Plan your way forward and be confident
Unless you have been living in the middle of the Amazon jungle, you will have heard the phrase ‘marketing analytics’ bandied around.
While we avoid buzz words like the plague at Ipsos Jarmany, we certainly subscribe to the fact that hidden in your ever-growing amounts of sales and marketing data are answers to some important questions. Answers that you really need to know.
But just how do you get from data held in various systems to a place where, at the click of a mouse, you can get the real-time insight into the numbers that matter?
In our experience, the apparent size of this task is often why the implementation of marketing analytics fails to take off. When laid out end-to-end, the complexity, time and cost involved in harnessing the commercial power of your sales and marketing data is daunting. In fact, it can often seem insurmountable to the people you need to get on board.
This is where a proof of concept comes in. A proof of concept, or more aptly, a proof of value is a discrete test that will tell you if it is worth harnessing your data. As well as being sensible, it’s a much easier way to get buy-in and budget.
Three things to think about when considering a proof of concept.
1. Aim to deliver a few quick wins the business will value
Could you analyse which are the best performing stores within a sales territory? Or which customers could be migrated to an online account within a certain segment? Answers to these questions will provide actionable insight and commercial wins with clear return on investment. The same answers should also help you get a green light for more budget.
2. Make it achievable in a relatively short time frame
This is self-explanatory, but an often-overlooked point. Set a realistic deadline with a realistic implementation plan. You might need experts on board (erm…like us) who have done this before and understands the roadblocks that occur when implementing a proof of concept, such as access to data. Something small, like understanding what data is available and how to get it, can speed a project up enormously.
3. Provide a road map to implementation
Remember, this process is going to open your eyes and those of your colleagues in the sales and marketing functions. If the proof of concept is successful – and the whole point of designing one is to show market analytics delivers measurable benefits – then what you learn should be communicated and fed into the implementation road map.
Your next move
Follow our three steps above and it will pave the way to a more complete implementation. It will also show the huge benefits that implementing marketing analytics can bring to an organisation. What’s your next step going to be?
