Pract•ad•goal is a word host Heather Holloway created. It is the sum total of the words ‘practical advancement goals.’ Her intention with this podcast is to teach entrepreneurs how to advance their careers with practical business advice.
Are you using data to your advantage in your business?
Forget the vanity metrics! Analyze data with Matt Bailey from Site Logic in Episode 9 of Practadgoal Talk. Matt breaks down what data business owners need so they can use it to market their business and track sales.
For more data analysis tactics from Matt, listen to the full episode and check out the show notes below.
Practadgoal Talking Points
[1:54] Matt shares his backstory: how he started, and how SiteLogic came to be.
- Matt was into commercial real estate, and he started building websites in the 90s to market and sell, given the expensive cost of printed ads.
- In the process, he learned the importance of data and analytics, which enable him to sell better and more effectively.
[5:57] What analytics are all about.
- Analytics tell a story and track behavior.
- Analytics is less about numbers and more about people.
- Data from analytics need to be customized to what your business really needs and what you’re trying to accomplish.
[8:54] Vanity metrics don’t tell the whole story.
- Vanity metrics are impressions, views, clicks, likes, and we lump all these under this new term: engagement.
- These data are being lumped together because we don’t know what to really measure.
- Instead of getting caught up with vanity metrics, it’s more important to define business objectives which would further define the metrics that are critical to achieving these objectives.
[12:30] Some issues with digital advertising.
- The effectiveness of what you spend on digital advertising should be taken into consideration.
- There’s much focus on the spend, but not on the results.
- There are marketers who engage with digital advertising, but don’t understand analytics. Thus, they also can’t spot fraud.
[15:34] Understanding and using analytics for your business.
- Identify first “The Question.” What is your goal and/or north star for your business?
- Based on “The Question,” what are the essential measurements or metrics that you need to track?
- Gather data from the essential metrics that were identified and bring them into the context of a marketing model.
[23:40] Working with Matt Bailey and looking at analytics from a human standpoint.
- Matt can be contacted through his website where he also offers online courses.
- Don’t be intimidated by analytics. It’s all about wanting to know what’s happening right now and what we can do to improve.
- Analytics doesn’t require advanced degrees; it just takes asking great questions.