In looking back through many of our posts on analytics the topics can seem pretty complex, especially if you are just now working towards becoming a data driven organization. Becoming a data driven organization is a huge step in the right direction, but it is just the first of many steps.

Nate is detailing the process for creating a data driven business culture in his recent post. But I want to take a step back for the companies who are not there yet, to provide a high level road-map.

Here are the necessary steps:
Decide to become a data driven organization
Get buy in from the necessary parties
Decide whether you have the staff to devote to analytics in house or if you should outsource
Get educated
Implement a free solution
Start analyzing
Understand that the initial findings will likely not be very impressive

Step 1 - Decide to become a data driven organization. Realize that most marketing departments are now, or very soon to be, held accountable for justifying their budgets, proving ROI. The upside of this is when you can prove ROI it makes getting approval for increased budgets much easier.

Step 2 - Get buy in from the necessary parties. Read more about that here.

Step 3 - Decide whether you have the staff to devote to analytics in house or if you should outsource. Studies have shown that as far back as 2004 companies who have a dedicated analytics resource (or resources) outperform those who don’t.

Step 4 - Get educated. There is a lot to learn when comes to analytics; what products are available, which product would be best for your company’s need, how to implement the product, how to use the product, what the numbers mean and what to do with all of this information

Step 5 - Implement a free solution. You can sign up for a free Google Analytics account. As long as you have the ability to put java script on your web site, you can start seeing reports in just a few days.

Step 6 - Start analyzing. Just do it. Start looking at the reports, reading the explanations of what they are showing, look at the charts and graphs that are available. The more you time you spend with this information the more sense it will make to you.

Step 7 - And this also is a huge step, understand that the initial findings will likely not be very impressive. Unless you happen to be very lucky the first numbers that you see may not be very ‘feel-good’ numbers. You may have a high bounce rate, a low average time on site, conversion rate and ROI may not be very positive. Don’t let this dissuade you from becoming a data driven organization. Once you start to pay attention and understand the data you can use it to improve. And the quicker you begin, the quicker you can improve.

Next week: Taking your analytics to the next level

Filed under: Analytics on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 by Joy Brazelle |
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