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We refer you to the old adage: "Measure twice, cut once".
With digital channels central to most B2B companies' marketing, the importance of making changes based on fact rather than speculation cannot be understated, so it's a good steer to remember the tried and tested:
DATA - INSIGHT - STRATEGY
Web analytics systems however, mainly use a "last click" attribution model, which credits the last marketing touch point with the sale or conversion. For example, a person performing a Google search against your brand name may end with a new customer sign-up. Traditionally, Google would have been credited with being the source that led to the conversion; however this could mask a number of truths such as:
- The person may have seen a billboard campaign and then Googled your brand
- The person maybe visited your website a number of times in the past and has only now decided to sign-up
Companies are realising this and are using new techniques to improve their ability to measure customer behaviour such as cross-channel tie-ins and multi-touch point attrition modelling.
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Cross-channel tie-ins |
Have you ever received an email offering incentive content (whitepaper, PDF guide) on a microsite with a personalised URL? (pURL - e.g.www.jasperditton.emailcampaign.com) Or seen the square "QR" blocks which when scanned, load a website on your smartphone? Both are methods companies are using to track campaign effectiveness by driving the audience through a defined tracking mechanism. |
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Multi-touchpoint attrition modelling |
Have you ever visited Amazon.co.uk, browsed a product, failed to purchase and on your later return to the website, seen an advert for other products in that category supported by an email with offers? Companies are starting to use tracking systems that track customers’ repeat activity, supporting: Ad retargeting Different creative or messaging at different stages of the buying cycle is critical for lead nurturing and conversion.(If providing a platform for 3rd party advertising, this may be executed using a cost-per-engagement [CPE] model) B2B lead automation When a customer hits a series of pre-defined touchpoints (visited FAQs section of your website, downloaded a white paper etc.), they are passed through to a lead scoring-based automated CRM system, before being passed to sales as a warm lead. |
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The techniques described above are also being used in conjunction with a switch from one-dimensional "vanity" metrics approach (e.g. page visits, fans, followers, downloads), to metrics that encapsulate the extended customer journey.
One example of this is the method known as "Pirate" metrics (AARRR):
- Acquisition – how many prospects trade marketing data for premium content?
- Activation – do the visitors return to your website afterwards?
- Retention – how many continue to stay subscribed?
- Referral – how many recommend you to friends or share a link to the content?
- Revenue – how many visits result in product sales or becoming a client?
Which sums up our fourth trend nicely...
Companies are exploring new methods of tracking visitors that work better in the multi-channel world and leverage better lead conversion and more accurate metrics.
Next in the Digital Trends 2011 Series - "The confidence to experiment returns – let the risk adverse beware!"
