Marketing Analytics Adoption Strategy

Jay McGinley
Marketing Analytics
University of Denver University College
March 8, 2020
Faculty: Brent Williams
Director: Cindy Cragg, MPS
Dean: Michael J. McGuire, MLS

In this presentation, I outline the benefits of adopting a culture of metrics for Barkbox - a monthly subscription service delivering toys, treats, and services to dogs and the humans that love them.

Transcript

1. Analytics Strategy for Master of Communication Management Marketing Communications Jay McGinley University of Denver University College March 8, 2020 Faculty: Brent Williams Director: Cindy Cragg, MPS Dean: Michael J. McGuire, MLS
2. Company Overview • Founded in 2012 • Mission: To make dogs happy by designing and selling the best products, services, and content (Bark 2018) • Delivers dog toys and treats via BarkBox and Bark Super Chewer subscription services • Operates BarkShop, an eCommerce Store selling dog stuff • Partners with stores like Target and Amazon to sell products (Bark 2018)
3. Why Adopt a Culture of Metrics? • Obtain insight into what's working • Obtain insight into what can be improved • Observe developing trends and be able to adjust in real time • Test and adapt emerging technologies and channels • Gain an understanding of ROI for marketing programs • Base decisions not on gut or intuition, but on data gleaned from customer behavior • Reduce costs, improve efficiency and save time (Ad Age Collective Expert Panel 2019, Cross 2018, Simpson 2017)
4. What's in the Analytics Toolbox?
5. Web Analytics Framework A framework is imperative to keep focused on the organization's goals, to set a benchmark for what success will look like, and to come to a consensus as an organization on the most important metrics to measure (Kaushik 2010). Here is a sample framework for Bark: BUSINESS OBJECTIVE GOAL KPI KPI TARGET Increase number of BarkBox and Bark Super Chewers subscribers Increase conversion rate for subscriptions Conversion Rate Increase the conversion rate by 15% by the end of the fiscal year Optimize customer value Customer lifetime value Increase customer lifetime value by 10% over the next 2 years Increase Brand Awareness Increase social media following Social Media Followers Increase number of social media followers across platforms by 25% by the end of the fiscal year Gain more direct traffic to site Direct Traffic to site Increase direct traffic to site by 10% within the next year
6. Market Research and Competitive Intelligence Market Research Benefits: • Helps identify new markets to enter • Helps gain insight into product development • Lays the groundwork for more personalized customer interactions • Provides insight to make strategic branding decisions Competitive Intelligence Benefits: • Provides the roadmap to stand out from the crowd • Leads to strategies that increase market share • Powers the ability to disrupt the industry and remain an innovator • Paves the way to predict what competitors are doing and beat them to market (Carpenter 2018)
7. Testing Benefits: • Provides the safety net to take controlled risks • Highlights issues that need fixing • Proves the value of marketing efforts • Results in data that is easier to understand (Williams 2020) Types of Tests: • A/B and Multivariate Testing tests different variations of a digital asset to see which one is most effective (Reddy 2019). Bark could use this to test the effectiveness of different marketing emails or different versions of landing pages to optimize click-through rate. • Usability testing crowdsources user feedback on an online product, website, or app (Mester 2017). Bark could use this to test the user experience of the checkout process in order to optimize it for more conversions.
8. A/B Test Example: Testing the CTA Copy Hypothesis: Including "without a subscription" in the CTA copy will increase click-through rate. GET A BARKBOX
9. Dashboards Turning data into visualizations helps uncover meaningful patterns which then make it easier to construct hypotheses, draw conclusions, and make data-supported decisions (Hubspot 2019). By supplementing the data with key trends, company impacts, and recommended next steps like in this action dashboard, context and expert analysis are provided.
10. 5 Steps to Implement a Culture of Metrics at 1. Establish business objectives and goals and create tracking plan 2. Evaluate and choose vendors/tools 3. Collect relevant data 4. Analyze data and report insights using data visualization 5. Rinse and Repeat – when goals are met, set a new bar (Lubowicka 2019, Simpson 2017)
11. References: Ad Age Collective Expert Panel. 2019. "4 Tips on How to Choose the Right Third-Party Analytics Vendor for Your Growing Business." Ad Age. October 10, 2019. https://adage.com/article/industry-insights/4-tips-how-choose-right-third-party-analytics-vendor-your-growing- business/2203361. Bark. 2018. Bark [Fact Sheet]. Press Kit, Bark. Updated September 1, 2018. https://bark.co/press. Carpenter, Meg. 2018. "Marketer's guide to competitive intelligence." Talkwalker. September 26, 2018. https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/marketers-guide-to-competitive-intelligence. Cross, Amy. 2018. "What is Marketing Analytics?" NG Data. April 4, 2018. https://www.ngdata.com/what-is-marketing-analytics/. Hubspot. 2019. "Presenting Data People Can't Ignore: How to Communicate Effectively Using Data." Hubspot. Accessed February 19, 2020. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/53/Presenting_Data_People_Wont_Ignore_Ebook.pdf?t=1541003041638. Lubowicka, Karolina. 2019. "Analytics Implementation in 12 Steps: An Exhaustive Guide (Tracking Plan Included!)." Piwik Pro, December 19, 2019. https://piwik.pro/blog/analytics-implementation-in-12-steps-an-exhaustive-guide-tracking-plan-included/. Kaushik, Avinash. 2010. "Web Analytics 101: Definitions: Goals, Metrics, KPIs, Dimensions, Targets." Occam's Razor. April 19, 2010. https://www.kaushik.net/avinash/web-analytics-101-definitions-goals-metrics-kpis-dimensions-targets/. Mester, Tomi. 2017. "Usability testing (for Data Analysts)." Data36. April 24, 2017. https://data36.com/usability-testing-data-analysts/. Reddy, Michael. 2019. "User Experience Optimization Through A/B and Multivariate Testing." Digital Authority Partners. January 23, 2019. https://www.digitalauthority.me/resources/user-experience-optimization-ab-multivariate-testing/. Simpson, Jon. 2017. "Tracking Your Marketing Efforts: Why it's Important and How to Start." Forbes. October 6, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/10/06/tracking-your-marketing-efforts-why-its-important-and-how-to- start/#6749c33f31e8. Williams, Brent. 2020. "Week 5 Testing." Lecture, University of Denver, Denver, CO, February 1, 2020.