Analytics Summit 2019 highlights complexities of analysing data

Data analysis is crucial for making business or budget decisions, according to the Trend Study 2019 conducted by Trakken Web Services GmbH. A total of 439 companies were interviewed for the survey in January. “The greatest strength of digital analysis lies in making data-driven decisions, according to one-third of all interviewees. This requires a sound technical setup, which many companies termed their 'weakness'.” Other challenges lies in the quality and availability of data as well as linking up data from different sources. The findings gave delegates at the summit plenty of food for thought.

Silja Schilling, Performance Marketing Manager at Coop, queried in her keynote whether the “Google Marketing Platform ‘all inclusive’” offers advertisers all they need. The marketing team at ITS-Travel AG, a subsidiary of Coop, had used the “traffic” feature, introduced earlier in 2019 to boost sales, she said. Google Analytics combines storytelling with delayed remarketing. “We opted for a three-part concept with a video and two interactive applications,” Schilling said. However, the implementation proved difficult despite the support of the Google Creative Impact team. “Eventually, we needed external support, which we had wanted to do without.” However, the 17 per cent cost/revenue ratio was finally achieved, which was satisfactory. “Although the follow-up through remarketing was crucial, the all-round carefree package has “not yet” been implemented albeit the direction is right.”

A repeated approach towards users is an absolute must, said Simon Ritter, Vice President of Operations & Business Intelligence at tectumedia GmbH. “If you want to scale, you have to keep appealing to users until they become customers.” Ritter’s presentation on “Attribution Modelling Deep Dive” outlined the challenges of identifying the ideal channels for approaching users. The source of the data is not always clear i.e. are users surfing on a mobile phone, tablet or desktop? “The cross-device problem is well known, but has not yet been solved conclusively.” Ritter called for the use of attribution models, which map user behaviour and help to optimize the online marketing mix. “We are talking about a complex topic and attribution modelling is not the remedy. But it’s an extremely important piece of the puzzle,” he pointed out.

Attention should turn from technical lows to the big picture, said Simo Ahava, a developer at Google Analytics. Ahava runs a successful web analytics blog and is a co-founder of 8-bit-sheep. Anomalies in the quality of data are symptoms of failed communication, and noted during his keynote, “You can’t spell measure without communication.” “Technical solutions have always fascinated me. But then I thought about the essence of the basic question when trying to find technical solutions to problems.” Siloed thinking and a lack of communication can provide answers. Employees in some companies, for instance, do not know what the various teams are working on. Ahava came out in favour of small sound bites of information, which could be given digitally or face to face on a daily basis. The main thing is to strengthen mutual understanding. “Data analysis is highly complex, but that’s not all. We deal with huge complexity on a daily basis and communication becomes all the more important.”

Anjali Lalwani Raghavan, Global Product Lead at Google Analytics, is also aware of this complexity and announced new developments. The use and performance of machine learning will be expanded, the efficiency of e-commerce features strengthened, the integration of the big query feature in the app and web further improved and a more targeted cross-device analysis via Google Signals can be expected. Google Analytics plans to boost the Google marketing platform, attribution reports and importing offline data, which were all welcomed by delegates.

Thomas Langnau, a web analyis manager from Berlin, won this year’s Analytics Award. Four contestants from Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg had reached the finals of the Analytics Challenge. Each contestant had ten minutes to pitch their solutions to a problem of their own choice using Google Analytics. Langau won the audience vote for his “corner of the eye” chrome plugins. Icons allow users to track their behaviour and warn of typical tracking errors such as a lack of IP anonymization. The award includes a trophy, a trip to London and a visit to Google.

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