Marketing Channel Analysis

on Marketing

Learn how to make a simple spreadsheet tool for marketing channels analysis.

Marketing channel analysis Tool

###Intro

I guess that today everybody that’s somehow involved with marketing uses data for decision making. Data is marketers best friend, if time. Often, there is an overwhelming quantity of data being offered by even the simplest of tools. Just take a look at the data an everyday tool like Google Analytics can offer. It gets’s too hectic looking at the screen, head starts hurting, and you get lost in the endless fields of numbers. The aim is not to run circles but gather most crucial data, organise it and use the gained knowledge to make a rational decision.

All this being said it’s really hard to make a data analysis system from scratch. Not to say, one wich can be used regularly to help spend the valuable marketing time the as best as possible (bluntly, maximising ROI of work).

###Value of data

Even if you are new to “tech” marketing you know that there are a lot of data gathering products on the market to choose from (Google Analytics, RJ Metrics, KissMetrics,…). Most of them give a possibility to look at the actions of specific users at any given point in time. You have just to adjust how you see those user actions and data will make more sense. I’m not explaining how to use a specific tool for data gathering. This post is not about the tools used for data gathering, it’s what they allow us to do. Help create a better product for the user.

The more data you have, the more you get know your customer, better your decisions. Behind the numbers are the people, and as a marketer you have firstly to understand people - your customer.

Having a simple, easy to understand spreadsheet with analysed data helps marketers justify the spendings (to the team and to the man). On the other hand, you may not want to gather and analyse data. That’s cool. Marketing is still viewed as more of an art than science. You can always justify your latest marketing flops by saying that you are really a market artist (note: this may cause you to get fired).

Back to data. Data is gathered by experimenting, just like in a lab. Experimenting on a steady basis and keeping track of data gives a set more reliable results in the long run. Gaining learnings on customer behaviour and consequentially making data-informed decisions gets easier as you develop your system/s (it’s actually fun to do).

##Making the channel analysis spreadsheet

Track everything… well, maybe not. Be selective on what you track. Depending on the stage your business/startup is at you should track only the data that is relative.

Let us assume that there are marketing channels set in place and that data is beginning to role in. Here is a mock we’ll use as a test case and later mod it to develop your own system.

Firstly: Define the main channels you’ll be working with (blog, newsletter, AdWords, Twitter,…)

Secondly: You have to set your customer tracking funnel and define its most important stages. There are a lot of tools to help you track the funnel (e.g. Kiss Metrics). If you have a SaaS product you most likely will be gathering the basic metrics like unique visitors, signups, activated users, and paying customers. (note: setting an advanced marketing funnel – material for a separate post, will do my best to write more on the topic)

Thirdly: Determine the time period you will be gathering the numbers for. It should mainly be on a month-by-month basis. It’s not a bad idea to combine monthly and quarterly numbers, monthly and half year or whatever time period comparison you think works best. Most important is the monthly basis. With a lot of marketing activities going on at the same time it’s easier to map specific expenses and outcomes together this way. Of course, you are in a startup and it’s a dynamic market out there, so you must react fast or lose.

Finaly: Look at those numbers, do you like them? You do, great. Look at them again in six months and you’ll see where you should invest more of your valuable time.

###In short

  1. Start with the data.
  2. Ask a question of what information you have available to you.
  3. Construct a hypothesis.
  4. Test with an experiment.
  5. Confirm the test/procedure worked as planned.
  6. Analyze the data and draw conclusions.
  7. Present results and determine the next steps.

Use data to your advantage and learn more on how your users behave rather than just looking at data as nothing more than raw numbers.

‘till next time. Cheers! 📈

Let me know how you analyze your marketing channels, I’d love to hear how you do it.