At our caller MarTech Conference session, “It takes 2 to tango: How marketers and information analysts tin excel together,” Arti Munshi and I talked astir immoderate high-level concepts marketers tin recognize to assistance them enactment efficiently with information analysts. A cardinal portion of this is knowing data’s limitations. One of those limitations is simply a martech stack’s evolution.
Different types of improvement tin hinder what a information expert tin bash with information collected implicit time. Here are a fewer examples.
Analytics platforms
It is not unheard of for a institution to alteration analytics platforms wrong its stack. There are galore options for each benignant of constituent and plentifulness of reasons wherefore a institution whitethorn alteration which components they use.
A communal illustration is simply a web analytics platform. Two large players successful this abstraction are Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics. If your institution swapped 1 retired for the other, this could bounds your company’s humanities web data. Granted, your institution whitethorn person stored information from some systems successful a information lake, but that doesn’t mean the platforms gathered and organized the information similarly. This makes things hard for an expert to relationship for. If a marketer tin recognize this history, they tin incorporated this improvement into their requests and expectations.
Don’t hide that different stack components tin besides impact data postulation and processing. Switching those astir volition contiguous akin issues.
The broader organization
Marketing departments don’t basal alone. They beryllium to beforehand a broader organization. The broader enactment tin besides contiguous issues that impact information collection.
For instance, a institution whitethorn not person a information water wherever information from systems passim the enactment are stored. Having information each successful 1 spot tin marque it easier to bring different information successful for a broader perspective. For instance, leads, conversions and opportunities are not the lone pieces of the puzzle. Customer happiness, touchpoints with lawsuit work representatives and truthful connected are each portion of the bigger picture.
More robust and implicit findings are imaginable if analysts tin look beyond a customer’s enactment with selling campaigns. However, that depends upon however casual it is to propulsion each that information unneurotic successful the archetypal place.
Dig deeper: What’s the quality betwixt a information warehouse and a information lake?
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Regulations
It is nary concealed that privacy regulations person evolved. In the past, it was permissible present successful the United States for web browsers to cod a batch of accusation astir website visitors. There was a batch much allowance for sharing oregon selling that accusation to different parties — particularly with third-party data. Because of this analysts could supply richer and much robust information. Federal and authorities regulations person clamped down connected collecting that data, truthful this is nary longer the case.
Further, privateness regulations besides alteration passim the world. The European Union is good known for protecting the privateness of its citizens — acold much truthful than different governmental entities. This shouldn’t astonishment immoderate marketer, but analysts are much constrained with EU information erstwhile compared to the U.S.
Dig deeper: With Apple privateness protections hurting revenue, immoderate companies are uncovering ways astir it
Device shaper influence
Tech companies surely person to comply with regulations. However, sometimes they adhere to much stringent standards than what they’re governed by. For lawsuit Apple has restricted the information companies tin cod astir its instrumentality users. It turned that privateness absorption into an extended selling campaign. Regardless of however overmuch the cognition matches reality, marketers request to enactment that it is imaginable analysts won’t person the aforesaid information for Apple and Android users.
Customer self-identification
Sticking with devices, this constituent is simply a well-known limitation. Most radical usage aggregate devices ranging from laptops, phones and consoles. It is not uncommon for idiosyncratic to person aggregate of each. For instance, they bash a fewer benign idiosyncratic things (like checking the news) connected their enactment laptop and bash that again aboriginal connected a idiosyncratic laptop and phone. Ideally, it would beryllium bully to stitch that idiosyncratic crossed their devices truthful the information would correspond them arsenic 1 idiosyncratic alternatively of aggregate radical utilizing antithetic devices.
One mode to bash that is to collect first-party data and look for individuals utilizing aggregate devices. Perhaps they person an relationship and log into your systems from aggregate devices. That is surely 1 mode to execute specified stitching. However, an enactment whitethorn not ever person accounts for radical to log into. In immoderate instances, that whitethorn not marque consciousness for idiosyncratic to unfastened an relationship with an organization’s systems.
If your enactment was capable to present accounts for radical to make and use, delight support successful caput that looking backmost to times erstwhile that wasn’t disposable oregon wide utilized volition hinder analysts’ quality to way radical crossed devices implicit time.
Limitations, not impossibilities
As marketers, it is indispensable to recognize specified information limitations. Understanding them volition assistance facilitate moving with information analysts. Having said each of this, these are limitations — not impossibilities. This is erstwhile information analysts tin shine. They’re good alert of the limitations, but arsenic information specialists, they apt person acold much tricks up their sleeves than a marketer is alert of. Hopefully, coming to the array with a precocious knowing of the terrain volition facilitate immoderate originative collaboration.
Opinions expressed successful this nonfiction are those of the impermanent writer and not needfully MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Steve Petersen is simply a selling exertion manager astatine Zuora. He spent astir 8.5 years astatine Western Governors University, holding galore martech related roles with the past being selling exertion manager. Prior to WGU, helium worked arsenic a strategist astatine the Washington, DC integer store The Brick Factory, wherever helium worked intimately with commercialized associations, non-profits, large brands, and advocacy campaigns. Petersen holds a Master of Information Management from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts successful International Relations from Brigham Young University. He's besides a Certified ScrumMaster. Petersen lives successful the Salt Lake City, UT area. Petersen represents his ain views, not those of his existent oregon erstwhile employers.
