Marketers like hype. And every time you turn around, there seems to be some marketer hyping a new trend.
The past decade, for example, has given birth to a host of “new” forms of marketing including digital marketing, data-driven marketing, performance marketing, and even attribution science, to name a few.
Each touts a scientific, data-driven, metrics-based approach to marketing that promises to magically provide instant revenue returns and that elusive ROI that’s been missing from marketing all these years.
The only problem is, despite the hype and endless buzzwords, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Can you get lots more data now than ever before? Sure.
Is it accurate? Well… not exactly.
In fact, much of it is either hugely misinterpreted and unverifiable, or just plain pretend. (See Bob Hoffman’s book Adscam or talk to me about email marketing data, if you want more on that.)
More importantly, is it useable?
Well, that all depends on your perspective. Those trying to sell you on digital advertising or the software to report your digital marketing data will tell you it is. And those whose job security depends on KPI justifications of all things marketing, might even agree.
But from my experience, meticulously measuring much of the marketing data available now largely boils down to busy work and vanity metrics (i.e. metrics that might make you feel good, but won’t give you any real actionable data.)
We spent a few years analyzing our marketing data at Invata with a fine tooth comb. We reported on every metric we could find and even married email marketing data with Google Analytics data to validate and better understand prospect activity and intent.
But what we learned more than anything else was that the harder we looked, the more unreliable the data became.
What we often thought to be that perfect prospect showing intent by clicking on a link for more info, too often upon closer inspection revealed itself to be an email server verifying a link before forwarding our email to someone’s junk folder.
And when we were actually able to verify real activity, the data typically still didn’t provide us with enough of a picture of a prospect’s intent to eliminate conjecture and doubt.
Most importantly — and this is the part that matters — none of the endless data we analyzed changed our approach.
What worked for us instead was the consistent creation of strong, relevant content that brought value to would-be Invata customers at all stages of their buyer journey.
It’s a formula that doesn’t change.
A strategic approach to building quality, creative content, thought leadership, providing valuable information, and creating clarity from complexity through clear concise messaging is what fleshed out our offerings, helped our buyers in their journey, and built the Invata brand.
Footnotes to this topic:
On metrics: This is not to say that all metrics are useless. You just have be aware of their limitations and keep them in perspective. And realize that efforts made in measuring metrics are typically efforts not being made in producing quality marketing content.
On prospect data: There are numerous tracking software providers that will give you a greater degree of reliability in the data you get. But, frankly, given the legal climate we’re in and their infringement on privacy, I would not recommend them.
On privacy: Class action law suits have been filed fairly recently in California, Pennsylvania and Florida asserting that the use of tracking technologies on websites violates state wiretap and privacy laws. The penalties if found guilty can be steep: $1,000 to $50,000 per violation. Either way, the cost of litigation compared to the usefulness of the data received should raise serious concern in using tracking software. I know it did for me.
Walter High has built a career from his proclivity for using marketing creativity as a tool for business growth. He is a multi-disciplined marketing expert with deep experience in conceptualizing and executing successful strategic branding, product marketing, and demand-gen/capture initiatives in B2B and B2C arenas. Contact Walter here.