Andy Crestodina, Orbit Media, will explain how marketers can find the right data to learn what their audience needs at AMA Madison’s Craft Marketing presentation on April 27.
The virtual session begins at 4 p.m. with networking. Thanks to Winbound, our sponsor.
Check out Andy’s preview of what attendees will experience at the upcoming Craft Marketing presentation.
AMA: Tell us a little about yourself and what Orbit Media does.
Orbit is a web design company. We build sites that both rank in search engines and convert visitors into leads. It’s a very custom, strategic approach.
We’re honored to work with some of the most beloved brands in Chicago and smart companies around the country. We build sites for pretty much every industry, from banks to plumbing supply, from B2C ecommerce to B2B lead generation. And yes, we have clients in Madison.
AMA: With all the data out there, how can marketers quickly find the best insights they need to understand their audience better?
All insights start with curiosity. Ask a question. That’s the first step. Then go look for data and begin forming a hypothesis. Here are a few questions to start with. They are all questions that can be answered from Analytics.
- What traffic sources attract visitors who are most likely to take action?
- Which content is most effective at attracting visitors?
- Which content are visitors spending the most time with?
- Which calls to action are people clicking on the most?
- Which items in our navigation get clicked the most? The least?
- Which pages are the most likely exit pages on our site?
The list goes on.
Once you have an idea, the next step is to take an action, then see what happened. This should lead to a never-ending process of changes and measurement, hypothesis, and test.
source: Data-Driven Marketing, Orbit Media
Keep in mind that there are limits to Analytics. It shows what visitors have done on your site in the past. But it doesn’t show what might have worked but you never tried.
AMA: What kinds of insights can marketers uncover by accessing the right data?
Gold. Solid gold.
Usually, 75% of the improvements you make to your site will have little to no impact. For experienced digital strategists, it may be 50%. But when you find what works, the impact is often huge, because you can continue to make similar improvements with similar gains.
Sometimes, it’s about reducing waste. Consider the following, reliable wins that come from a short visit into your Google Analytics account…
- Stop being active in a social media channel that doesn’t impact revenue (and use that budget for something more valuable)
- Quite publishing on topics that no one is interested in (and save tens of hours per month)
- Remove navigation items that very few people click on (and make the items left easier to find)
- Give up on a keyword that you’re never going to rank for (and focus on ones that you can win.)
AMA: What is the big takeaway people can expect if they attend the event?
- Build your confidence
Once you have access to the secret world of marketing data, you may suddenly find yourself the go-to person in your organization. You speak the same foreign language that your vendors speak. You have skills and you know it. You can smell BS a mile away. You’re not a junior analyzer. You’re a measurement marketer.
- Make an impact
The ROI is evident. It’s the chart right in front of you. You know it worked. You can see it on this chart.
- Have better meetings
He thinks we should do this. She thinks we should do that. And around it goes. Opinion vs. opinion. These meetings are both boring and stressful …because no one brought in data. Bring data next time and have a great meeting!
AMA Madison’s ‘Craft Marketing‘ Series
Craft Marketing features a local virtual presenter each month. You’ll have the chance to learn about a wide range of marketing topics while networking with other industry professionals and enjoying the drink of your choice from your virtual location.