YouTube
   2. Twitter Analytics: All statistics from Twitter, including follower characteristics, account growth and click-through rates on account tweets, can be accessed by setting up a $1 campaign (and then canceling it before a penny has been spent.) How-to guide is available from Econsultancy.

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Big Data Gifts for the Content Marketer

It’s a hot topic! It’s a marketing channel! It’s a digital consumer product! We offer data in three surprising categories. Thanks to net neutrality, these items come not just from the marketing industry but from organizations focused on academics, philanthropy, fitness and technology.

1. “Big Data” as a hot topic: This hot topic has intrigue, unlimited potential, and a series of inherent challenges that marketers can discover as they devise their 2014 content plans. Thought leaders are jotting down their “big data” metaphors in tweets, blog posts and status updates in an attempt to feed the insatiable demand for big data content coming through Google search.
2. “Big Data” as a marketing channel: It is now possible to gain access to hard-to reach IT Decision Makers through data itself. Host a contest on Kaggle (or if you are a non-profit, launch a project with DataKind) with a data set and a tantalizing problem statement. Participating data scientists who crave real-world data to develop and refine their techniques can then be recruited (with consent) if not simply incentivized to transform the way you think about your business.
3. “Big Data” as a consumer product: “Big data” digital products, in a variety of shapes and sizes, connect to the internet as they capture and quantify consumer behavior in real life. The classic example is Nike+ Fuelband. Don’t underestimate the staying power of these products. With advanced analytics algorithms, consumers will be as overwhelmed and entranced by their quantified selves as content marketers are with campaign optimization.

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Big Data Gifts for the CMO

Big data does not have to cramp your style. Our selections add variety and velocity to the marketing dollar. Whether your marketing message is targeted towards B2B or B2C, these gifts speak the international language of ROI.

1. Get results, fast! For a sped-up marketing campaign, combine real-time bidding with real-time analytics, to perk up both awareness and conversions.
2. Pay for what you get: Put the kibosh on paying for bot clicks: a refreshing, band of marketers is moving to crack down on impression and click-fraud in advertising.
3. The best thing in a tiny packages: As tailored messaging is created for niche audience segments, smaller campaigns are becoming favorites among data savvy marketers. This streamlined approach replaces spending beyond the point of diminishing returns by producing more campaigns with less spend on each

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Big Data Gifts for the CDO

In my office, filled as it is with go-getter entrepreneurs and millennials, revenue opportunities abound. We’re learning not to grow too attached to “my next million dollar…” ideas.The best of this year’s revenue opportunities are so lucrative, however, that I’m scheming to place them with the Chief Data Officer (CDO). It won’t be too long until we’ll need the money in the bank to fund the next big thing.

1. Big data as a revenue stream: Sure you can sell products and services with differentiating features at competitive prices. But they’re not efficient if you need a lot of revenue in a hurry or want to supply a quickly growing demand. Consider instead monetizing your data. While more complicated than other potential offerings, monetized data captures a share of market currently up for grabs. In fact, in the first half of 2013, Twitter made $32 million in revenue from “data licensing.”

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