Marketers are pressured every day for top-line growth and bottom-line results. You need to deliver measureable performance. Since the one constant we can all rely on is change, we need data-driven continuous feedback to design, execute and improve marketing campaigns to show that all-important ROI.  To do this properly, I recommend you develop an analytics strategy.  “A what?” you ask.

You probably already have strategies for your email campaigns, your online ads, your social media, as well as everything else you do…right?  Why not devote some strategic thinking to your measurement?  An analytics strategy will put your metrics into a context that aligns with your business goals and objectives. Then you’ll be able to answer the most meaningful questions by tracking only the relevant metrics.  Don’t let yourself get lost in a sea of data.

It seems that too often an analytics strategy is an afterthought. It shouldn’t be. A well thought out measurement strategy is worth its weight in gold.

Here are my top 5 reasons for developing an analytics strategy:

1. It allows you to focus on what you’re measuring – clearly define your KPIs for the specific tactics that support the overall business goals, and then stick to measuring them persistently

2. Consistency in measurement – if you don’t get lost in the ‘shiny stuff’, you can then take a good, hard look at your performance trends over time

3. Discover what you need to improve and optimize – move beyond “just the tracking” to make informed decisions about your marketing program and take effective action on your insights

4. Better define your marketing strategy over time – knowing what was a success and what could have performed more effectively is priceless

5. You can really look at your conversions – confirm that the user is following through with the goals you’d like them to complete

Your take home message: An analytics strategy puts data in context. Without context, the data is meaningless.

After all, this isn’t your mother’s web analytics.