Metrics Debate: Not Much Debate
For a debate on metrics, there was very little debating. Even though, this panel, led by, Rick Bruner, Director of Research and Industry Relations for DoubleClick, focused less on issues surround metrics and more on what current marketers are doing wrong. This developed into a discussion on the importance of understanding cross-channel metrics and a justification of display ad spends.
Customers want to spend money on huge CRMs, the newest metrics packages, driving as much traffic as possible, etc, when they are leaving money on the table by not optimizing their current systems. This includes all aspects of the site. Why spend more on increasingly expensive traffic directed to a site that isn’t accurately functioning as effectively as possible? Then a marketer must review and understand their cross-channel metrics to gain an accurate picture of the factors influencing their model.
As panelist Young-Bean Song of Atlas noted, in one of their recent studies they noticed a synergy between search and display ads. A customer was 22% more likely to click when exposed to display ads in addition to search than just search alone. A marketer must go beyond the last click to understand what has happened in their business. There are exterior factors that will affect the customer. Song did caution that focusing on metrics like view-thru rates are not accurate measures of direct response. It is difficult to attribute views to responses. The main conclusion drawn from view-thru rates should be one that more work needs to be done to gain clicks.
When asked, Darren Stoll Director of Marketing Analytics from Macy’s, sided with Song about the ambiguity of view-thru. He did say that they would be a good measure of the quality of the placement, but would still be tough to hold up under the ROI microscope.
This lead to the question of, what is missing from the industry. “Talent,” according to Chad Parizman, Director of Online Analytics for Scripps Networks Interactive, who goes on to say that as a result of the metrics boom, there are many new people popping to peddle their wares. They can offer you packages, but their lack of talent and understanding, mixed sales focused attitude can leave you with a fuzzy, at best, idea of what factors are actually affecting your products.
The biggest challenge in understanding the influencing factors, for Macy’s, was finding ways to accurately understand cross-channel analytics. They wanted to understand how their online advertising was affecting their in store sales, i.e. whether or not a shirt was purchased as a result of a display ad feature.
Understanding cross-channel metrics, though difficult, is extremely important for all industries. As (watch out buzz word coming) convergence becomes a larger factor in marketing, understanding the different pieces that affect you world will be vital to success and longevity.
