We recently came across a stat that shocked us a little bit. 

According to a marketing study, a whopping 84% of marketers indicated they could not measure and report on the contribution of their programs to the business. That's a whole lot of work and effort that is not being accounted for and a lot of vagueness in terms of tracking results. 

At Addison Clark, an analytic mindset is one of the most important differentiators that sets us apart from other marketing agencies that offer the same services. Maybe it's because we're a bunch of data nerds, but at the end of the day we want hard numbers to measure the impact of our marketing efforts. Our tagline expresses it well: "Measurably different".

Analytics can be and should be applied to every aspect of marketing. Platforms like Google Analytics are common for tracking website metrics - like traffic, bounce rate, unique visitors, etc. - but that's just one piece of the puzzle. 

Digital analytics allow marketers to dive deep into every aspect of a business's marketing, not just website data. By looking at the data from all sources (email, social media, blogging, SEO, public relations, online advertising, etc.), a marketer can better understand how each facet is affecting the overall program.

Once you are effectively tracking the impact of each marketing channel, it becomes easier to see the relationship between each channel and how they're influencing one another. For example, the tracking data from an email sent to a business's database can show how many people clicked from the email over to the company's website. Once on the website, analytics can show where those potential customers went, what they did, and how many converted into leads. Now the marketer has a better understanding of how the email marketing channel is affecting the website channel and whether or not those efforts are working.

Beyond having access to the data, the most important thing about analytics is knowing how to accurately interpret it. The true power of analytics comes from using the data to inform your marketing strategy in a way that will improve and optimize. 

How well is your business tracking its marketing efforts? Do you feel like your marketing program is mostly guesswork? Check out our Marketing Analytics page for more information on our analytic approach to marketing and how we can use it to help you achieve your business goals.